UNBEATEN Bournemouth southpaw Steve Bendall will come up against his toughest test yet when he defends his IBO Inter-Continental middleweight title against Lee Blundell.

The 29-year-old Westbourne-based boxer goes into the ring against the Wigan man on Friday, January 24, in Sheffield.

And Bendall, with 18 straight professional victories, needs to triumph in the 12-rounder to continue his pursuit of a tilt at a World title.

The bout will be Bendall's first defence of the crown he currently holds and carried off in April last year when he stopped the Ukranian Vicktor Fesechco in the 10th round.

Bendall said: "It is a big fight. If I can win this one, it will put me on the map. I need to get a good win in this one and go on to bigger things.

"My promoters have given me a hard fight to help me get where I want to go. I have to beat people like Lee Blundell to move up. "He is ranked 24th in Britain and has a record of 17 wins in 22 fights. He has drawn two and lost three. I am ranked fifth in the country so it is a good match up.

"I am confident. It will be hard. He is coming off four good wins on the trot. It is going to be a good fight, but I have said all along that the big fights bring the best out of me.

"Now I have to prove it."

At 31, Blundell is slightly older than Bendall and his experience will be a good test of the Coventry-born fighter's ability to step up his bid for World success.

Blundell's three defeats have come against Glenn Catley (1995), Paul Jones (1997) and Anthony Farnell (2001).

Farnell stopped Blundell in the second round, but since then the Wigan man has recovered his top form, having all but ended the career of former British light-middleweight champion Ryan Rhodes with a three-round blast out in March.

He also won the WBF Inter-Continental middleweight title when he stopped Crawley's Alan Gilbert on a cut. Bendell had been expected to defend his crown on December 18, but that date has been put back twice because of BBC television schedules over screening his fight.

The bout will be on the same bill as Sheffield light middleweight Clinton Woods. Bendall fans can purchase tickets for his next outing by contacting the boxer on 07870 570101.