TRAINER Paddy Fitzpatrick says Swindon fighter Luke ‘The Duke’ Watkins is ready to take a risk as he prepares for the next stage of his career.

This week, the Commonwealth cruiserweight champion was named as a mandatory challenger for the EU European title against Italian Fabio Turchi.

Turchi, whose record stands at 14-0 with 11 coming via a knockout, isn’t the only potential route for the former New College student, as he weighs up interest from British champion Matty Askin and Olympic gold medallist Lawrence Okolie.

The bout with 24-year-old Turchi goes to purse bids later this month and would see Watkins keep his Commonwealth title no matter what the outcome.

However, Fitzpatrick revealed Okolie’s promoters Matchroom boxing have been in contact and insists the ball is in their court should they want to make that fight happen.

“From a promotional view, I don’t think Eddie Hearn would like that fight just yet, they might do, but I think they want him (Okolie) to have one or two more fights before he fights Luke,” said Fitzpatrick, who claims Watkins would prefer to face Askins.

“They have called about the fight twice, they called in January and we said we’d take it and then they called around three weeks ago.

“Duke is in a position where he wants to fight Matty, the problem with that is they are not with a promoter and neither are we.

“So, you have a situation where two men are willing to fight each other but don’t have a fight promoter.

“I like the Okolie fight. Lawrence bumped into Luke last month and asked what was going on, we said he needs to speak to his people, which is Eddie (Hearn) and his manager Anthony Joshua.

“If they want that fight, the ball is in their park because we are more than willing to take that fight, it’s a great fight.

“You have to be willing to take the risk but the rewards have got to be justified. Fighting Lawrence is justified because it’s a massive platform, fighting Matty is justified because it’s a British and Commonwealth unification and fighting Fabio is rewarded because it gets you an EU title.”

Fitzpatrick also said he more than backs his man to defeat Okolie if they stepped into the ring and claims he is looking to get Watkins back into the ring this in the next eight weeks before making a title defence in June.

“He’s big for the weight and he’s a puncher, I’m talking about Duke. People talk about Okolie and say he is big and he can punch, but so can Luke,” he added.

“Lawrence has proven his quality through the Olympics. He is a big and serious test, he carries more power than any of the other boys in there.

“I think it is a very high-risk fight for both men, but I believe Duke has the beating of them all day long.

“The fight would garner massive attention, Luke is very good at playing his part the two of them could make that a very big fight.”