TRAVELLING into enemy territory for the first defence of his WBO light-welterweight title is no problem for Sean McComb as he takes on Birmingham’s Kaisee Benjamin (16-2-1) at the Genting Arena on Saturday night, live on Sky Sports.

The Turf Lodge man claimed the title with a shutout points win against Zsolt Osadan at the SSE Arena in Belfast just before Christmas, but is happy to roll to dice by going to Benjamin’s home town this weekend.

Getting traction in his career is what McComb has craved as it took a little longer than expected to get fully back on the rails following his Commonwealth title defeat to Gavin Gwynne in early 2021, but the 30-year-old put together a few decent wins before grabbing his title chance against Osadan to finish off 2022.

An impressive victory this weekend on the undercard of Joshua Buatsi vs Pawel Stepien would propel him further up the rankings and potentially open the door to even bigger opportunities and he intends to dazzle in front of the TV cameras.

“I just want to fight,” stressed.

“It’s hard enough to get one as it’s not as though I have a big promoter backing me. I’ve just got full confidence in my ability to win, so it’s a no-brainer for me, especially appearing on such a great platform.

“I just told Lee (Eaton, manager) to get me a fight, even if it wasn’t a defence, but just one to push on.

“This is the biggest platform I’ve boxed on, so I’m looking forward to the opportunity to put on a huge performance. I’ve had a good camp, feel great and I’m really excited about it.”

Benjamin has scored some decent wins so far in his career, but comes into this challenge off the back of a points defeat to Dalton Smith in a British title fight last November.

The Birmingham man has good fundamentals and while he carries decent power as evidenced by a body shot that closed the show against Martin Harkin two years ago, with just six of his 16 victories coming inside the distance suggests he is not the most concussive either.

He will have a very tricky puzzle to solve on Saturday as McComb has an excellent skillset, long levers and an adept counterpuncher off the southpaw stance.

He will open as favourite and rightly so, but also aware that fighting in his opponent's back yard means that he must leave nothing to chance.

“I’ve watched a fair bit of him,” he confirmed.

“He’d a good fight there with Dalton Smith and is coming off a loss, so will be very competitive as nobody wants to lose two straight.

“I’m preparing for the best version of Kaisee Benjamin there is as I know all about the feeling of losing. You will do anything not to lose again, so it’s a very dangerous fight to take. In his mind, he’ll be thinking: ‘I can’t lose again or I’m done’.”

While McComb accepts the challenger will be fired up to grab his big opportunity, by the same token, the West Belfast man is equally fired up to deliver.

Opportunities for career progression have not been as plentiful as he had hoped, but now he is in a position to push things forward he wants to continue clearing the hurdles.

Both men will know that defeat will leave their respective career hanging by a thread, so losing is not an option.

McComb is fully confident that won’t be the case for his as he is certain he has the skills to deliver and then push onto an even greater opportunity next.

“I wouldn’t take this fight if I didn’t expect to win - that’s boxing for you,” he insists.

“This is a good fight for me, a good challenge, but you have to live up to these challenges, challenge yourself and believe in your own ability.

“I’m sure he’ll be the same so you have to take your hat off to him to as he could have just asked for an easier fight to bounce back with and then fight me, but no, he immediately took the fight. He did that because he believes he’ll come in all-guns-blazing and beat me.

“This is an opportunity that came off winning the belt the last time. I just want them to keep coming and get bigger each time. I know it will be a more difficult challenge next time, but I’m more than capable of facing these challenges and performing well.”