LIAM Conroy is feeling as fit as ever despite being kept out of the ring for most of 2018 due to injury.

The Barrow light-heavyweight had been set to make his long-awaited comeback in a four-round contest at the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester last month, only for a hand injury days before to curtail those plans.

That followed a spell out recovering from surgery on a hernia, but Conroy has kept training hard at Johnney Roye’s gym in Preston and believes he is more than ready for his slated British title showdown with Joshua Buatsi.

“I kept training and was just doing everything else, but avoiding punching with that hand,” said Conroy.

“I ended up fitter than I was for that fight because I just kept everything going and I’ve recently started punching again and it feels good again now.

“I’m in a lot better shape now than I was going into that fight.”

Conroy earned a long-awaited shot at the Lonsdale belt after stopping Miles Shinkwin in a defence of his English title last March, which he was forced to vacate due to being out injured for so long.

But he retained his status as mandatory challenger for the British title and was delighted to find out the British Boxing Board of Control had called for purse bids for a clash between him and Buatsi for the belt.

“It’s brilliant and it’s what I’ve been waiting for for ages now,” said Conroy.

“My English title fight was an eliminator and I was thinking it might come around that time, but I had a bit of an inactive year and it kind of came out of the blue, but it’s cheered me up.

“There’s no way around it now, I’ve got to fight for that British title because I’m not saying no to that.”