SIMON VALLILY says he will be taking the same kind of form which saw him strike Commonwealth Games boxing gold into the ring with him on Saturday night when he challenges for the English cruiserweight title on the undercard of the George Groves-Chris Eubank Jr mega fight in Manchester.

The Middlesbrough man’s professional progress has been stilted since he claimed the Commonwealth Games heavyweight gold medal in 2010 before missing out on a London Olympics spot, marked by legal issues, changes of management and trainer, and some underwhelming displays brought about by lax training habits.

But Vallily, 12 wins and three knockouts and a lone loss to World Boxing Super Series standout Mairis Briedis, says he is finally ready to realise some of the promise which led GB amateur chief Robert McCracken to describe him as “frighteningly good” following his Commonwealth glory when he fights on the WBSS super middleweight semi-final supporting bill.

The 32-year-old faces Derby-based English champion Arfan Iqbal in an intriguing trade fight scheduled for ten rounds at the Manchester Arena.

“I don’t like to refer back to it, because my Commonwealth Games success was a long time ago,” said Vallily, who finished on top of the podium in Delhi eight years ago following three stoppage victories.

“But it was the last major bit of boxing success I had and I’ve definitely got the same mindset and the same work ethic and focus that I had back then.

“I’ve knuckled down and I’ve asserted myself as I should throughout training, and it’s going to pay big-time on the night.”

Vallily scraped over the line by a single point against Blaise Mendouo last time out, but says he learned a valuable lesson about the importance of intensive preparation which he feels will reap rewards against unbeaten Iqbal.

“Up to this point I would grade my professional career as five out of 10,” said straight-talking Simon.

“You only get out what you put in, and it’s no secret that I haven’t put much into my boxing at times over the years.

“I was really disappointed with myself and with how I performed in my last fight, it was a real eye-opener.

“I got together with Imran (Naeem, trainer) and my strength and conditioning coach Andy Burton afterwards and we had a sit-down and said ‘this is it now for the next fight’.

“I promised myself that I would never step back inside a ring under-prepared again, because I’ve done it too many times over the years and not given a good account of myself.

“It really gave me a kick up the arse and it has turned out for the best, because I’m in my best shape ever.

“I’ve had a good 12-week camp and I feel positive and focused. I can’t wait to get in the ring and show everybody how good I am.”

Vallily launched a successful Twitter campaign to get the fight after Iqbal complained that potential opponents were running scared, and is grateful to his management team MTK Global for making the date.

“Unfortunately, that’s the way that British boxing is at the moment, a lot of fights are made on social media,” said the former amateur star.

“I’m not a big fan of it, to tell the truth, but I used it to my advantage and made it known that I’m definitely not scared of a challenge.”

Iqbal won the title by stopping Vallily’s former GB squadmate Wadi Camacho but the North East fighter is unimpressed by the titleholder, who has questioned his durability and vowed to make him stand and trade from the start.

“We will see on the night, but in my opinion he’s not good enough to make me do anything,” Vallily said.

“I will box when I box and I will trade when I want to trade, it’s as simple as that.”

Vallily has sparred a rejuvenated Dave Allen, British cruiserweight champion Matty Askin and Darlington’s comebacking former Prizefighter heavyweights finalist Chris Burton in the build-up.

“I’m loving the whole Super Series format, and as a professional fighter these are the kind of nights that you want,” he added.

“Win this fight and it opens a lot of doors for me.”