PADDY Fitzpatrick says that he plans to guide Luke Watkins into a mandatory position for the British cruiserweight title after turning down an offer to fight for the vacant Lonsdale belt.

The unbeaten 26-year-old is currently ranked sixth in the country by BoxRec.com having won all nine of his contests.

However, his Ferndale Road-based trainer told the Advertiser that he has rejected an approach from Chris Sanigar to face Cardiff’s Craig Kennedy, who is ranked fourth by the same website, in Newport for the British title, which has been vacated by Ovill McKenzie.

“Last week, I had a phone call from (promoter) Chris Sanigar asking if we would be interested in Duke fighting Craig Kennedy for the British title,” Fitzpatrick explained.

“The first thing I always ask is: when, where and how much? They were looking for early December in Newport, which wasn’t a problem, but the money was nowhere near what we would be looking for in a British title fight.

“Chris then asked me to come up with a figure, but I said that there wasn’t any point as we were too far apart for me to even consider it.”

Watkins, who is also being lined up for an Irish title shot on St Patrick Day’s, potentially against former champion Ian Tims, is set to make his 10th appearance in the paid ranks on November 26 at the Oasis Leisure Centre as Fitzpatrick’s light-heavyweight Sam Smith tops the bill.

The Irish trainer said that they had hoped to secure a British title eliminator for Watkins, whose mother hails from Wexford, Ireland, that night but the opponent has fallen through.

“We were looking at Martyn Grainger in a British title eliminator, but out of the blue he announced that he is now retired,” Fitzpatrick said.

“It is now back to the drawing board. With Matty Askin facing Tommy McCartney in a final eliminator next month, the aim is to get Duke into a mandatory position by April.”

Fitzpatrick will also have Harry Webb making his debut on the undercard on November 26, while Penhill’s former IBO super-middleweight intercontinental champion Kelvin Young will be stepping into the ring for one last time.