SOUTHAMPTON, England - Ryan Garner has vowed to ‘keep the blinkers on’ in his pursuit of a dream fight at St Mary’s Stadium.

The European super-featherweight champion challenges Reece Bellotti for his British and Commonwealth titles at the Bournemouth International Centre on July 26 in a fight both men have described as the toughest of their careers.

The Piranha moved to 17-0, 8 KOs as a result of his unanimous decision victory over the previously undefeated Salvador Jimenez on March 1 and he is now ranked inside the top 10 with two of the four sanctioning bodies.

As such, it has been suggested that a victory over noted puncher Bellotti could set him up for his dream outdoors fight at St Mary’s, home of Southampton FC, in a potential world title clash next.

But at a low-key and respectful press conference on Wednesday, Garner refused to overlook Bellotti and pointed out that July 26 will give him the chance to make history.

“I don’t believe anyone from Southampton has ever held British, Commonwealth and European titles at the same time,” he said. “So I want to make history.

“But I’m under no illusions this is the hardest fight of my career, amateur or pro, and Reece is a very good fighter. He has all my respect. His record speaks for itself and I think he’s had nearly as many knockouts as I’ve had fights.

“Every fight brings pressure and they’re all getting harder now. I’m at a stage where there will never be an easy fight. I just need to keep the blinkers on and not let anything in the way, keep the noise out.”

In his last fight, Bellotti went into his opponent’s back yard and came away with a stunning victory when he stopped Michael Gomez Jr in Manchester on February 15.

It kept up the Watford man’s impressive four-year unbeaten run since he moved up to 130lbs back in 2022. Before that, Bellotti went on a stretch of five defeats in seven featherweight outings which left his career on the brink.

He said: “I’m in good form, I feel good and that move up in weight has helped me massively. But I expect the hardest fight of my career against Ryan and I’ll train accordingly.”