Tatham determined to prove he is ready for step up in class

Light-heavyweight Tomi Tatham returns to the ring this Saturday night when he faces Sheffield’s Carl Wild on the VIP Promotions bill at Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse.

The popular puncher, 8-1 as a professional, will be looking to finish the year with a bang before targeting titles in 2016.

Tatham said: “I just need to put what I’ve been doing in training into the ring and not get carried away.

“The crowd really get me going but I’ve got to prove to Steve (Wood, manager) and Karl (Ince, trainer) that I can follow a gameplan.

“Then we can start looking at area titles and they are a stepping stone onto the bigger stage.”

Durable Wild has not fought since February 2014 but has shared the ring with the likes of Wales’ former world cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli and current British light-heavyweight champion Bob Ajisafe.

Tatham, set to be roared on by more than 100 fans from the area, is therefore expecting a tough test despite his opponent’s 14-23 record as a pro.

He said: “He’s been out for a while but has had plenty of notice.

“He’ll want to come and have a do but I’m just going to go in there and do my thing.

“He’s been in with good, good opposition.

“I watched his fight was Enzo Mac and he gave him a good fight.”

The 26-year-old is confident heading into the fight having been put through his longest ever training camp.

Tatham said: “Training’s been going really well, I’ve had a good camp.

“We were preparing for the Preston fight (on October 3) and that got cancelled so I’ve had the longest camp I’ve ever had.

“I’m feeling fit and strong and I’ve had some great sparring too.”

Saturday’s show, topped by Jack Arnfield versus Cello Renda in a British middleweight title eliminator, will be streamed live and free at vipboxing.tv.