"THE sky is the limit."

Those were the words of unbeaten York boxer Michael Fafera as he contemplated a potentially big year in his blossoming professional career.

Since turning pro last year, the 23-year-old light-heavyweight has won both of his fights in the first round - the second in little over a minute - and has the chance to add a third victory to his tally, and maintain that 100 per cent record, on March 1 at Elland Road in Leeds, against an as yet unnamed opponent.

Asked about his ambitions in 2019 - which promises a further three fights - Fafera said: "I'm not looking into the future too much. I'm taking it one day at a time.

"But the sky's the limit. I'm boxing as a full-time job and I'd be stupid not to take that opportunity.

"I want to go and get all the titles in front of me and beat everybody in front of me."

Huntington-based Fafera, a former Canon Lee School pupil, began his boxing career in March 2016 via a charity bout to raise money for the Special Care Baby Unit at York Hospital where his daughter Emmie was looked after for three months.

He went on to win the British semi-professional cruiserweight title, defeating experienced Leeds opponent Mark Holmes over six two-minute rounds at Huntington WMC, in late 2017.

In March last year, he won the Cash Fighter tournament held at Leicester Arena, beating respected professional Martin Concepcion along the way, which provided the confirmation he needed to turn pro himself.

He began his paid career last year with victory over Zac Thompson, from Newark, who retired at the end of the first round, and closed out 2018 with a swift defeat of debutant pro Ant Donaldson, dispatching his opponent in just 65 seconds with a technical knock-out.

The York man, however, has admitted frustration with the length of the bout.

He said: "I went in thinking it would be a hard fight, and I trained for it thinking it would be tough.

"Next fight, I want to take things slow and show everybody my skills - I'm ready for anybody."

On the year ahead, Fafera - who is trained at the TSM Boxing Club in Boroughbridge Road by Steve Melton -

added: "I'm excited. I'm guaranteed four fights this year and I'm excited for all of them. I've got a full year of training ahead and I'll be able to show people what I can do.

"Me and Steve come up with a game plan before a fight, and we know that what we do is always enough.

"The last camp was quite emotional (Fafera's father had recently passed away). This time I feel stronger. I'm excited for 2019 and I want to carry on winning. On January 1, I was up at six in the morning doing my run.

"I wouldn't change anything about how I train. I'm always learning, every time I go to the gym. I want to keep learning more, keep working hard and I don't want to switch off. I'm not going to take any breaks this year and I want to be 'six and 0' by the end of the year."

Fafera has recently signed with a new promoter and manager in Mark Bateson. He receives sponsorship from Cannon Security Services, Noodle Box, KPA Support and Motoplex. Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor should email Gary Pearce at garypearce1@gmail.com or phone Fafera on 07543 335695.