SOUTHAMPTON fan Ryan Garner says he is on track for a dream fight at St Mary’s thanks to the help of girlfriend Anna – the unsung hero of his camp.
Garner returns on Saturday night in Dublin in a keep-busy bout while talks with his promoter Frank Warren and Saints chiefs continue behind the scenes.
The super-featherweight has his eye on the winner between WBA champion Jazza Dickens and Anthony Cacace on the same card in Ireland.
And he hopes to take a world title fight to St Mary’s in the summer.
Garner told SunSport: “I go to the ground a lot, been to the training ground a lot. I’m proper involved with the club.
“I speak to Phil Parsons, Saints CEO, we’re in talks and as I say, hopefully in the summer it’s going to happen in St Mary’s.
“We’ve been in talks with the club for years so I’ve been building up a good relationship with the club for the last what, five-six years I reckon.
“They’ve been right behind me. They’ve been promoting me properly. I know Queensbury and Frank’s been in talks with Southampton.
“Who knows, get through this and we’ll see what the, see what the summer brings.”
Garner is coached by Wayne Batten and promoted by Hall of Famer Warren – but he revealed partner Anna is the real star of his camp.
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There’s a massive year of boxing ahead!
It’s shaping up to be a blockbuster year of action inside the boxing ring.
Tyson Fury will make his return in April against Arslanbek Makhmudov while Oleksandr Usyk takes on the king of kickboxing Rico Verhoeven.
Conor Benn features for the first time since making the switch to Zuffa Boxing and Fabio Wardley will defend his newly won heavyweight crown.
Canelo Alvarez will be hoping to return after his defeat to Terence Crawford and heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk will also need to defend his straps.
Derek Chisora will fight for the 50th and (perhaps) final time against Deontay Wilder while Daniel Dubois is also on the comeback trail.
A whole bunch of British stars could also take a leap into superstardom, with the likes of Moses Itauma, Hamzah Sheeraz and Adam Azim ready to join the very top of the sport.
Here’s all the big fights coming up…
March
- Sat 14 – Jazza Dickens vs Anthony Cacace – WBA super-featherweight title – DAZN
- Sat 21 – George Liddard vs Tyler Denny – British & Commonwealth Middleweight title – DAZN
- Sat 28 – Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin – DAZN
- Sat 28 – Sebastian Fundora vs Keith Thurman – Amazon Prime PPV
April
- Sat 4 – Deontay Wilder vs Derek Chisora – DAZN PPV
- Sun 5 – Caroline Dubois vs Terri Harper – Sky Sports
- Sat 11 – Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov – Netflix
- Sat 11 – Conor Benn vs Regis Prograis – Netflix
- Sat 18 – Callum Smith vs David Morrell – DAZN
- Sat 18 – Manny Pacquiao vs Ruslan Provodnikov
- Sat 25 – Lawrence Okolie vs Tony Yoka – DAZN
May
- Sat 2 – Zurdo Ramirez vs David Benavidez – WBA & WBO Cruiserweight titles – Prime Video
- Sat 9 – Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois – WBO title – DAZN
- Sat 23 – Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven – WBC title – DAZN
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He said: “I’ve got two young kids, listen, she’s a godsend to be fair. It’s hard, mate. I feel a bit guilty sometimes when I’m in training camp.
“So I start the morning, obviously sorting the kids out and then I take them to nursery, and then I’ve gotta go to the gym, then I come back, then I’ve gotta go back over to the gym again in the evening.
“So it’s a lot of pressure, then I go back to the gym, I leave them at home, so the kids come home from nursery, they’re all hectic, all stressed out and then she’s gotta deal with them, she’s gotta feed them, bath them while I’m at the gym.
“So yeah, I feel a bit guilty sometimes that I can’t be as hands on as I want to be, do you know what I mean?
“But I’m just so busy with training and sorting tickets, training and getting recovery, getting massages here and there in between when I have got a break.
“So it’s hard, mate. I feel guilty, not just about the kids, but about my missus, but hopefully in a few years or something when I retire it’ll all be worth it.
“We’ll have a good bit of money in the bank, nice good way of living and I better spend more time with them and then have a better life for them.
“If I was on my own I couldn’t give a monkeys about boxing really, but where I’ve got the two kids now and the missus and a family to provide for, the way I’m gonna provide for my family is through fighting and through boxing.
“So I know I’ve got to put 110 per cent into it to get out to provide for them.”
Garner, the former British and European champ, revealed among Anna’s biggest roles in his career is being his own personal chef.
He said: “She looks after the kids, takes the stress off me.
“Sometimes she gets up at five in the morning, six in the morning, so she’ll get up with them so just so I can get the rest of recovery in.
“But also cooking meals, I’m not a cook, I couldn’t cook anything! So she cooks my meals and that as well, so she’s a godsend.”
