Stakes are sky high for Baggies bomber Tommy Langford

At the start of the week, the undefeated Birmingham boxer had to drop a couple of pounds to make the weight for his WBO interim world middleweight fight with Avtandil Khurtsidze.

It was a formality for the 27-year-old Albion fan, who holds the British, Commonwealth and WBO inter-continental middleweight belts.

But after yesterday’s weigh-in, his attention has now turned to properly preparing for his big showdown at the Leicester Arena.

“Once you’ve had the weigh in, you think about nothing else than you’re first meal!” he admitted. “l always go out for a streak dinner Friday night, and then Saturday starts pretty chilled.

“The first half is nice and relaxed, you have your breakfast and lunch but when you get into late afternoon you get geared up and the adrenaline kicks in.

“You start getting edgy, angry and nervous and that’s where the juices start flowing and excitement starts to build.”

Tonight is the biggest fight of Langford’s career, and victory could potentially set up a future bout with global superstar Gennady Golovkin.

But he’s got to get through the 37-year-old Georgian tank that is Khurtsidze first.

“I’m enjoying it all,” said Langford. “It’s really a chance for me to express myself and that’s what I intend to do.

“I know I’m in for hard night, it’s a tough fight, but I know what I’m capable of. I’ve done it in the ring, done it in the gym. I’ll be coming back the champion, I’m confident of that.”

And with the fight just an hour down the road from where Langford lives, he’s hoping a partisan home crowd will help spur him on.

“It’s a 3,500-capacity venue and I expect it to be packed out. It’ll be noisy, it’s a great arena for the fans, because they can see from anywhere, so it should be a good atmosphere.

“Everyone says you might need that extra man, and extra uplift, hopefully the fans will provide me with that should I need it.”

A week after tonight’s fight, Langford is taking part in the Simplyhealth Great Birmingham 10k run.

The boxer has been running the distance five times a week in preparation so it certainly does not faze the current British middleweight champion.

“10ks are the bread and butter of boxing training,” he said. “There isn’t a single fighter out there who doesn’t run.”

With the interim belt up for grabs tonight Langford – who was born in Devon but is a Baggies fan through Dudley-born dad David – hopes to eventually defend the full world title at The Hawthorns.

“That’s my dream, with 30,000 fans cheering me on,” he said.

“It’s never been done before. Richie Woodhall really wanted it but never managed to do it. Hopefully, I can.”

And with tonight’s bout taking place in Leicester, Langford is pleased to see big events coming to the Midlands.

“We’re right in the middle of the country, so I can see it proving very popular and being a great event,” he said.

Albion players James McClean and James Morrison are planning to attend tonight.