CANNING TOWN'S 9-4-1 (five early) George Hillyard will take part in Matchroom's light-middleweight Prizefighter tournament on February 26 at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London. He can't wait until fight night, and is confident of taking home the £32,000 prize.

“I'm really looking forward to it,” the Londoner beamed. "I'm ready for it and I can't wait to get in there and do the business. I think the three-threes [duration] will suit me down to a tee as well. I'm usually a long-distance fighter, but I've trained for this, and everything has gone brilliant so far; I've buckled down this time and I've listened to my trainer and my manager, so things are going great.”

This edition of the tournament features a whole range of fighters; from experienced veterans like Bradley Pryce (28-7, 18 KOs) and Martin Conception (16-6, 10 stoppages) to promising fighters like the undefeated Brett Flournoy (9-0, four early) and Danny Butler (18-3, three KOs), who has challenged (albeit unsuccessfully) for the English, British and Commonwealth Titles up at middleweight. Hillyard is not worried about preparing for any one of these men, and is ambivalent as to who he fights.

“I don't find it hard because I think I'm good enough, that whoever I get in the ring with, they have got to be prepared for me,” he explained. “There's no-one in particular in this that I want to fight. It's a competition; whoever I fight, I fight - it's that simple. It's business at the end of the day; I'm getting paid to do something, so that's what I've got to do."

In past times, “Hit Hard” has been criticised for fighting at higher weights which don't suit him. Prizefighter will see him return to light-middleweight (albeit three pounds over the 11st championship limit), where he captured the British Masters Title in 2007, and he insists this drop will help him no end.

“The weight's going blinding,” George admitted. “I think more people are putting bets on me not making the weight [which happened before the welterweight Prizefighter in 2008] than me actually winning the Prizefighter, so I'll shock a few people when I turn up on the scales and you'll see George Hillyard in good condition. I definitely feel stronger at light-middle; I'm not a middleweight, and my last fight was at super-middlewight which was ridiculous. It's all about the discipline, and I went the wrong way about doing things; it's no-one else’s fault apart from mine and I'm really looking forward to proving people wrong on February 26 and putting on a show."

In his last outing, Hillyard lost after four rounds against Matthew Thirlwall, after a crisp left hook sent him to the canvas and he didn't come out for the next session. As expected, Hillyard was disappointed with this outcome.

“Matthew's a personal friend,” he divulged. “I think I was winning the fight up until that hook though, and if George Hillyard was fit and I didn't take it at short notice, everyone knows what George Hillyard would have done. That's in the past now though; forget that because we're looking into the future now, and you'll see a completely different George Hillyard. Will there be any ring rust? I suppose the only way we'll find out is on the night."

If he wins the tournament, vast amounts of doors will be opened for the Goodwin Promotions boxer. Despite this, he has no concrete idea of who he'd like to fight next. “It's not 'supposing I win Prizefighter’, George Hillyard will win this tournament,” he exclaimed. “I'm not in this to make the numbers up, but at the same time, we're just going to take it step by step now. I'm not going to start slagging other boxers off, and whatever happens after this happens, but my future's looking very bright at the moment.”

To conclude, George wanted to put it out there that he is grateful for certain folks in his life. “I'd just like to thank the people that have stuck by me in the last two years, knowing the problems I've had. Winning the Prizefighter is going to be for all of them, and I appreciate all of their support.”