Lewis Ritson eyeing domestic derbies ahead of Paul Hyland Jr clash

Lewis Ritson [15(9)-0] claims Paul Hyland Jr has his full attention but that hasn’t stopped the British champion from looking at major fights beyond this Saturday.

The Newcastle lightweight puts his Lonsdale belt on the line against the Belfast fighter in his home town on this weekend’s Sky Sports-broadcast show.

Victory would see ‘The Sandman’ win the title outright and open the door to some massive showdowns for a fighter Matchroom have extremely high hopes for.

The 24-year-old, who exploded onto the scene with stoppage wins over Robbie Barrett, Joe Murray and Scotty Cardle, claims a European title fight has been discussed as has TV friendly fights with Tommy Coyle and even Anthony Crolla.

“If we can get past him [Hyland Jr], then I’ve dealt with the domestic level quite well, so I think we’ll definitely be going European after,” the 24-year-old told Sky Sports.

“That’s what Eddie Hearn has mentioned for me next. We’re just going to keep our eyes on Hyland Jr and not look past him. It’s going to be a tough fight.”

The British domestic scene is quite packed and the Geordie is keen for some big fights with big names.

“The lightweight scene is jumping at the minute and, domestically, there are some great names,” he said.

“The likes of Luke Campbell and Anthony Crolla are in front of me by a little bit, but if I keep winning and putting in the performances then, three or four fights down the line, there is no reason why I can’t fight the likes of them.”

A bout with Hull’s Coyle seems to appeal to Ritson most as he continued to risk looking beyond the determined and confident Hyland.

“I think the fans would love for me and Tommy to get it on for the British and Commonwealth,” Ritson said ahead of his fight with the Irishman at the Metro Radio Arena.

“If we did fight each other, the winner has then dealt with the domestic scene, so they can step up to European.”

“I thought Tommy did well in beating Sean Dodd for the title, it was a good, entertaining, fight.”

“We would be more than confident in taking that and fighting Tommy, we saw a lot of weaknesses in both of them that night.”

While Irish fight fans may take exception to Ritson talking about what is next before he has even thrown a punch against Hyland [18(7)-0], the champion’s plans do provide a glimpse at what else could be on offer if ‘Hylo’ was to win this Saturday.

The Lagmore lightweight had a break-out 2017 with wins over Peter Cope, Adam Dingsdale, and Stephen Ormond and is himself hoping to vault onto the world scene by dethroning Ritson.

READ: Paul Hyland aiming to move to world level with Ritson shock