Fletcher eyes title fight after knockout win

Tommy Fletcher believes he is “not far away from fighting for a belt” after he took his professional record to 7-0 with a knockout victory against Alvaro Terrero at London’s Copper Box Arena.The sixth win via knockout of the 22-year-old former Attlebrough Boxing Club star’s career, broadcast live on TNT Sports, came in the third round of a bout on the undercard of Hamzah Sheeraz versus Liam Williams.“It’s good, it’s unreal, it’s mad,” said Hockwold cum Wilton-based Fletcher, known as ‘The Norfolk Nightmare’.“You can’t complain. I want to just keep building up to the big title fights and maybe one day I can fight at Carrow Road for a world title perhaps.“I’m going to move up to eight rounders, stay on these big shows, keep selling out arenas, building the Norfolk fanbase and keep building up to the titles now, because I think I’m not far away from fighting for a belt.“I’ve just come back to Norfolk to spend some time with my family and then I’m looking back to getting to training at the end of this week.“I’m not going to mess around and go on a long time out of the gym, or any of that stuff.“I want to get straight back to it because I’m moving up to eight rounds for my next fight, so I’ve got to be very fit.”Fletcher, who worked with Jimmy Tibbs before his fight, who he described as a “boxing legend”, received a talking-to from his coach Mark Tibbs, the former’s son, after the first round, telling him to step on the gas.The 6ft 7in cruiserweight came out with more intensity in the second round before eventually busting the Spaniard’s nose 23 seconds into the third, which forced the referee to stop the bout to add another well-deserved victory to Fletcher’s resume.“It wasn’t a bad performance – I got him out of there and stopped him in the third round, but there’s always room for improvement,” said Fletcher.“He was a big lump, the biggest guy I’ve ever fought so far, so I came out, got my range a bit, didn’t go too mad at him.“Sometimes you’ve got to appreciate it (winning) because obviously, I won, but if you start getting too picky, and it ever comes to the time where it doesn’t go my way, I’ll wish I appreciated it when it was going well for me.”Fletcher’s explosive performances have built him a reputation of being a knockout puncher, and 36-year-old Terrero became his latest victim.However, he is hoping to shift away from the knockout hype surrounding him and focus on his performances.For someone still so young in the boxing world, the relentless demand for interviews and promotion material can be daunting when trying to prepare for a fight that will be broadcast around the world.However, Fletcher said: “It’s starting to get a bit more relaxing for me now. I’m starting to warm into it.“In amateur boxing, it’s very bland. You get to the show, you box and then get back on the minibus home, whereas in professional boxing, there’s production, interviews and a ‘lights, camera and action’ thing.”