Boxing star Lewis Ritson has revealed the talk of a mega fight at St James' Park could become a reality.
The Geordie fighter wowed fans with a thrilling win over Robbie Davies Jr in Newcastle on Saturday night.
He's established himself as the main contender for a shot at a world title and promoter Eddie Hearn wants it at the home of Newcastle United .
Ritson told ChronicleLive how his recovery is going - and revealed he briefly thought he'd lost the fight.
"I'm spot on", Lewis said, "I got back on the Sunday morning and took the little 'un to the soft play.
"There's no rest for the wicked, I haven't had time to be sore yet.
"I haven't had much sleep either, I'm still on the buzz from the adrenaline of the night."
Ritson's famous win has earned him a shot at a belt, the latest step up in his remarkable rise.
He's being lined up to take on the winner of Saturday night's title fight between Scottish champ Josh Taylor and the American Regis Prograis.
Immediately after the fight, the prospect of a St James' Park bout was mentioned and behind the scenes, the wheels are in motion.
Speaking after meeting fans at JD on Northumberland Street, Ritson said: "I got a message last night from Mr Hearn asking me if I was still up for the winner at St James' Park.
"Of course I fancy it. The answer was 110% yes.
"It's going to be a very hard fight against either of them.
"But we'll get 30 or 40,000 mad Geordies screaming and shouting in there and I think it's a win I could pull off on the night."
Saturday's encounter was fought at a ferocious pace and was a close contest throughout, culminating in a 12 round slog which descended into a wild brawl.
"It's just pure instinct, there's been a lot of bad blood between us...we just wanted to put on one last hurrah for the crowd and give people a bit of a show and I think that's what we did."
But despite that last big push, Ritson admits he briefly thought he'd lost it - and it felt like "the end of the world".
"I looked at the Sky commentator Adam Smith and, at the time, I thought he was looking at me.
"I nodded my head at him as if to say 'have I got this?' and I got a big shake of the head back.
"So I was like 'they've robbed me in my hometown, get me out of here, I'm spitting my dummy out'", Ritson said.
"I should have waited until the score cards were read out - I soon went from gutted to happy again."
