A taste of training like a world champion has spurred Danny Hunt on to greater things.

The Leigh lightweight has just returned from a five-day training camp in Portugal, where he endured a tough regime akin to those used by top pros such as Lennox Lewis.

Danny Hunt - targeting southern title later this year Picture: MAXINE CLARKE

Now the 22-year-old fighter reckons he is in good shape for his 15th pro fight on July 17.

"It gave me an insight on how world champions train," said Hunt. "It was hard but I am looking to step things up, so I now know what it's like.

"I'm looking to area titles and possibly an international title, and I know my manager Frank Maloney is looking to pick things up a bit.

"He reckons I have mat-ured and come on a long way. Frank is talking about putting me in for the southern area title by the end of the year."

Hunt was joined at Maloney's villa in the hills above Faro by middleweight WBU champ Wayne Elcock and WBU light-heavy title holder Tony Oakey.

Their daily regime included mountain and beach running allied to sessions in the gym, which Hunt described as "knackering".

But the Leigh pugilist added: "It was a variation in our training and I have come back super fit."

That fitness should pay dividends when Hunt meets Paddington-based Romanian Christian Hodorogea at Dagenham's Goresbrook Leisure Centre on July 17.

Published Wednesday, June 25, 2003

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