CRUISERWEIGHT Luke ‘The Duke’ Watkins says his fight with Lawrence Okolie will bring no fresh challenges as the duo prepare to go head-to-head this summer.

A deal between Swindon’s Watkins, and Okolie’s promoter Eddie Hearn was struck on Tuesday night, as the Matchroom chief confirmed the bout on social media.

Now the two undefeated fighters are due to meet at London’s York Hall on Wednesday, June 6 as the main event which will be broadcast on Sky Sports.

Watkins says Okolie, who has a substantial height advantage over the Swindon man, and the fight in general present nothing he hasn’t come up against before, the 28-year-old having topped a bill and appeared on television already.

“Paddy (Fitzpatrick, trainer) will now contact certain people because we are obviously going to require a certain type of sparring, so in the next couple of days we will have all of that in place,” said the Commonwealth champion.

“I’m in the gym every day. That is the way I live my life. I have come up against someone like him before.

“It’s simple. Sky is the biggest platform by far and it will give you the best exposure but it is nothing new for me.

“It’s another camera, it’s in a venue that I have boxed in before against a good guy, that is all it is.

“I’m not in this to fight in small halls and not be known. I’m in this to be on the big stage. I want to be in big fights and this is something that can propel my career.”

Watkins was due to fight earlier this year at Swindon’s MECA, but after snow curtailed Trifecta’s ‘No Retreat, No Surrender’ show in March, the former New College student has been out of action since his Commonwealth title defence against Mike Stafford last December.

Trainer Fitzpatrick had been looking to get Watkins back in the ring earlier this year but with just six weeks to go until fight night, the cruiserweight revealed he has already been working towards the contest.

“I’ve been in camp with two different people already this year, so it’s not like I haven’t been training because it is what I do full time,’’ he added.

“Now I have a date which is the best thing because I have a goal to work towards.

“I’ve been training hard and sparring hard.

“It’s a good deal, I am happy. The options were there but it came down to what is business sense and what makes sense for me.”