By Elliot Foster

Ryan Farrag will look to put his second career defeat behind him when he returns to the ring in the autumn.

The Liverpool bantamweight, who was knocked out inside three rounds of his European title defence against Frenchman Karim Guerfi at the ECHO Arena in June, is set to jump back into a big fight, exclusively live on Sky Sports.

Farrag (15-2, 4 KOs) will be in the opposite corner to Ryan Burnett on October 15, at the scene of his darkest hour, in a challenge for the British title, as part of the undercard to Tony Bellew’s WBC cruiserweight title defence against America’s former WBA interim title challenger BJ Flores.

And he is delighted to have been handed such a lucrative opportunity on the back of a loss.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better fight [to come back to] really,” Farrag told Boxing Scene.

“It’s where I want to be and a win will take me some way to getting back to the level I was before [the loss].”

But the 28-year-old will have a warm-up fight in the meantime when he takes to the ring this weekend (Saturday) at Robin Park Sports Centre in Wigan, as part of Steve Wood’s ‘Battle Of A City’ bill.

“The coaches and the management team [at MGM Marbella over in Puerto Banus, Spain] said that we can get out and get a win before we fight Burnett and that’s the plan: to go into the fight [with Burnett] with the confidence high and on the back of a positive result, rather than a negative one.

“There aren’t any easy fights at this level and I’m fully aware of that. This is a fight that I want. When I won the European [title, by stoppage in round nine against Stephane Jamoye in Belgium last October] I didn’t look back and didn’t think I’d get a shot at the British [belt], so I’m over the moon at getting the chance to fight for the British title.

Burnett (14-0, 9 KOs) has made a flawless entrance into the paid code, from icing Laszlo Nemesepati Jr. inside a round on his professional debut in Liverpool back in 2013 to winning fringe WBO and WBC belts and signing with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Sport, and that is something that Farrag is all too aware of –– but he says that nothing will faze him against the more fancied man.

“People will say that Burnett is the favourite in the fight, and so he should be because he’s unbeaten and not made any mistakes up to now since turning pro, but I look at this fight as one that can open doors for me.

“If I beat [Burnett] then I’m back to where I was before and I’ve got a Lonsdale belt around my waist in the process.

“I’m looking forward to getting in there and beating a top Matchroom fighter, who has fast hands and is slick, which is something I’ve got to look out for in the fight.”

Farrag doesn’t believe in mind games or psychological edges but the question was posed to him as to whether being back at the ECHO Arena, where his defeat to the aforementioned Guerfi took place only three months ago, will influence him on the night.

“To be honest, I’d like to say no, because I see myself as quite a strong-minded person, both in and outside of the ring, but these things happen.

“Who knows? It might cross my mind and it could be my downfall in the fight. Whatever happens in there will happen and I’ll just have to deal with it.”

“But I’m fully confident,” Frank Warren-promoted Farrag continued, “that I have what it takes to beat Ryan Burnett and win that British title.

“And when that’s done, from there we’ll see where we go.”