Grant Cunningham up for his English title shot
Stafford's Grant Cunningham won't be taking a step back when the goes away from home for his English title shot this weekend.
The man from Moss Pit gets his shot at the nation's vacant middleweight belt on Saturday night, despite losing an eliminator two months ago.
Cunningham conceded his undefeated record in the fifth round against Damon Jones, who was pulled out of the fight with a cut right eyebrow.
The bout went to the cards where Jones got the decision 48-47 on points, Cunningham aggrieved that the contest was not allowed to continue.
But it's turned out for the 31-year-old, with Jones fore-fitting his opportunity after being handed a chance at British champion Nick Blackwell.
That leaves 'Maximus' and Lewis Taylor - himself coming off the back of a loss - to slug it out over 10 rounds at the Magna Centre in Rotherham.
Cunningham said: "I'm expecting it to be a tough fight. We both have styles that you don't need to go looking for. It's the challenge motivates me, not the prize.
"He won't have to look for me and I don't like going backwards, so it should be interesting. I don't know a great deal about him, though.
"Like I've told people, I don't look too hard at my opponents as you can see something that isn't there, but I know what he likes to do and what he does well.
"I'm fine about the last time. I've moved on and I'm quite content with it. C'est La Vie and all that. Lessons were learned from the last fight which have had an influence on my approach to this one."
