Colin Lynes: The prize money is for the Mrs

Former British and European champion Colin Lynes is set to start Friday's Prizefighter tournament as joint favourite alongside ex-WBA champion Gavin Rees. He also enters the tournament as probably the happiest man in the line-up after his wife gave birth to a baby daughter on Sunday - less than a week before the competition.

But this doesn't seem to have disrupted his preparation, describing his sparring as "superb." Lynes begins his quest for Prizefighter glory with a match-up against southpaw David Barnes.

If he makes it through to the semi-final, he could end up facing Barrie Jones - another lefty - and this, inevitably, has had an effect on his choice of sparring partners: "I've been sparring a lot with southpaws," says Lynes, "I've sparred a lot with Michael Lomax who I helped prepare when he won Prizefighter - we had a specific Prizefighter programme and now I'm doing the same and more. No stone's been left unturned." 

"You've got to approach it differently because you've only got three rounds, but at the same time you've got to be yourself... the difference is you've got to do that bit more to catch the judges' eyes." Despite the frantic nature of the bouts, the Hornchurch-based light-welterweight will not neglect his trademark jab.

The consensus is that this is the strongest field yet for the tournament. Lynes agrees. "Of all the Prizefighters, this is the one you want to win because it's got the strongest field. Everyone's worthy of being crowned champion, but it's up to me to make sure that I'm the most worthy."

And if he is the most worthy he will pick up a cool £32,000 though he insists it is the opportunity to land a title fight after lifting the trophy that most appeals. Nonetheless, he admits: "The prize money can go towards extending my wife's maternity leave."

Schedule:

1) Michael Grant v Jason Cook

2) Ted Bami v Gavin Rees

3) Colin Lynes v David Barnes

4) Young Muttley v Barrie Jones