Commonwealth featherweight champion Masood Abdulah is counting down the days to his showdown with English titleholder Zak Miller.

The fight is part of the undercard to the heavyweight clash between Derek Chisora and Otto Wallin, taking place at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena on February 8th.

Last week, an already intriguing contest was given an extra dimension when it was announced that the vacant British title will also be on the line after longtime holder Nathaniel Collins (15-0, 7 KOs) elected to relinquish the belt.

WBA world featherweight champion Nick Ball (21-0-1, 12 KOs) leads the way but the Abdulah-Miller winner will hold all of the major domestic titles, thus putting themselves atop the British 126lb rankings.

31-year-old Abdulah (11-0, 7 KOs) has been calling for a British title shot for some time and is now less than a month away from his chance.

“I cannot wait. It’s an honour to be fighting for this title,” he told BoxNation. “I've wanted this ever since I turned professional. It's a dream of mine and I’m just happy to finally get the opportunity to fight for it. Hopefully it goes well. I'm going to go out there, try and smash his face in as much as possible but, yeah, cannot wait.”

Collins vacated the title last week after a long absence from the ring. Just days after beating Italy’s Francesco Grandelli for the EBU Silver title, the undefeated Scotsman was rushed to hospital with a twisted bowel and had to undergo life-saving surgery.

He is scheduled to return in an eight-rounder next month on a small-hall show in Glasgow but has decided to vacate the belt he successfully defended twice.

His last title defence came in November 2023, earning a tight majority decision over Miller (15-1, 3 KOs) in a high-quality, back-and-forth twelve round fight.

The Mancunian bounced back to win the English title against the previously undefeated Lewis Frimpong and now gets a second crack at the famed Lonsdale belt.

For Abdulah, the man in the opposite corner is of absolutely no consequence. Miller or Collins, vacant title or not, he is fixated on winning the belt and moving on with his career.

“I said this before, I don't care who it is. I just want that title,” he said. “I don't care what face, what type of body shape or style comes in. I just want to beat up the person who's in front of me and then that's it.

“I said this a while ago, I don’t really care about Nathaniel Collins, just his title. That's why I made that statement. Either fight me or vacate because it's only fair that I now get the opportunity to fight for it.”