BOXER Liam Conroy hopes it will be third time lucky as he prepares to take on Steve Cooper for the Northern Area Light Heavyweight title this month.

Conroy has been set to fight Cooper on two previous occasions, only for his opponent to pull out.

The first cancellation came in February 2016, when the two were supposed to lock horns for the British Challenge Light Heavyweight crown, but Cooper withdrew on medical grounds.

The second occurrence came two months ago, when the pair were set to contest the Northern Area title at The Park Hotel, near Chorley.

Now 24-year-old Conroy hopes the 10-round bout will finally take place at Manchester's Bowlers Arena on Saturday, May 27, when he will be hoping to lift his third title belt as a professional.

The former Barrow ABC junior enjoyed a very successful 2016.

He lifted the British Challenge belt with victory over Cooper's replacement Krzysztof Golec and then stopped Hungarian Ferenc Albert to land the WBC World Youth Silver belt.

Conroy's most recent bout came in March, with a second-round stoppage victory over Yailton Neves, the man called in as a late replacement for Cooper.

Win number 12 of Conroy's 16-fight pro career was marred by the fact he suffered a cut eye which meant he missed the chance to take on Tomi Tatham at the Manchester Arena on the undercard of the Anthony Crolla-Jorge Linares world title rematch.