Peckham welterweight Johnny Garton is expecting some roughhouse antics on Saturday night when he defends his Southern Area title for the second time.
The ex-Lynn fighter takes on Kent man Martin Welsh at the York Hall and Garton thinks he will have to have his wits about him if he is to keep his crown. Garton told the News:
“I know Martin and I think he will come forward and be bit rough and dirty and make a real fight of it.
“He can box too as he was a really good amateur so I have to be ready for both approaches as he can change things up a bit.” It has been a quick turnaround between fights for the 28-year-old Peckham man as he was last in the ring in March when he defeated Nathan Weise. But Garton is happy with that arrangement. He said: “I like to keep fighting all the time. I don’t see the point of it if you only have one or two fights a year. “Having said that after this fight I will go away and give myself a couple of weeks break somewhere. But if it goes well I would like to fight maybe four to five times this year.” Garton added: “It’s been a good training camp. It wasn’t that long ago since I last fought so it was really a case of out of one fight and into another. “In fact I was due to have a weekend away in Bruges with my girlfriend after the last fight and my manager rang me up to say don’t go too mad as you will be back in the ring in six weeks.” Once again the Peckham pugilist is expecting his legion of fans to be shouting him on, and he hopes to give them something in return. The man nicknamed ‘The Pexican’ said: “Again I want to thank those people who have bought tickets and shown me great support once again. “I really appreciate it and I think this is going to be a really good fight and it will be exciting for them to watch.”