Nathan Massey and Luke Smith set for bareknuckle boxing rematch

“I’ve fought in white-collar boxing, pro gloved boxing, kickboxing, MMA and bareknuckle boxing,” said the 37-year-old. “For the last few years, I’ve been fighting three or four times every weekend. Last year I only had two weekends off.

“I’ve seen the world. Four weeks ago I was in Denmark for an MMA fight and the set up and venue was mind blowing.”

Massey used to fight on the streets of Wolverhampton.

“I went to prison in 2007 and when I got released I stopped drinking,” he said. “That’s the reason why I was getting into trouble.

"I was an angry drunk. I had my first daughter (Skyla) on the way and I had to find a way to get my temper under control.

“I entered a white-collar tournament at five weeks’ notice, got to the final and decided that was what I wanted to do.

“I could have been in prison, but instead I’ve been to Italy, Malta, France, all over the world.”

His next fight is rather closer to home, at the Hangar Events Venue tomorrow night.

It is a bareknuckle match promoted by BYB Extreme – and much anticipated by the fans around the world who watched the first fight between Massey and Walsall’s Luke ‘Scrap King’ Smith in March.

Smith won what was billed as ‘The Battle of the Black Country’ – and they meet again this month in what Massey calls ‘The Black Country Bust-Up.’

He lives less than a mile from the venue and Smith will bring big support with him from Walsall.

Smith reckons he has to blank out his supporters to  win the five-round fight.

“The first fight was hard because I made it hard,” said Smith. “I punched him and then just stood there waiting for him to hit me back!

“We have the crowd what they wanted, but if you have the skills you don’t have to fight like that.

“I have been fighting for 20 years, but that was a different experience. I barely got touched in my other fights, but I heard the crowd, my ego took over and I ended up having a punch-up.”

The rematch will be another new experience for Smith.

It goes ahead in the three-sided trigon that promoters BYB Extreme describe as “the smallest fighting surface in combat sports.”

Massey says his experience in the trigon has convinced him he has to be a front-foot fighter, while Smith says he’s planning “the performance of my life time” after leaving his family to prepare.

“I’ve put myself a bed in the spare room of the gym in Birmingham and I’ve been staying there,” he said. “I haven’t seen my son (22-month-old Luca David) for weeks and I’m not doing that for nothing.

“I’ve made this fight my priority. I’ve taken away all distractions and anything that might take the wind out of my sails. I didn’t want to get stressed out being stuck in traffic so I decided to live in the gym!”

There are a handful of tickets left for the show available from www.bkbworld.tv