Boxing: Seconds out - it's act three for Dean

It is a drama already tinged with glory, tragedy and controversy - and one which has been played out in three distinctive phases.

Act One was a time when the Hampshire boxer could do no wrong on a seemingly unstoppable march to succeeding Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn among the world's very best super middleweights.

Act Two was dominated by serious injury and a two-year prison sentence, dark days from which he feared he would never return to a professional ring.

Act Three bubbles with promise, but the most defining scenes will not be shot until this Saturday evening.

Then, live on BBC and in front of a packed Wembley Conference Centre, Francis will attempt to regain the British title he never actually lost in the ring.

That the man standing in the way hails from a few miles down the M3 in Southampton just gives the story added romance.

Indeed when Francis makes his return to the big-time against Matthew Barney, it will be the first all-Hampshire British title bout on record.

Predictions for the fight are understandably mixed.

Francis once held the European and British titles and has operated at the higher level during his career.

Yet he has fought just once in the past four-and-a-half years, a period which Barney has quietly spent winning Southern Area, Intercontinental and British Masters titles during 18 contests.

Does a rusty Jaguar always outshine a finely-tuned BMW? Francis certainly clings to that belief.

"The lay-off is not an issue," he insists. "I believe I am a better fighter in every regard than before. I don't feel old and I don't feel young now - I feel that this is my time.

"In my comeback fight I felt better than before. Even during the break I was always around the gym and I've not lost any of the sharpness."

That Francis will climb back into the ring at all is a testament to his mental toughness.

The world was his oyster back in 1997 when he knocked out David Starie on his way to the top of the domestic tree and a deal with promoting king Frank Warren which seemed to have secured his path to a world title shot.

But, by October 1998, his career had been unexpectedly derailed.

He dislocated his right shoulder, two operations followed and then, in September 2000, he was sentenced to two years in prison for unlawful wounding and assault at the Chik-Mex takeaway in Basingstoke.

Following his release, the British Boxing Board of Control refused to grant him his fighting licence, even halting plans for a comeback last September - only two days before a scheduled bout.

"I thought about retiring and not coming back, especially when the board wouldn't give me my licence," he admits. "I was also thinking when I got sent to prison that it could be the end for me. In the end I only spent ten months inside, but it was enough. Believe me, it was enough."

Francis is adamant the time he spent at Winchester and Erlestoke prisons will only help his return to the ring.

"It was a bad thing that happened, it could have finished me, but in the end I was able to turn it into a positive both mentally and physically," he says. "Mentally, I have grown up a lot now. Going inside definitely strengthened me. Prison can make or break a person and it helped make me.

"The prison situation affects other people more than me now. They are the ones who bring it up.

"What happened has been a good lesson. I will never go back to prison. A lot of bad things have happened but I try and take the positives from it, which helps me carry on."

On the reaction to his conviction, he adds: "The comments after the street fight were: 'I always knew he was like that'.

"People automatically assumed the worst. You certainly find out who your real friends are and there aren't many, believe me.

"Physically I was in great shape when I came out. We had a gym in prison and I did a lot of circuit training. I trained hard, but there was no boxing - we weren't allowed to put gloves on.

"Being away from boxing also made me step back and watch videos of me in action. Because I was winning before, I didn't really feel I had to change at all. It made me learn about a lot of things.

"It was like a missing link. It helped me put everything in perspective and into action. Boxing is 80 percent mental, but it also helped me become technically a better boxer."

As for Saturday, Francis admits he has never seen Fair Oak's Barney fight before.

He is focussing solely on his own performance and has returned to his roots to prepare at both Basingstoke's Essex Road gym with dad Trevor and in Bristol with long-time manager Chris Sanigar.

He is honest enough to acknowledge that his fragile right shoulder - which sports a six-inch scar - will be on his mind.

"I will be thinking about it. I would be lying if I said otherwise," he says. But that's a good thing. You need to be aware of your injuries. You have to respect it and I'm confident that I'm over all that.

"The only punches I can't throw are what I call my lazy punches - but I can still throw a powerful right hand. Otherwise I'm in excellent shape, the training has gone very well over the past 11 weeks.

"I've not seen Barney before, but the key will be my versatility. I'm world class.

"I can adapt to whatever style he throws up at me and I will be victorious."

The old adage says that class is permanent, but few sports offer a more brutal test of that theory and few boxers have ever benefited from such severe ring inactivity.

Yet whatever happens on Saturday, a fresh chapter to what is already a roller-coaster story will be written.

"My life?" smiles Francis. "When the book does come out, I'm sure it will make a good read."