RYAN Martin is hoping the work he has done with his feet in gym will make what he does with his hands in the squared circle even better.

The rising welterweight star faces Linas Meistavicius on Saturday at the GL1 Leisure Centre in Gloucester as he looks to make it five wins from as many bouts in the paid ranks.

Meistavicius is a late replacement for Victor Edagha, with the Lithuanian having won his only fight courtesy of a third-round stoppage.

Martin, 21, has been trained by Richard Farnan for this contest, with regular coach Islan Eltuyev unavailable for the start of camp.

The former England and Walcot amateur has spent plenty of training working on his footwork to help deliver a more powerful punch.

“We are doing a lot work on footwork and movement (with Farnan),” Martin said. “I have always had pretty slick footwork, but he has calmed that down.

“He has got me fighting more like a professional – not an amateur dancing around all the time.

“He has got me settling my feet and being more clinical.

“It is difficult. Footwork is a big thing in boxing. People don’t watch it, they just watch people throwing punches at each other.

“Everything comes into punching and footwork is a big thing. You have to get your feet in the right place for the right shots.

“If you want to be knockout artist you have got to get your feet in the right position and that is something that Rich works on – it makes me more of a clinical puncher.”

As well as travelling around the country for sparring, Martin, who is also set to face Faheem Khan for a new challenge title in October, has been sparring with stablemates Danny Bharj and Kelly Morgan.

Martin says that although he held back to start with against Morgan, he soon changed his tactics.

“In the amateurs days we had a few girls come through that were decent and got to national finals and won, but you were always told to keep that extra bit of sting out of the punch,” Martin said.

“You’d hit them, make them think about it but don’t hit them too hard.

“So I went in with that mentality and Rich looked at me and said ‘don’t hold back because she’ll whack you’.

“I gave her some digs and she kept coming – you have to have your hands up because she punches like any 160lb bloke would.”