A MARTIAL arts expert will be taking Flintshire to Florida in a bid to clinch the World Title boxing title.

Matt Inskip, owner of Toe2Toe not-for-profit gym, Holywell, has been selected to fight the current world champion in the Battle of Tampa Bay XXIV in Florida, USA, on November 10.

The fight means putting Flintshire – and Wales – on the map, said Matt, who is feeling confident in his training and techniques to take down his American opponent.

Matt explained: "In the process of opening Toe2Toe, I was offered a fight in Dubai and I was telling a friend of mine out in Florida about it and he asked if I would be willing to travel to Florida for a fight. Three days later, he came back and said he'd got me one and it progressed from there. I got matched with someone first - I'll be stepping up another level to fight him, the lad's a professional fighter and it's one of his home shows."

The international fighter said he knows it's going to be a tough fight but he thought he would "take the chance" against the American fighter, who out of 20 fights is 18 unbeaten.

A crowd of around 600-800 will be spectating the Flintshire star, who, despite not fighting professionally in around nine years, said he won't be phased by the crowd. The fight will also be televised.

Both fighters are in the welter weight category, and at 66kg, Matt said he is feeling confident he can bring some spark to the match.

The Thai boxing event will last over five three minute rounds and Matt hopes to avoid a knock out from his opponent. He said: "I've got to take the fight to him. He's a very stylish fighter so I'll have to change his game being as aggressive as I possibly can with him. I think I'm in with a chance, at the end of the day it's a fight so if I sit there and let him fight his fight then I'll struggle. I'm going to keep the pressure on him."

Matt has been researching his opponent on YouTube and the internet and has sifted through "pages and pages" of information to ensure he's aware of his style and habits. He said the American posts everything he does online so it has been "easy to do the work on him."

He said about his fighting tactics: "There's nothing going through my head, you haven't got time to think. You're just sort of focused on the fight. You can't be worried about the people or the crowd because you're that focused on the fight itself. In the build up, you go through the fight a thousand times in your head, the different outcomes but two hours before you switch off and clear your head."

As well as claiming the pride of the world title in the Tampa Bay organisation, Matt said if this fight is a knock out success he would take a team of young fighters to Florida next year when he travels back to defend his title, which is a great opportunity for up and coming local boxers to gain an international fighting status. He said: "They're all local lads and we're having talks with a good friend of mine Mike Egan, who has just won his world title and has been helping me with the fight, to go out there.

"It would be a dream come true if I won, to win a world title. I've trained in Thailand five times, to training camps out there. My family will be coming out with me, and it will be my little girl's birthday when I'm out there." Matt said his children, aged one and two, are also learning to put on the boxing gloves and are his main reasons to never give up trying.