Portsmouth man steps into the BBC spotlight tonight - and vows to do city proud
Joel McIntyre has vowed to step up for Portsmouth as he goes under the spotlight to defend his English title.
The Leigh Park light-heavyweight gains decent exposure tonight when he steps out in enemy territory in Wolverhampton against Ricky Summers.
The contest will be shown on BBC platforms, giving the chance for the concussive puncher to showcase his talent to a wide audience.
McIntyre returns to the ring for the first time since being stopped by top-level operator Lyndon Arthur in December.
The 35-year-old takes on an opponent of similar age this time out, and knows opportunities could lie down the road.
With a plethora of boxing talent in Portsmouth, McIntyre is looking to do the city proud on and move towards more memorable nights.
McIntyre said: ‘It’s a boost to have the exposure on BBC.
‘I’m not going to lie, I’m not in the same position as a kid just coming through.
‘I’ve haven’t got the same online presence as someone like that.
‘At the same time, I’d like to boost my profile.
‘I know what I want to do and there is going to be a lot of eyes on this.
‘So it’s great to know I can put in a good performance and a lot of people are going to see it.
‘It’s handy the BBC are jumping on - and I think that is good for boxing in general.
‘It's great for Portsmouth.
’Im Leigh Park and live in Chichester now, but I still live in a PO post code.
‘As far as I’m concerned I’m Portsmouth, always Portsmouth.
‘I’m a seasider and I want to bring Portsmouth boxing together moving forward.
‘We’re a warrior city, a fighting city - that needs to be capitalised on.
‘We’re a little island down the bottom of the country with the talent to mess everyone up - why can’t we do that?’
McIntyre will go into the lion’s den against Summers, as he’d done many times in a 13-year professional career.
He feels will have too much for an opponent who has fought twice for the British title, but come up short on both occasions.
McIntyre added ‘I’m ready to show what he can do.
‘He looks up for it but unfortunately for him he has to fight me!
‘We’ve had a good build-up, good training camp and good sparring.
‘I’m going into the lion’s den again and he looks up for it.
‘We’re men and respectful - but I’m going in to take him out.’
McIntyre’s English title defence against Ricky Summers is shown tonight on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, as well as FIGHTZONETV, coverage starting at 7.30pm.