Popular Islington super-middleweight John Ryder took time out from his intensive training schedule to speak about his upcoming WBO Interim world title showdown with Zach Parker.

Southpaw Ryder faces the Derby fighter at the O2 Arena on Saturday, November 26 and says there is much to do before the pair meet in the ring.

"I have been working hard with my team in the gym, but there is still a lot more hard work to be done before fight night in just over a fortnight’s time," he said.

"I have already had some good sparring with a variety of fighters from our gym and also we have brought others in as well. Parker is a bit of a switch-hitter, so I have undertaken some sparring with southpaws to cover all of my bases.

"It is a very important fight for me, but I have already got a lot of big fight night experience behind me which I can draw upon and I have generally fought against and invariably triumphed over better quality opponents than Parker.

"I will still give him all the respect he deserves on fight night, after all he is unbeaten as a pro at the moment.”

A win for Ryder would put him directly in line for a shot at the legendary WBO belt holder Saul Canelo Alvarez, who is currently mulling over what his next ring exploits might be.

The Mexican has previously indicated that he would like to box in England, so this is just an added incentive for Ryder to bring back the WBO Interim belt to Islington.

Tickets for this Interim WBO world title showdown at the O2 Arena are available from axs.com.