LIAM Conroy is relishing the opportunity to to fulfil a long-held ambition when he steps into the ring to face Baptiste Castegnaro at the Manchester Arena tomorrow.

The Barrow light-heavyweight fights on the undercard of the WBA world lightweight title clash between Anthony Crolla and Jorge Linares, which is being televised live on Sky Sports pay-per-view.

The venue has long been associated with top-level boxing, as the likes of Naseem Hamed, Joe Calzaghe and, in particular, local hero Ricky Hatton have all fought for world titles there.

That tradition continues with this show and the upcoming world heavyweight showdown between Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko, and Conroy is excited to be joining the list of fighters to box there.

“It's great to be able to say I'll be boxing at the Manchester Arena, and it's by far the biggest venue I'll have fought at up to now,” said Conroy.

“I remember watching Ricky Hatton fight Kostya Tszyu there as a kid and it's definitely a big tick in a box for me to be able to fight there.

“It's a good opportunity for me to show a few more people what I can do and I've got a good crowd coming down from Barrow to support me.”

The 23-year-old hopes this is the first of many clashes on a big card as he eyes a shot at the British light-heavyweight title further down the line.

He also knows a strong display against Frenchman Castegnaro could see him involved on more televised shows promoted by Matchroom Sports supremo Eddie Hearn.

And he is taking inspiration from the man topping the bill, having boxed on the undercard of Crolla's English title triumph against Kieran Farrell at Bowlers Exhibition Centre four years ago.

“When I was boxing on a show at Bowlers , Anthony Crolla was at the top of the bill fighting for the English title,” said Conroy, who lost on points to Gilson De Jesus that night.

“You look how far he has come since then to be fighting for a world title and now I'm back on the undercard of one of his fights.

“I want to start getting towards the top of these cards and fighting for British titles, but my focus is only on this fight at the moment.”