Stuart Hall will attempt to regain the IBF World Bantamweight title when he fights American Randy Caballero in Monte Carlo a week on Saturday. In his penultimate diary, the Darlington boxer explains why his preparations have hit gold-medal standard

THIS is the last hard week of work before I start to scale down before the fight, and things couldn’t be going any better. My sparring has been absolutely first class, and it stepped up even further this week when I spent a day at the GB Olympic boxing high-performance centre in Sheffield.

The facilities there are absolutely incredible – much better than I had when I was starting out – and I did ten rounds against three different sparring partners, all of whom are in with a shout of going for gold in Rio in a couple of years time.

My trainer, Max McCracken, is the brother of Rob McCracken, who’s the performance director for Team GB, and they both thought I might benefit from sparring with some of the best amateurs in the country.

They loved it because they got a chance to be in the ring with a world champion, but I got a lot out of it too because the amateur lads are all great movers. Their movement around the ring was superb, and it was good to experience that and try different things to deal with it.

It was like trying to swat flies at times, but Caballero will probably be a bit like that, so it was nice to get that under my belt.

The Northern Echo: LOOKING GOOD: Stuart Hall lands a blow on Vusi Malinga during their world title fight in December. The Darlington boxer defends his title next month and says his fitness coach is amazed by his condition

I’ve always been in excellent physical condition for my previous fights thanks to the work of my former fitness coach, Johnny Harrison. Johnny’s an absolute legend when it comes to fitness and conditioning, and I wouldn’t have been world champion without him.

It’s the sparring that’s been different this time. I’ve done a load more work in the ring, and the lads I’ve been sparring against have all been tip top. I’ve also sparred with Troy James, who’s a super featherweight, and that was a really good work out. Whatever Caballero throws at me next weekend, I know I’ll be ready for it.

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I CAN'T wait to get out to Monte Carlo now and see what things are like out there. A boxing ring is the same the world over, but it’ll be a little bit different fighting abroad, and we’re heading over on Monday to make sure we have plenty of time to get acquainted with the venue and conditions.

I’ve heard really good things about the Salles des Etoiles, which is where the fight’s taking place, and it’s got a real history and pedigree when it comes to staging big title fights. I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s all about.

The only downside is that I’ll be away from my kids for two-and-a-half weeks. They came down to Birmingham, where my training camp is based, last weekend, but that’s the last I’ll see of them now until the fight is over. Things like Face Time make it easier to stay in touch, but I’ll miss them. I just have to make sure I get the world title back to make it all worthwhile.

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THE big news about the fight this week is that it’s going to be televised live on Channel Five. I think it’s the first time a world title fight involving a British boxer has been shown live on domestic TV since Carl Froch fought nine or ten years ago.

That’s a big thing for boxing in this country and obviously a big thing for me. It’ll give me a chance to get some decent exposure in front of a national audience, and it’ll also mean some of the local fans who can’t afford to fly over to Monaco won’t have to miss out.

The Northern Echo: TRADING BLOWS: Jamie McDonnell, left, exchanges punches with Darlington's Stuart Hall at the Doncaster Dome

This was always going to be a massive night for my career – but the national TV coverage means it’s even bigger now. I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to show everyone what I’m capable of and become the first North-Easterner to win a world title twice.