LUKE Watkins will have no worries about going into the lion’s den when he meets Ian Tims for the Irish cruiserweight title this summer.

The unbeaten Swindon fighter is likely to have to head over the Irish Sea after Tims’ promoters MTK won the purse bids to stage the bout with the Boxing Union of Ireland stating the contest must take place before June 20.

However, Watkins’ trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick feels that his charge will not have any problems being in the away corner.

“When I said to Duke about that, he said, ‘to have it back in Swindon I would be happy for my supporters, but to have it in Ireland I’m going to be happy to win the Irish title in Ireland and that is what I would like to do’,” the Ferndale Road-based trainer said.

“He has no qualms of going away, after he made his debut I paid a small fortune to take Duke away for his second pro fight because I wanted put him on in Germany (on the undercard of Paul Smith WBO world super-middleweight bid against Arthur Abraham in September 2014).

“That didn’t come cheap – people think you get paid for everything you do in this game – you don’t.

“That cost me money because I wanted him to have that experience. A promoter won’t put you on a show if they don’t promote you.

“Also, wherever the fight takes place, he will have a coach from Wexford where his mother is from, and don’t forget Eamonn (O’Kane, Watkins former stablemate) lives in Northern Ireland and he will bring a big enough crowd to so he won’t be left on his own.”

Watkins, who has won all 10 of his bouts so far, will also have a chance to etch his name into the annals of Irish boxing.

“Duke is fighting for the Irish title against Ian Tims in a history-making fight, because there has never been a black Irish champion,” the Irish trainer said.

“You need to win titles to get more recognition and to build your brand but also to if you can make a little bit of history along the way then that is an added bonus. 

“The Irish board said that Ian and Duke have got to fight each other for the Irish title and the winner then has got to defend against Tommy McCarthy.”