Ryan Aston eyes a decade of success

Dudley's Ryan Aston has targeted a decade of success ahead of his pro debut on the Sky Sports bill in Sheffield.

The former amateur star makes his bow against Iain Jackson in a four-round middleweight contest at Hillsborough Leisure Centre tonight, with hometown hero Kell Brook facing Lovemore N'Dou at the top of the bill for the WBA Inter-Continental welterweight title.

Jackson steps in at less than a week's notice for Joe Jones and shocked another debutant, Diego Burton, by taking a draw earlier this month.

And Aston has got extra reason to be wary of his opponent as he is scheduled to box again next Saturday night, on the undercard of David Haye's multi-world title showdown against Wladimir Klitschko in Germany.

His dream fight won't happen should he be cut for any reason tonight or, worse still, lose by stoppage.

But Aston has had some heavy duty sparring to get him ready for his debut, having been out of the ring since boxing on a Priory Park ABC club show in February.

'Tank' gave James DeGale's conqueror, George Groves, a cracking black eye ahead of that fight in a practice session, while the youngster will soon be heading to join European champion Darren Barker for training.

Aston's legend precedes him in the amateur ranks after winning four national titles, three gold and two silver medals boxing for England and three gold and one silver medal fighting for Team GB.

Now the 20-year-old, signed to Haye's 'Hayemaker' stable, is looking for a similar roll call in the pro ranks and wants to go for his first belt next year.

But, when he gets into his 30s, Aston will be looking to retire, having boxed since he was eight.

He said: "I am not stopping now and, next year, I am going for titles. This career path is going to be me now until I reach about 30.

"I would have had 10 years in the pro game then and that's going to be enough for me."

Aston insists he will put his appearance on the Haye bill to the back of his mind tonight and deal with his first pro fight accordingly.

He said: "It's going to be a busy two weeks but this is a big show to box on first, I have been out of the ring since February but I have been sparring a lot, with all different guys, so it's not like I am out of touch with it.

"It only takes me a couple of seconds to get into the swing of things anyway and I am not even thinking about him landing one on me, if I do it will play on my mind.

"It's just another fight to me, if I take it like it's a world title shot then, before I know it, I will thinking so much about not getting cut that I probably will."