SINCE he was a young boy staying up late to watch his idol Naseem Hamed box on television, Garvey Kelly has always dreamed that one day he would enter the ring as a professional fighter.

Now, on Saturday at the age of 26, that dream will be achieved when he steps out at the Oasis for his first outing in the paid ranks.

Kelly will be facing 36-year-old Matt Seawright on the ‘By Any Means Necessary’ show and the Swindon fighter will be full of confidence with his opponent having only won five of his 109 fights.

“It is the best feeling, I feel like my whole life has worked to this moment,” said Kelly at an open training session on Saturday.

“I look forward to the experience and I think this is the one for me. It is like the coming out party, you can’t get better than boxing in front of your home town.

“I have put in a lot of hard work and, without sounding arrogant, I feel like I deserve it.

“I have trained so hard to get to where I am now and there was a time in my life where I didn’t really have much ambition or real idea of what I wanted to do with my life. I have never been so clear in my mind of what I want to do.

“I can imagine the nerves already. I feel nervous just thinking about it, but through the amateurs I got used to fighting away and going different place to fight guys in their backyard so to have a chance to have a fight in my own backyard is great.”

The Paddy Fitzpatrick-trained boxer was given four weeks’ notice before the bout but believes he is ready for the fight after going through a training camp with stablemate Luke Watkins, prior to his debut fight at Wembley.

Despite the poor record of his opponent, who has not won a fight in his last 24 attempts, Kelly is expecting to go the distance as he makes his professional bow.

“Training is going great. I suppose you hear every boxer say that, but I am in the shape of my life and I have never trained harder,” said Kelly.

“Just from what I have heard he is an experienced guy, has had a lot of fights and I expect him to be tough and to go six rounds.

“I want my community to come out and watch me fight. It is alright hearing about it but having the chance to buy a ticket see it for yourself is the best thing, because I might win over a few people on the night.

“I have won at the Oasis before and I plan on doing it again.”

n LUKE Watkins has had his opponent changed ahead of this weekend’s headline fight at the Oasis.

The Paddy Fitzpatrick-trained fighter had been set to face Radek Linka, who has won seven fights, six inside the distance, with the Czech cruiserweight only hearing the final bell twice in his 11-fight career.

‘The Duke’ will now face the undefeated Hungarian Istvan Kun Satrday night.