Sam Maxwell is ready for a step up and hopes that it will come sooner rather than later.
The 30-year-old Commonwealth Games bronze medallist is back in action next month.
Maxwell, who is undefeated in nine with seven early finishes, will face Mikey Sakyi over six rounds on December 22 at Manchester Arena, exclusively live on BT Sport Box Office, as part of the supporting cast to Josh Warrington’s IBF featherweight title defence against Carl Frampton.
But he feels like his apprenticeship is over now and that it is time to move up in levels, with one man firmly in his sights.
“It’s going well but I’m ready to move on a bit faster now,” Maxwell said. “I’ve done my apprenticeship, I’ve had nine good wins where the level of opponent has increased with each fight and if I get through this fight, as I expect to, I can be moved quickly into some interesting fights.”
The man in the sights of Maxwell is Ohara Davies.
“In my division, there are about 15 names that could be great fights and I think anyone of those, early in the year, to get me started. There are a whole host of names that I could go for and Frank Warren promotes a few as well, so there are some massive fights out there for me.”
Davies, who lost to Jack Catterall back in October in Leicester, has history with Liverpool fighters, having beaten both Derry Mathews and Tom Farrell.
And ‘Super Sam’ wants to turn the tables and inflict yet another defeat on ‘Two Tanks’, whose first reverse was to hotly-tipped Scottish talent Josh Taylor in July 2017.
Taylor faces Ivan Baranchyk for the IBF super-lightweight title in the World Boxing Super Series semi-finals in the new year.
And Maxwell is hoping he can reach a similar level to the Commonwealth Games champion as he progresses through the ranks.
“Ohara is still a massive name, I watched his fight against Jack Catterall, and I think I’ve got the talent and the ability to beat him.
“He’s got amazing power, I’ve seen it in person, but I feel like I’m just the better boxer and the win over him would be a massive scalp for me to have his name on my record.
“That’s a fight that I really want to push for and hopefully get in 2019.”
Meanwhile, the aforementioned Tom Farrell and new British and Commonwealth king at 140lbs, Robbie Davies, were also mentioned by Maxwell as potential future opponents.
“They’ll be massive fights to be made for my city and for boxing in general,” he said. “We’ve got some great prospects that will hopefully be winning titles in the next year or two and I’m glad to be a part of that.”
Article by: Elliot Foster