RYAN Martin believes that stepping into the unknown has helped give him an extra edge in training.

The unbeaten welterweight prospect fights for the vacant WBC Youth world welterweight title at the Oasis Leisure Centre when he meets another undefeated man in Michael McKinson on Saturday, April 8.

Having gone up against a string of journeyman in his fledgling career, the former England amateur is all too aware that Belfast-born McKinson will not be coming into the ring to cover up and hear the final bell.

“One of the biggest struggles I have had so far is getting motivated to fight the journeyman boxers,” Martin said.

“I’ve got myself motivated to a point with my training but when you go into the ring you know that you are supposed to go in there and outbox the other man.

“But for this fight, I’ve had no such problems. I know that this has to be the very best Ryan Martin.”

With the fight for the belt that has been held by Danny Garcia, Saul Alvarez, Timothy Bradley Jr and Devon Alexander less than a month away, Martin says training has been going extremely well for his first 10 round contest.

“If anything, I’m probably ahead of schedule,” said Martin. “My weight is fantastic, usually I’ve got around 10 pounds to a stone to go.

“It has been really good with Paddy. We are on the same page when it comes to our boxing philosophy.

“He has the same ideas as me as to what I want from my career.”

With Martin headlining the Risky Business show next month, he returned to his old amateur club, Walcot ABC, at the weekend.

“It was probably the best day of the camp so far,” the 23-year-old said. “It was brilliant going back to where it began, spending time with the kids and seeing Harry (Scott).

“I owe a lot of my success to Harry so it was great to go and give a little bit back.”

Despite Martin and McKinson fighting in the same weight class as a professional and the Swindon boxer only being two months older than his opponent, the pair never fought each other on the amateur circuit.

“We knew about each other,” Martin explained. “When you go to the shows, you see the same faces when they are making semi-finals and finals.

“He was in a lighter weight category than me back then so we didn’t fight each other.

“I think he is the bigger of the two of us now, but that is not a problem, I’ve always been in against the bigger guys.”