Darlington's Troy Williamson says Josh Kelly's "pedigree counts for nothing" as the pair get set for their North East grudge match on Friday night.

Williamson and Kelly, from Sunderland, will face the press today ahead of their British Super Welterweight title clash at the Utilita Arena, in Newcastle.

Both men are currently belt holders and both men are coming into the fight on the back of back of wins.

Kelly, 12-1-1 and a 2016 Olympian holds the WBO International Super Welterweight title, but it will be the Darlington man's historic Lonsdale belt on the line when the pair face off in the hotly contested clash.

Williamson, 19-0-1, said:  "His pedigree counts for nothing, you have to remember he was meant to the best thing since sliced bread. People always mention being in the Olympics but it’s irrelevant, he’s been found out before and I’ll expose him on fight night."

"He's always been a technical fighter but the questions still hang over him – can he swim when the water starts getting rough? I can turn this into a fight he won’t like, and when things get rough I don’t think he’ll know how to respond."

"One of us is going to come out of this as the Super Welterweight hope for North East boxing. I can tell you now, it’ll be me."

Kelly said: "It's on. Fight week has started and I’m fired up and ready to go.

"I know what to expect from Troy, he’s a good fighter but he doesn’t present any new problems for me. I’ll be the best opponent he has come up against and he’ll be second guessing what things are going to be like.

"For me, there have been plenty of Troy Williamsons that I have beaten before, and that will be the exact same outcome for this fight. And the new…"

Limited tickets are still available at www.wassermanboxing.com

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