The super-welterweight will face his old foe for the Lonsdale belt next month, a year after he took the Commonwealth title from him, and he joked he’s ready for a new opponent now.

He told Boxing News magazine: “I’m stuck with him again.

“I just want to get the fight out of the way so I can finally, after 18 months, start thinking about someone else.”

The 30-year-old boxer knows he’s got his work cut out to defeat Louis again.

He said: “Neither of us are the prettiest boxer. We just stand and have a go…

“He hit me in the first round and I thought, ‘Surely not? Surely somebody else must have jumped into the ring and hit me with a bad.

“Honestly, it’s freaky how hard he punches.

“He’s hard to hit as well. I did my hand hitting him on top of the head because where he leans forward, you end up hitting the hard part of his skull.

“I hit him with a left hook and it bloody hurt.

“When I started to try and go to the body, it made him crouch even lower.

“I could only really nail him when he was throwing. But I think the body shots eventually slowed him a bit.

“But you’ve got to be careful.

“If he lands clean and you’re standing still, you’ll definitely be knowing about it.”