Simon O'Donnell

‘Slick’ Simon O’Donnell says his training regime is so intense he could handle a title fight now – even though he has never been beyond six rounds.

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Notting Hill middleweight O’Donnell returns to the ring for only the second time in eight months on Friday night when he boxes an as yet unnamed opponent at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium.

But the Galway-born fighter, trained by former European featherweight champion Jim McDonnell, has his sights set on an Irish title bid before the year is out – and would be happy to challenge for the belt much sooner.

“I’ve been training hard and hopefully this will shake off any cobwebs,” O’Donnell told the Times. “With the training Jim puts me through, I feel fit enough to do 12 rounds right now.

“I’ve been sparring with James DeGale, Steve O’Meara and George Kean – a top amateur from Repton BC – so I don’t think fitness will ever be a problem.

“Hopefully my next one after this will be an eight-rounder, then another couple of fights, and by the end of the summer I’d love to be fighting for the Irish title.

“Once I win that, I think doors will open for me and the aim is to get fitter, stronger and gain more experience. We’ll see how it goes – I’m taking it one step at a time and my first concern is Friday.”

O’Donnell, who wore the Dale Youth ABC vest before turning professional, won eight of his first nine paid contests, with a 2007 loss to Danny Rivera the only blot on his record.

He then spent two and a half years out of the ring for personal reasons and, despite returning last summer with a points victory over Sergejs Savrinovics, he has had only one outing since then, stopping Ty Mitchell at York Hall in October.

But promoter Spencer Fearon succeeded in securing him a slot on the Bolton show and O’Donnell admitted: “It’s been ups and downs. Obviously I want to stay active, but there just weren’t any shows I could get on.

“I spoke to Spencer, who said the only one happening in February was in Bolton, but he’s a man of his word and he managed to get me on this one – on condition that I sold 100 tickets!”

According to trainer McDonnell, boxing fans will be queuing up to see the 26-year-old in action once he gets back into his stride and builds up more experience.

“Simon’s been working on a few different things and it’s a matter of moving the talent he’s got onto a bigger stage,” said McDonnell. “It’d mean a lot to him if he could win the Irish title.

“I think he could become a very good middleweight domestically – in the next 12 months he could box anyone in the country.”