BOLTON boxer Alek Penarski aims to be as destructive with his next opponent as he has been with his sparring partners.

The veteran fighter will step into the ring on October 24 for his first competitive fight for almost a decade when he takes on Salford's Wayne 'Mad Dog' Barker for the vacant cruiserweight title of Great Britain organised by the British Boxing Federation.

At 46 years old Penarski will be looking to roll back the years at Oldham's Queen Elizabeth Hall.

He has the incentive of a £50,000 offer of a follow-up fight and he believes he has the fitness and the ability to beat Barker. His sparring partners are unlikely to argue.

He has been through 24 sparring partners during his big fight build-up and they have felt the full force of his power with one of them suffering a broken jaw, another a broken arm and two others broken ribs.

For one night only the man who was once one of the top light-heavyweight boxers in the country and first retired 12 years ago, will fight with the nickname Rocky.

It has nothing to do with the Sylvester Stallone's Hollywood film character but he dog who died in an accident last year.

"We took him for a walk at Rivington and he fell into the reservoir and drowned," he recalled. "We had him for eight years and the accident broke my son's heart and upset all the family greatly and I am dedicating this fight to him."

Alek's fight is top of the bill on the night which will feature four other bouts and the Horwich fighter is confident he will put his man down. He says he will knock me out...in his dreams," he says.

"He's been bad mouthing me and I'm going to put him down. I aim to bring that title back and defend it."

Tickets are priced at £100 each but there are a nominal number priced at £25 which can be obtained by ringing 460392.