Suffolk heavyweight hope Fabio Wardley says he'll be 'full of pride' when he fights for the first time wearing the Ipswich Town badge at the O2 Arena tomorrow night.

English heavyweight champion Wardley (13-0, 12KO) faces Chris Healey (9-9, 2KO), on the undercard of Derek Chisora's rematch with Kubrat Pulev.

And, fresh from being the face of Town's new kit launch, former Academy player Wardley has signed a sponsorship deal with the club which will see him wear the famous crest on his ring walk shirt and trademark blue and white fight shorts.

"I will be so full of pride," said the 27-year-old former Chantry High School pupil. "I'll be absolutely buzzing, and I have been all week.

"In all of the interviews and media I've been doing, they've been asking about the badge and the club. That's exactly what I wanted, it's a massive thing."

He continued: "The club have been very supportive of me for a long time, getting me to games, doing pitch walks and interviews. They came to me with the kit launch idea, and I think that's where we saw that a link between us could be a big benefit to us both.

"That kit launch was unreal, so well-received. I love the kit too - I'm not actually sure which I prefer! I'm probably leaning towards the home kit because of the blue and white, but I love the away one too."

The link between elite boxers and football clubs is long established - world champions including Ricky Hatton (Man City), Tony Bellew (Everton) and Josh Warrington (Leeds) had huge followings from their clubs, and all fought at their team's stadiums.

Wardley wants to walk in their footsteps - both in terms of winning a world title and fighting at Portman Road.

"One thousand percent it's something I can do," he said, of fighting at Town's famous old home. "Portman Road is a very big stadium, so it's going to take some time - and it needs to be the right time and the right fight, either for a world title or world title eliminator. But it's definitely something we can do."

Turning his attention to tomorrow night, Wardley explained that four potential opponents - including former world title challengers Mariusz Wach and Carlos Takam, plus big puncher Kingsley Ibeh - had fallen through before Healey signed to face him earlier today.

"Of course it's frustrating," he said. "In an ideal world I'd know my opponent long in advance and be able to plan, but ultimately things don't always work out how you'd like. That's boxing too - you have to be able to adapt.

"I'm going to be walking to the ring confident, calm and composed, ready to show some new skills that we've been working on.

"I'll be composed and calm in there, before finishing with a KO, of course."

A British title scrap with friend and former sparring partner Nathan Gorman has long been talked about in the trade, and Wardley says he wants to fight for that historic belt next, whether it's Gorman or not.

"The plan is before the year is out (for the British title)," he explained. "That would mark this year down as a good year, and then we can move towards some really big things next year."