Bradley Rea vows to hunt down middleweight rivals if he takes English title in Manchester on November 12 | Boxing News

Bradley Rea believes he is “gaining ground and ready to get in the mix” with his middleweight rivals ahead of his English title fight with Tyler Denny.

The 24-year-old Mancunian will welcome Birmingham’s Tyler Denny to his city, with their fight on a night that includes Ricky Hatton in an exhibition against Marco Antonio Barrera, Natasha Jonas, Dalton Smith, Frazer Clarke and Viddal Riley on November 12, live on Sky Sports.

Rea is undefeated in his professional career, 14-0, with five knockouts, but wary of his “tough opponent” in 31-year-old Tyler Denny.

“He’s probably above English level, he could go on even more,” said Rea.

“He’s an experienced fighter, he’s done the 10 rounds multiple times, fought at a good level. The last four fights have been undefeated lads.

“I’ve only ever done eight rounds, never done 10 rounds, so that’s a question mark that I’ll be looking at answering on November 12.

“The fact that we’re both happy to take that fight just shows the type of fighters we are, but I couldn’t have asked for a better fight, in my hometown as well, on such a big stage, big platform.”

Rea is particularly excited by the “unbelievable” prospect of a fight at Manchester Arena, the famous venue that has hosted local idols such as Hatton and Anthony Crolla.

“The arena, I think there’s just something about it. How the city really gets behind the fighters. Hopefully the city can get behind me and I can deliver when I get on the main stage; it just gives me that little bit of an edge and if it does go into deep waters,” he said.

Despite his fight with Denny being for the English title, the Stretford man, who grew up in his dad’s boxing gym, has set his sights on a higher ambition – the British championship. But Rea isn’t getting ahead of himself.

“You get a lot of lads turning up and saying they want to headline in Vegas for the unified division. I wouldn’t say no, but I set realistic targets that I really believe I could accomplish and that was one of them [winning the British title],” he said.

“If we do win this fight on the 12th, I don’t think it’s going to force us to rush, I’m going to follow the path and the end goal will be that British title whenever it may be.”

When reflecting on the next step after his fight on November 12, Rea shot a warning to the middleweight division.

“I’m not scared to get involved with these types of opponents,” said a defiant Rea.

“A year ago they were probably looking back at me but I’m gaining ground and I’m ready to get in the mix”.

Watch Bradley Rea take on Tyler Denny live on Sky Sports on Saturday, November 12.