Robert Caswell’s new year is starting earlier than expected and the challenger could be dangerous.

The Chatham boxer was expecting to get his first fight at the end of February but was handed a chance to get back in the ring at the start of the month - an opportunity he pounced on.

Caswell (10-1) is going up against Brayan Mairena in a super featherweight six-round contest on Top Tier Boxing’s ‘Flawless’ event at the Brentwood Centre on Sunday, February 9.

Caswell beat Kasey Bradnum on points last time out in November and said: “I’ve been ticking over since then and was hoping to get out at the end of February, but then this came up just before Christmas so I took it straight away.

“It wasn’t great timing and it was a bit of a surprise as normally there’s not a lot of shows early on in the year but I was fit, my weight was okay and I was able to take it.

“My opponent is a bit of a handful, to be fair. He comes to win and throws a lot of shots. He’s quite reckless. He got a good win a few years back at York Hall. He stopped an unbeaten lad, knocked him out, actually.”

Mairena ended Frank Arnold’s unbeaten record as a professional after a near-faultless start in the paid ranks. It will ensure Caswell is on guard to avoid going the same way.

“I’ve got to be careful and switched on,” he said.

“He does let them go and you don’t really think about it, he just swings them in. I’ve got to be on my game. You can’t get reckless yourself, because you’ll get caught. You’ve just got to be switched on for the whole fight and get through it.

“I feel like recently it’s all just clicking into place, really. I just feel in a really good place and like I’ve got a bit of momentum back.”

Caswell suffered a broken hand last year in his win over Karl Sampson, a fight that was his return match from a Southern Area title defeat to Michael Webber-Kane - his only loss to date.

He was back to 100 per cent fitness to see off Bradnum and, a year after that first defeat, he’s back looking at a bright future.

He said: “I’ve been able just to get straight back in the gym after my last fight and just carry on from where I left off, instead of stopping and starting.

“I think this year is what last year should have been. It’s all about timing, I think the timing’s perfect now, so I think you’ll see a really good year from me.”

Caswell will be joined by fellow Medway boxers Tumi Phillips (2-0) and Grant Dennis (19-8) on the show in Brentwood along with Sittingbourne’s Zach Phee (5-0).

He doesn’t want to look beyond this next fight but there’s a plan in place which could see him face an eight-round contest in the spring before potentially boxing at Chatham Town Football Club in the summer, a show currently being discussed.

Caswell said: “Hopefully it’s a big year coming up and it all goes to plan.

“Boxing in Kent, and Chatham, especially, is massive at the moment. We’ve obviously got Moses Itauma leading the way, doing great things, and his brother [Karol] is also fighting again soon.

“We all grew up together and there’s a lot of prospects, like Charlie Hickford, who I go way back with. I just need to get past this next fight and crack on from there.

“You’ve just got to focus on the present and then hopefully it all comes off in the summer.”

Karol Itauma (12-1) is scheduled to fight on March 1 in what will be a first outing in a year.