TONY Hill will face Kevin Concepcion in his first fight of the new boxing season.

The 24-year-old Southampton middleweight will be back in action on Frank Maloney’s show in London on October 16, writes ADAM LEITCH.

Hill goes into the new campaign looking to push on after an early onslaught on the professional ranks which sees him currently with a record of five wins and one defeat.

That one loss came to Matt Hainy, but, after a period of introspection, Hill bounced back to winning ways with a convincing points victory over Phillip Townley in June.

Concepcion, 30, has lost three of his last five fights but is without doubt the best opponent Hill has faced in a professional bout so far and marks a quick step up in class and an indication that Maloney is looking to push him on quickly now.

Hills trainer, Wayne Batten, pictured, said: “Kevin Concepcion is definitely someone that’s going to come to win but I think that will bring the best out of Tony.

“After the Hainy loss Tony felt he had something to prove and he went out over six rounds against Townley and produced a good display, so we are still confident in him even after that slip-up.

“Concepcion is generally not a big middleweight and it’s good that Tony is being matched as a middleweight.

Previously it has sometimes been more as a super middleweight which doesn’t really suit him.

“But this weight does, as does fighting over six rounds rather than four, so we are hopeful that it will all come together for him again.”

Concepcion, nicknamed ‘The Panther’, needs a win himself to get his career back on track.

His younger brother Martin will be fighting on the same bill, challenging Sam Webb for the British light middleweight title, and it is at that sort of level that Kevin wants to compete at.

Things were looking promising for him after an unbeaten 13 fight start to his career before those recent wobbles put a slight dent in that.

Concepcion knows he needs the win.

“This is a good fight for me,”

he said. “He likes to throw punches, then step back and doesn’t like it when you put him under a lot of pressure.”

“That’s what I am to do.

That’s how Hainy beat him and he hasn’t got the movement and variety of punches that I’ve got.

“I’m going to be punching with more power.”