CAOIMHIN Agyarko is straight back into action this Saturday in Sheffield as he answered the call to step in and face Ryan Kelly.

Kelly had been due to take on Ishmael Davis in a British light-middleweight title eliminator, but Davis was forced out with injury and Agyarko was only too happy to step in.

The West Belfast man put a frustrating period behind him with a victory over Harley Collison just three weeks ago and had outlined his desire to return to action as quickly as possible.

He gets his wish as the 28-year-old former Holy Trinity amateur was only too happy to seize the opportunity to appear on Saturday’s card topped by Dalton Smith’s super-lightweight bout against Canada’s Mathieu Germain, live on DAZN (approx 8pm).

"I left it to my team in terms of getting it over the line, but I said yes straight away," the West Belfast man confirmed at Thursday's final press conference.

"These are the challenges that I need. I think Ryan's a good fighter and if I want to be where I want to be - the first black Irish world champion - I've got to be beating people like this.

"He poses another test for me on Saturday night and I think I'll come through."

‘Black Thunder’ is perfect through 16 fights and has expressed his desire to fight for the European title and another win this weekend will do those prospects no harm at all.

Kelly has a record of 19-5-1 with the 31-year-old from Birmingham coming off a split-decision defeat to Kieron Conway in a Commonwealth middleweight title fight.

Prior to that, he had to be content with a draw against Gerome Warburton but those defeats on his record have only come against top opposition such as Hamzah Sheeraz, Brad Pauls and Michael McKinson.

Agyarko looked impressive in his last outing against Collison, which was his first under new coach Stephen Smith and even though he took this fight at just 10 days’ notice, will know that a good performance will likely open doors later in the year.

"I think Ryan's a good fighter," Agyarko added.

"He's been in with top lads but he's come up short. He's campaigned at middleweight and probably wasn't the right weight for him. I've competed at middleweight, moved down, so I think you'll get a good fight on Saturday night.

"I've seen Ryan this week, watching tapes back at bits and pieces, and he's a good, tough fighter.

"He's had a good camp for this, preparing for a great fight with Ismael Davis. I've just got to go on Saturday night and show everybody what they've been missing. I'm ranked number five in the world and I'm ranked there for a reason."