Miles Shinkwin says his opponent for the Southern Area title, Joel McIntyre, is in for a “big shock” if the Portsmouth boxer believes his claims the Bushey man has a glass chin, no heart and can’t punch.

Shinkwin faces McIntyre for the vacant Southern Area light heavyweight title tomorrow (Saturday) at York Hall in Bethnal Green.

The former Bushey ABC boxer was made mandatory for the belt in February but has had to wait until now after several potential opponents refused to take the fight and then McIntyre pulled out of a May contest due to a hand injury.

Now the wait is nearly over.

“The best week for boxers is fight week and it is the best buzz you can get,” Shinkwin said on Monday. “The missus won’t agree with you because I can get a bit snappy but I have been chasing this a long time and I’m delighted it is finally here.”

Shinkwin had an impressive amateur career, winning bronze in the Junior Olympics and his scalps in the unpaid ranks include Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Ogogo and English champion Travis Dickinson.

He turned professional in October 2012 and has won all eight of his fights, with three of his last four coming by stoppage.

But that hasn’t stopped McIntyre, who has knocked out one of his 11 opponents, from questioning Shinkwin’s durability and spirit ahead of their title fight.

Shinkwin responded: “He has said I've got a glass chin, no bottle, no heart and can’t punch. I don’t know where he has got any of that from and the records don’t back up what he says either, especially as my knock-out record is a lot higher than his.

“Also he wasn’t able to knock down guys I have knocked down three or four times in fights.

“I have been sparring 15 rounds in the gym and have been sparring ten rounds easy. If he honestly believes the things he is saying then he is in for a big shock. I guess he must be saying these things to try to give himself hope.

“If I get wound up and drawn into a battle then he has a chance. If it is a boxing match and I get going then he is in trouble.

“He seems like a nice geezer and I understand it is boxing. But you don’t win boxing fights with your mouth, you win them with your fists.

“I go to bed every night and can sleep easy because I know what I can do in the ring. He obviously doesn’t.”

Shinkwin spent eight days training at Matthew Macklin’s MGM gym in Marbella alongside trainer Jason Rowland and stable-mates Tony Conquest and Mitchell Smith, who is also a former Bushey Boxing Club member.

The 26-year-old wanted to publicly thank Roland De Souza from Croxley Tyres and Tony and Cae Menai Davis at the Shire Golf Club for helping to pay for his visit.

He said: “Every fighter will say they have had the perfect training camp – I say it to you all the time when I don’t think I have had the perfect training camp for any of my fights, with bad hands, back or whatever – but this camp has been perfect.

“We went over to MGM for eight days and it was brilliant. Our group all get on very well, we are all striving for the same things and we helped push each other on. I loved it.”

Shinkwin, who works as a heating engineer, said the trip gave him an insight into the life of a full-time professional boxer and provided him with motivation as he tries to reach that level.

He has several sponsors already, with PJ Heating and Holywell Skip Hire also providing support, and he hopes victory over McIntyre could help him become full-time.

Shinkwin said: “The camp was like dangling a carrot. It was like saying ‘this is what you could have’.

“If I win this fight, then that is nearly where I want to be.”

When asked if a victory would lead to him turning full-time, Shinkwin replied: “I have to think like that. Hand on heart, I can’t say either way but that is the way I have to treat it.

“Depending on how I win, this could open doors for me. If I go in there and blow him out and do what I can do then people will start to take notice.”

He concluded: “I know the power is with me, I’ve got the speed and I’ve got every advantage over him. It is about putting it together on the night.

“If I go in there at 90 per cent then I could lose. If he goes in at 90 per cent then he will lose. It is about me going in there on the night and performing.”