Bordon bareknuckle fighter Darren Hendry is gearing up for his latest fight after more than six months out of the ring.
Hendry beat Corey Harrison at Crystal Palace in his previous fight in March. The 33-year-old will be back in action for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship at Planet Ice, Elland Road, Leeds, when he faces Luke Atkins on Saturday, November 18.
“Like me, Luke is a champion bareknuckle fighter,” said Hendry.
“It’s a very tough fight as he’s a very experienced lad.
“He comes from a very good amateur boxing background as he used to represent England at amateur level.
“This will be my eighth professional bareknuckle fight and I hope to go 7-1. The fight is at cruiserweight.
“Training camp has started at Babylon Fitness in Farnborough.
“Luke is from York near Leeds so it will be local for him – so I would love to get as much support as possible.
“I’m under no illusions it will be a tough fight but a fit, strong me with no injuries – I don’t think there’s anyone that can beat me bareknuckle at my weight.”
Before Hendry faces Atkins in Leeds he will box in a gloved heavyweight title eliminator against Calveen Abdul at The Empire Hall, High Street, Aldershot, on Friday, October 13.
“Training is well underway,” said Hendry.
“The fight with Calveen I don’t know much about.
“It’s a four-man tournament. If I win this then I go to the final and can then become unlicensed heavyweight champion.
“It will be my first gloved fight since boxing as an amateur.
“I’m training hard for this – as it’s heavyweight I don’t need to worry too much about weight – but I’m using this as a warm up for my big fight in Leeds to get the rust off as I haven’t been in the ring since March.
“From what I have seen of Calveen he is a very strong hard hitter.”
Anyone who would like to buy tickets for either of Darren’s upcoming fights should contact him on his Instagram page.