Jonny Kays lowdown ahead of English title showdown with Sykes

Like Sykes, Kays is 29-years-old but of the 19 fights, only two have been fought over 10 or 12 rounds and neither of those went the distance.

Kays produced arguably the best performance of his career against Liam Walsh for the Commonwealth title in March 2011.

Kays was eventually stopped in the 10th round of that fight and his only other ‘championship’ bout saw him defeat Dai Davies in the seventh of 10 rounds for the vacant International Masters super featherweight title in 2010.

Kays was held to a surprise draw against Latvia journeman Pavels Senkovs in December 2011 and beat Abdul Rashid over four rounds three weeks ago.