JACK Cullen says he is fit, fight-ready and raring to go as he prepares to take to the ring tonight.

The rising star from Little Lever faces Emmanuel Moussinga at the Bolton Whites Hotel and, though he expects a tough night’s work, he is confident he can register his 13th victory as a professional.

For the second time since turning pro, Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver is preparing for an eight-round bout – the only other time he was scheduled to go that distance he took out Alistair Warren before the halfway mark – and he says stamina will not be an issue, given his lengthy preparation for tonight.

“I’m in the best shape of my life,” he told The Bolton News. “My training couldn’t have gone any better, I’ve been working towards this fight for nearly four months, I was training hard for my last fight at Victoria Warehouse [last month’s points decision against Harry Matthews] and I had a few days off after that then got straight back into training camp for this one, so I’m feeling good.

“I’m looking to put in a good performance and make sure I don’t get dragged into a war because, I don’t know that much about Moussinga, but I know he’s tough. I saw his fight against Ben Sheedy at the Arena and it went the distance, he looked very tough but if I put into practice what I’ve been working on I’m confident I can come out on top.”

Moussinga may have a reputation as a tough opponent but has a hardly-daunting 4-12 record while Cullen can go to 13-1 with a win tonight. His sole defeat came in mitigating circumstances in March, as he lost the final of the eight-fighter Last Man Standing show in Dublin, his third match of the night and coming around eight minutes after his semi-final victory against a far better-rested Roy Sheahan.

Cullen’s following is growing all the time too. Little Lever was, in recent years, deserted when their local lad was in the ring but the town is taking notice of one of its hottest properties now.

And the 24-year-old, who wants to blow away more opponents in the autumn, has his eye on scooping championship gold by the time next year is out.

“I’m 12-1 now and I hope I’ll extend that with two or three more fights from September,” he said. “And next year I’m definitely looking to be fighting for titles.

“Little Lever has always backed me but now I’ve got people from all around the town coming to my fights, which I always appreciate. They’re a really good crowd, big boxing fans and they must enjoy watching me fight.

“I am grateful to them, and all my sponsors who help me, I’d be snookered without their support so a big thank you goes to all those who are backing me, it’s great to have such support and it means a lot to me. Hopefully it will grow and I can get a few more sponsors, the more the merrier.

“I’m still trying to get my name out there and build up my reputation, I want to be fighting on big undercards and televised shows and doing Bolton proud.”