LUKE Watkins is looking forward to the year ahead as he bids to make it a perfect 10 in 2017.

The unbeaten Swindon cruiserweight was due to fight in late November at the Oasis Leisure Centre but the ‘Talk is Cheap’ show was cancelled, leaving Watkins, who is nicknamed ‘The Duke’, stranded on nine wins from as many contests.

Since then, the 27-year-old has joined forces with stable-mates Ryan Martin, Sam Smith and trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick to form Trifecta Sports Entertainment.

The company aims to nurture local sports personalities as well as raise money for charities in the process.

Watkins, who turned professional in 2014, believes being a part of the company can only be a good thing for his career moving forward.

“I take full control,” said Watkins. “It’s not left down to promoters for shows to fall through, we know what is going on behind closed doors now.

“If anything goes wrong, we will be the ones who are responsible for that to be put right. If it does go wrong, we know why and we can accept it.

“Me, as a person, I don’t like to rely on anyone, my parents raised me up to be that way, it’s not nice to rely on people.

“It’s nice to know you have business partners who have the same interests as well as striving for the same success.”

Watkins also revealed he is no longer managed by world super-middleweight contender George Groves and that he has asked Ferndale Road-based trainer Fitzpatrick to take on the role.

Relations between Fitzpatrick and Groves soured after the latter was unable to claim a world title at the third attempt back in September 2015 as he suffered a points defeat to Badou Jack.

Watkins said: “I felt a as professional, if my manager and coach had a conflict of interests, that wasn’t in my best interests.

“We mutually agreed to separate and part ways. I’ve asked Paddy to take over as my manager and coach.”

The duo will now be working on Watkins’ preparations to fight for the Irish title on March 17.

“It is three months away so I am going to be very honest, I’m going to eat a lot food. I’m not a big drinker so I will push that to one side but I’m going to eat a lot of food,” he added.

“Hopefully I don’t put on too much weight and you have to stay active to make sure you aren’t tipping the scales too far.”