Late call-ups could be the best of British

Walsall's Martin Gethin was left in limbo just two months ago, losing the lightweight crown on a spilt decision to Derry Mathews in his first defence.

Rowley Regis' Welborn was out of his league when competing for the welter belt in January 2013, going down in the seventh to world-class defending champion Frankie Gavin.

Tossed on the scrapheap and deemed a last resort as future challengers, the belts looked to have moved on without them as the next matches were made.

There was no mention of either of them on the original under-card of what was supposed to be Tyson Fury versus Dereck Chisora at the Manchester Arena tomorrow night, live on BoxNation.

Mathews was ordered by the British Boxing Board of Control to defend against Terry Flanagan on the show or vacate. He turned the belt in and the next call went to the dethroned champion.

Gethin won't worry himself about the specifics, particularly at 30-years-old. He's in there with one message: 'let's see who is the champ and who is the chump.'

'Turbo' Terry, deemed a hot prospect since winning Prizefighter last year, is the bookies' favourite to carry on speeding towards the Lonsdale belt, but 'the Quiet Man' will do his talking in the ring.

He said: "Flanagan hasn't really been tested yet. Don't get me wrong, he's a really good boxer but it's whether he's got it in him when I put the pressure on.

"Has he got the lungs to last 12 rounds? I'm not sure. I'm always the underdog in every fight I have, so I'm under no pressure at all. He's boxing in front of a big crowd in Manchester for the British title.

"It's his first big fight and he's the favourite. The pressure is on him. I have been in a lot stronger and tougher fights than he has or will give me.

"Flanagan has only been eight rounds, a couple of 10-rounders, and he's going into a different world if he does go past that."

After the Gavin defeat, Welborn moved up to light middle, feeling that the lower weight was sapping his strength come the later rounds in the title arena.

The one worry was that power could be comprised - he could bang with the best of them at welter. We will find out once and for all if he gets the chance to test champion Liam Smith's chin.

Welborn's bloodbath with Terry Carruthers to become a two-weight Midlands boss last December allayed some fears, against an opponent he happily points out drew with Smith earlier in his career.

'Beefy' will be a defence away from a Lonsdale belt if he can get through this, against a challenger he hadn't trained for or thought about until two weeks ago.

Navid Mansouri's late withdrawal through injury left the Smith camp desperate for a replacement and, after much scratching around, in came the Black Country fighter.

And Welborn really wants to knock this kid's block off, not just for the belt, but because of the war of words that has broken out between the two.

He dared to imply that Gavin, the only Brit to ever win a World amateur title, was not in Smith's league. His Scouse adversary went berserk and promised to "to wipe the floor" with him.

Welborn said: "He's not in Frankie's league. If he believes he is, good luck to him. I wasn't being disrespectful, because there aren't many fighters about as tricky and skilful as Frankie.

"I think Liam is beatable. I said he's had certain fights hand-picked and then he responded by saying he gave me the shot because I am no good! I'm ranked fifth in Britain, so we'll just see."

Again, he won't be favoured by the pundits at this sort of notice, but Welborn has every confidence there could be a few humbles pies dished up for Sunday lunch.

He said: "My plan is to take the belt and turn a few heads on the way. I just want to get in there now and soak up the atmosphere.

"I am in top shape. I have tweaked my routine a little and, hopefully, that will pay off. I need to prove that I belong at this level and that's what I'm aiming to do against Smith."