Former lightweight world champion Terry Flanagan recently vacated his belt for a chance fight for the WBO world super lightweight crown against undefeated Maurice Hooker.

Flanagan spoke to the BoxNation Podcast about his next foe, ahead of a proposed bout in the spring. “I don’t know much about Maurice Hooker personally, from what I’ve seen of him he looks tall, awkward and pretty loose.

“It’s a fight I know I can win, it’s a fight I want. I’ve been talking about moving up for the past year. I think it’s shown in a few performances, it’s been tight at the weight. Hopefully you’ll see a better fighter at Super Lightweight,” predicted the 28-year-old.

‘Turbo’ has received criticism for moving up in weight but the Manchester native counters this criticism, revealing that the struggle to secure big bouts against the likes of Jorge Linares or Anthony Crolla contributed to the move.

“The fights at Lightweight were being talked about for years. At one stage it was me and Crolla as world champions. I wanted a massive Manchester unification, sadly he lost his world title. It was a fight I still wanted,” added Flanagan.

“Linares got offered the fight time and time again, it seemed to be after I moved up in weight they were all saying they would’ve had the fight. As soon as Crawford vacated I thought there’s my chance to be a two-weight world champion.”

Also on episode four of the BoxNation Podcast, Billy Joe Saunders talks about the David Lemieux masterclass, Bradley Skeete calls out Amir Khan and Lyon Woodstock Jr fires back at Zelfa Barrett.

BoxNation subscription is £12 per month plus £8 registration fee for Sky TV. €15 per month plus €10 registration fee for ROI Sky TV customers. £11 per month with no registration fee for Virgin Media customers. £12 per month and no registration fee for TalkTalk, Freeview, EE, online and app (iOS, Android, Amazon) customers. No minimum term.