Knightswood boxer Kash Farooq can’t wait to make the second defence of his British bantamweight crown after the British Boxing Board of Control sanctioned the bout for no later than May.

The BBBofC have lined up English bantamweight champion Kyle Williams as Farooq’s next opponent.

Farooq won the belt in September last year with a destructive 70-second knockout win over Jamie Wilson before going on to successfully defend his title on November 30 with a one-sided decision win against Iain Butcher in another all-Scottish affair.

However, English champ Williams is likely to be Farooq’s toughest test to date.

The 26-year-old Wolverhampton fighter is the 10th ranked super-bantamweight boxer in the UK and boasts an unbeaten record of 10 wins from 10 fights.

“I’m really excited to get back out there,” Farooq told the Post. “This will be my second defence now so I’m looking forward to it. It’s an English fighter this time so there will be a wee bit of a extra needle to it.

“Kyle could be one of the toughest opponents so far. I always look at the next fight ahead of me as being my toughest. You’re not going to get easy fights at this level. I train for every fight like it’s going to be the hardest yet - I’ve found that’s a good way to do things. I’ve seen a wee bit of Kyle before. He’s a good fighter and I expect a tough night.

“I took Christmas and New Year off so it’s been good to get back to training. I knew I’d be back in the ring at the end of April or the start of May so I didn’t want to over-train.

“I’ve been out running again and I’ve started sparring again too - I’ll up it once the date is officially announced.

“I’ve been training with Scott Allan who is at a really good level. I’ve fought him twice before and beat him but the past is the past and we get on.”

With Farooq’s first title defence in November being broadcast live on BoxNation and with the 23-year-old impressing, it had been hoped that his next fight would see him clash with Commonwealth Bantamweight Champion Lee McGregor with Farooq himself talking up that much-hyped fight.

Clydebank Post: Farooq to defend his Lonsdale Belt against Kyle Williams in AprilFarooq to defend his Lonsdale Belt against Kyle Williams in April

But that will have to wait after the BBBofC scheduled the Williams bout.

Farooq has revealed that both he and McGregor want to fight each other but the timing must be right.

He said: “A lot of people expected my next fight to be Lee but I have to fight the mandatory challenger for my belt. Williams is the next in line for the British so I need to hopefully get past that then I can maybe focus on getting the McGregor fight.

“McGregor is defending his Commonwealth title so he’ll be concentrating on that one right now too.

“I want to fight him and he wants to fight me but for the time being we need to defend our titles. If everything goes to plan and we both defend our titles then I think it could happen in the summer or just after that. McGregor and his team have a TV deal so they can approach us with that. If we both keep winning then we will fight each other eventually.”