Heavyweight king and boxing superstar Tyson Fury has backed Thomas Ward to be a future world champion.
Ward, from West Rainton, Durham, is like Fury from a travelling background. Now 25, he is a former British super-bantamweight champion, and undefeated in 26 fights.
It was in his last outing that Ward made a big splash though - going over to America where he defeated Jesse Angel Hernandez live on BoxNation in a scintillating performance that included a third-round knockdown.
That night Ward moved ever closer to a world title opportunity and is now well ranked to go on and do so in the near future - confirming all the belief keen North East observers have had in him for many years now.
Ward has since joined the MTK Global team that Fury is also a part of and the heavyweight is backing Ward to achieve world honours soon enough.
Fury said: "He has already won the British title, he moved up in class and won in America, knocking the lad down.
"I was very impressed with that performance and I think he's going to get a world title shot next.
"At the highest level you need the ability to box and Tommy can hit as well, putting Hernandez down with the left hook.
"It was a great shot."
Fury is now signed to Bob Arum's Top Rank in America, with a multi-million-pound TV deal with ESPN. He expects to fight again in October before rematching WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder early next year.
And after making a big impression in America in his own outing, Fury says he would love to have Ward on one of his bills.
“Every great fighter from this country needs to go to America to make it into the big time," Fury continued.
“I’d love to see Tommy box on one of my shows, 100 per cent.
"Tommy doesn't have the routine as me.
"I've got an out-going personality, I am a natural-born talker and entertainer. But Tommy has his own unique style.
"His style is as a nice, genuine, hard-working family man, so he doesn't need to talk bull like me.
"Tommy needs to keep doing what he's doing, keep winning, and now he's with MTK he will move.
"He's already shown he's the best in Britain at his weight and he should go on to win titles."
Ward returns to the ring on Saturday evening in Brentwood on MTK's latest show. He'll fight Nicaraguan Brayan Mairena in a bout broadcast live on IFLTV's Youtube channel in the UK and on ESPN in the States. It's set for eight rounds.
