Bushey's Miles Shinkwin believes the introduction of a new nutritionist will enable him to beat arch rival Joel McIntyre when the duo face off at York Hall.

The old foes will cross paths once again on Saturday, September 15 when they compete for the English Light Heavyweight title, with Shinkwin determined to gain revenge over McIntyre after the Portsmouth boxer beat him two years ago in a unanimous decision.

This will be the third time that the duo have locked horns, with Shinkwin condemning McIntyre to his first ever professional defeat at York Hall in 2014 to claim the Southern Arena Light Heavyweight title.

Four years down the line and at the same venue where he beat McIntyre, Shinkwin is hoping for a repeat performance.

He said: “Our styles gel well together. Both of our fights have been up for British Fight of the Year. I don’t think either of us will run away with it.

“In the first fight, I broke my rib in the second round and I couldn’t really breathe properly for the rest of the fight. For the first six rounds, he couldn’t hit me and I think it was 6-0 until the fatigue caught up with me because of the injury.

“The second fight, I shouldn’t be making excuses because it’s done and I can’t change it, but I shouldn’t have been boxing at the time. I didn’t train and I starved to make the weight better so I didn’t eat for two weeks.

“I got a nutritionist two or three fights ago because the way I was dealing with weight was completely wrong and affecting my performance. Once I got him on board, both days I was the exact same weight to the ounce. The difference in my body shape and how I felt was crazy.

He added: “I’m enjoying boxing and training again. This time, I feel I owe myself a performance. I’ve got a bit of a point to prove.”

Shinkwin goes into his latest bout with McIntyre off the back of two consecutive defeats against Jake Ball and Liam Conroy.

The loss to Conroy was particularly controversial after Shinkwin accused his opponent of throwing illegal punches, something the British Boxing Board agreed with.

The board ordered a rematch, something which hasn’t taken place since, but the Bushey fighter’s focus has firmly turned to his next bout against McIntyre, which Shinkwin believes he is better prepared for than previous encounters with his old adversary.

He said: “I’ve never been one for a game-plan kind of fight because if you go in there and think certain things are going to happen and it doesn’t happen, then you’re a bit screwed then. It’s a 10 round fight and you’ve got 30 minutes to work something out.

“I know how McIntyre fights – he’s going to come at me and try and make it his type of fight and make it into a brawl. The difference this time is that I won’t box like last time.”