Tom Dallas' manager Mark Roe believes the coming boxing season will be a defining one for the 26-year-old.

The Chatham heavyweight’s last fight ended in a second round knockout by David Price in a British and Commonwealth title eliminator but Roe is not losing any sleep over that loss.

Roe said: "I’m discounting his last fight as he took that with just four days’ notice but in some ways it might help us in the long run.

"It was a calculated risk and one that didn’t work in our favour. Next time we will be prepared."

He added: "We are still on a learning curve but we are looking at the likes of Paul Butlin. If we can do a job on him in six rounds it shows how well Tom has come on and then we can put the last fight to bed.

"In the next year we want to be in a position to know what we are challenging for. The reins are off now, the apprenticeship is over, and we just need to get the next fight out of the way."

Butlin is just behind Dallas (13th) in the rankings, while another fighter in their sights, Matt Skelton, is in the top 10.