SWINDON-born Ryan Martin says it is ‘the icing on the cake’ for him to be given the chance to headline a hometown show this weekend.

Martin is set to take on Joseph Lamptey in an eight-round bout on Saturday's Fight Town 2 show as the main event, while British top-10 ranked Luke Watkins will warm up for a potential title fight in November on the undercard at the Oasis Leisure Centre.

Welterweight Martin, 25, has fought in his home town nine times in his first 14 career bouts – winning all but one – and is hoping to add another successful performance to his tally as he performs in front of friends and family as the headline act for the first time.

Martin said: “I’m always proud and super appreciative of being able to box in Swindon and giving the chance for my friends and family to come and watch me.

“So I’m always happy with that, but to top the bill is just the icing on the cake for me.

“No one can ever take that away. Me as the main event on a Swindon card on one of the biggest professional shows in the South West, as they rightly labelled it.

“I’m super proud to be topping the bill on a show of this calibre.”

As well as one defeat in Swindon, Martin has suffered a loss in an out-of-town fight too, but is still able to boast an impressive 12-2 record at welterweight.

Promoter Mark Neilson revealed it has been difficult to find Martin an opponent for this fight, before eventually completing a deal with former Ghanaian champion Lamptey, as many fighters are becoming aware of the threat that the Swindonian might pose to their careers.

But the man himself says he simply has a quiet confidence in his ability and does not believe other boxers are ‘scared’ to get in the ring with him.

Martin said: “I let other people decide what they want to make of that.

“I don’t like assuming that fighters are – for want of a better term – scared.

“I don’t think anyone is scared of anyone in boxing, but people understand that it is a risk to fight me at this point.

"I think that says a lot without me needing to speak about it.

“Regardless of who they are, we have tried to get top-level opponents to make sure we put on a really good fight.

“But I think people understand the risk of coming to fight me because I’m starting to become a little bit more recognised and I’ve been producing some really clinical performances recently.

“It can be a little bit frustrating, but it’s out of my hands.

“All I can do is get myself prepared and make sure I do my job come Saturday night.”