I HAVE been training this week beside the next ‘Big Thing’ in boxing.
This guy has the whole package and he has a dynamite right hand that will do damage when he takes to the ring.
He has the size and the skills to do great things in the world of boxing and if I was in the opposite corner I would not mention ‘pedalo’ as you would live to regret it!
Yes the man who has been impressing me is former England cricketer Freddie Flintoff.
The former all-rounder is being trained by Shane McGuigan for a ‘Top Secret Assignment’ and to be fair to big Freddie he is putting the work in.
Since starting training with Shane three weeks ago he has lost over nine kilos of weight.
Freddie has also been - like myself - on the ‘Caveman Diet’ and the weight is dropping off him as a result.
I have to say I have watched him sparring and he looks the part and he has a great right hand.
But the main thing is he is a great guy, really down to earth and he has a great sense of humour as well.
But most of the time I have been in England I have been training, training and training.
On Saturday there will only be three weeks until I face Steve Molitor at the Odyssey and I have to say I am flying.
Training and sparring has gone really well and I am going to be in the shape of my life for this fight.
Molitor is a good fighter and I know he will be coming to Belfast to win.
I hope he has trained hard because I am up for the challenge and I will deliver.
This is the kind of fight I have been looking for and when I win this one I am one to two fights away from a World title shot.
That is how close it is, but I have to beat Molitor - it’s as simple as that.
Also this week I was at the announcement that Matchroom have signed a new deal with Sky Sports to televise shows for the next two years.
This is great news for me as I am part of the Matchroom stable and hopefully I will get on plenty of the shows that are shown on Sky.
Sky will be showing less shows, but the events they will televise will be big affairs with competitive fights.
That is what Sky wants and that is what the fans want - competitive fights.
And at that event I had a brief chat with Carl Froch and he turned out to be a great guy.
He is the biggest thing in British boxing at the minute and he will defend his IBF World title against Yusaf Mack at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham on November 17.
This is a good fight and I don’t think Mack is at the same level as Lucian Bute, Andre Ward or Mikkel Kessler - so Froch should be alright.
Finally this week Felix Strum fights Daniel Geale for the WBA Super World middleweight title and the IBF middleweight title.
Strum has been a great champion and he has held onto the belt for a long time - but I think he is starting to slow down a wee bit and I think Geale will beat him.
But the fight is in Germany and it is always hard to get a decision there so Geale will have to get the job done in style. But no matter what happens, Strum deserves respect for what he has achieved.