PADDY Fitzpatrick believes that Radek Linka is the perfect opponent for Luke Watkins to face on his Swindon homecoming.

The 24-year-old cruiserweight is sharing top billing at the Oasis Leisure Centre next month with IBO super-middle-weight inter-continental champion Kelvin Young on November 1.

Despite this being only his third outing in the paid ranks, Watkins’ previous two contest has seen him box at Wembley Arena and Germany in front of 8,000 fans on the undercard of a world title fight, Fitzpatrick is hoping that his fighter will be able to make a statement.

The 36-year-old from the Czech Republic has developed a reputation for his contests not going the distance.

Of the seven fights that Linka has won, he has stopped six of his oppponents, while of the four defeats he has had, only British heavyweight Matt Legg failed to get him out before the final bell.

“This dude comes to fight,” Fitzpatrick said. “He has seven wins and he has stopped six of them.

“Having boxed on a European title fight at Wembley and in front of 8,000 in Germany it makes no sense for Duke to fight a journeyman who just covers up “He needs someone who is going to come to fight, someone who will keep Duke on his toes because he can swing a bit, but also someone who you can look good against in front of your own fans.”

With fight night now just two weeks away, Fitzpatrick, who will also be guiding welterweight Garvey Kelly on his professional debut against Matt Seawright, is pleased with how training has been going.

“I’m very content with how the training has been going,” the Ferndale Road-based trainer said.

“Duke is already sharp and he will probably have a couple more sparring sessions.

“Garvey is looking good, he sparred a dude called Charlie Rice the another night and it was a good session.”