Anthony Yigit will meet Lenny Daws for the vacant European junior welterweight title on Saturday evening at Westcroft Leisure Centre in Carshalton, England.

The bout appears to be a crossroads contest, pitting the unbeaten Yigit (18-0-1, 7 knockouts) against more the experienced Daws (30-4-2, 11 KOs).

Yigit, at 25, is the younger man by 12 years and is keen to test his mettle against Daws, who will be hoping it’s “third time lucky” after two previous unsuccessful attempts at the EBU title.

“It’s going to be a tough fight,” Yigit told RingTV.com. “I’ve seen Lenny Daws, he’s a skilled fighter, he can put the rounds in. I’m coming in expecting a very tough fight.

“I just have to be fit, which I believe I am, and I think I need to find a way to break him down. I think that’s what it comes down to. It’s going to be a very physical fight but at the same time it’s going to be a very tactical fight.”

He clearly respects his elders, but while he sees strengths in Daws game he also picks out areas he’s able to take advantage of.

“He has the heart. He’s 37 years old but he hasn’t got the European title yet — he’s fought for it twice before. I guess this is his third attempt, he really wants it. He’s going in with a bigger heart than ever and he has that mentality of a fighter. He also has height and reach [advantages] but that’s not going to take you far without the first things I mentioned.

“I’ve been looking at him for a long time and I knew he was in my weight and I knew I’m up-and-coming and it might come to a point where I’m going to fight him. I’ve studied him from before, I’ve seen a lot of things I can exploit. I’m the shorter fighter. He’s very open at some points, I think I can exploit that. It’s all about me going through with my trainer what we think is best to use against him.”

The two had been scheduled to fight last fall but the fight was cancelled due to a back injury Daws picked up.

The fight being rescheduled hasn’t been a problem for Yigit.

“I was ready to fight him back in December,” he added. “I was very sad when I heard it was cancelled but obviously he got injured. There’s not much to do about it. I don’t want to fight him injured so it’s good he called the fight off.”

After hearing of the news, Yigit, who has lives in London, traveled back to his native Sweden — which he represented at the 2012 Olympics — where he spent six days with his family.

Although he was visiting, he still trained and has been in the gym ever since.

He seems relaxed and at home in London after spells training in Berlin, Copenhagen and Tenerife, and despite being the “away” fighter won’t be unduly perturbed.

“We’re going to try to shock Lenny Daws by bringing as many supporters as possible to the venue,” he said optimistically. “Hopefully we’ll make sure my name is the one the crowd is cheering and not his. We’re going to try make that happen and I believe we can.”

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter @AnsonWainwright

Struggling to locate a copy of RING magazine? Try here or…

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to the print and digital editions of RING magazine by clicking the banner or here. You can also order the current issue, which is on newsstands, or back issues from our subscribe page. On the cover this month: THE RING 2016 Fighter of the Year, Carl Frampton.