GARVEY Kelly says having world middleweight contender Eamonn O’Kane in the gym on a daily basis is only making him train harder.

Northern Irishman O’Kane, ranked eighth in the world by the IBF, headlines the ‘World Awaits’ bill at the Oasis Leisure Centre on Friday, February 13 against Welsh middleweight champion Frankie Borg.

While Swindon’s Kelly will only be stepping into the ring for a third time in the paid ranks, the Paddy Fitzpatrick-trained welterweight says that O’Kane has become something of an inspiration to him.

“He is a humble guy. He is a hard worker – probably one of the hardest working guys that I have ever met in this game,” said Kelly, who is managed by George Groves.

“He is ready to train and put in the work all the time. You can see when he is tired, he is ready to keep going, that gives me that drive, that determination to get where he is.”

Having made his debut at the Oasis back in November, Kelly has also had the opportunity to fight on a pay-per-view show in Denmark at the start of December.

And with his third fight taking place in his hometown once more, the 26-year-old says that fighting in front of his own fans is what gives him that extra buzz.

He said: “That is not to say it wasn’t a great experience to go over to Denmark and get that opportunity to box on a pay per view show and get led into the ring by a camera..

“But when I think about the hairs standing up on the back of my neck and the goose bumps of the fight in Swindon; I don’t think that I’ll ever forget it.

“It was amazing. I dreamt about it and I got to live it. I have got the buzz again sitting in the press conference, seeing everyone come out.

“I can just imagine what it is going to be like on February 13.”

While many boxers who turn professional dream of reaching the top before they have even they have even taken the first step on the road to that success, Kelly doesn’t want to look too far into the future.

“My all round plan is to stay in shape and stay busy,” he said.

“I don’t want to talk about anybody. I don’t want to think about going to titles yet because truly I need to get the 13th out the way and then the next one after that and the one after that.

“The way for me to do that is to stay focused on the task at hand and keep doing what my coach is telling to do.”