Lyndon Arthur is treating his anticipated all-Manchester derby against former sparring partner and "boxing mate" Brad Rea "like any other fight."

The pair will meet in a scheduled 12-round light heavyweight bout at Co-op Live Arena on Saturday night in their home city of Manchester as the chief support bout to Joshua Buatsi vs. Zach Parker on the Queensberry Promotions card, which will be broadcast live on DAZN.

In such a bustling division, the result will have major ramifications for both the winner and loser, but there are also local bragging rights at stake, not to mention Rea’s European title.

But Arthur (24-3, 16 KOs) is adamant that he is approaching the contest in the same way he always does.

“It doesn’t feel different, because it’s a local derby,” Arthur told The Ring. “For me, it’s just a fight like any other fight. I know it’s a cliche, but it’s a must-win fight, and that has nothing to do with who the opponent is. I look at every fight the same. I don't think I have to win this anymore than I had to win the third Anthony Yarde fight.

“I feel like I have to win the fight, I want to win the fight, and I have trained just as hard as I always do. But that's nothing to do with the fact it's against someone else from Manchester."

Given their proximity, the pair have shared many rounds of sparring over the years. But with Rea (21-1, 10 KOs) operating as a middleweight and super middleweight for his first five years as a pro, career light heavy Arthur did not ever envisage fighting him for real.

“I’ve known Brad for years,” Arthur said. “Even since back in the amateurs, and we’ve been in the same competitions and stuff, but at different weights. We’ve done many rounds of sparring since he turned professional, so we know each other well.

"I never really anticipated us ever fighting, but he has come up, and he feels comfortable at light heavyweight, and this is the weight that he's now chosen to be at. I just happen to be in it, too.

“I’d consider him a mate in boxing, a mate in boxing when he was fighting. When he’s on the TV I will always watch and support, wanting him to win. I’d consider him a mate in that sense, but it’s not like we chat every day.”

It will be Arthur’s first fight since his defeat to Yarde in their trilogy fight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as part of the undercard for Chris Eubank Jr’s victory over Conor Benn on April 26. Given he was beaten by Dmitry Bivol in December 2023, Arthur has now lost two of his last three.

The loss to Bivol was his one and only world title shot to date, and he admits that failing to beat Yarde has left him well off the pace on the world stage.

“I’m not really looking that far ahead,” Arthur said when asked if he still has designs on winning the world title. “I've just come off a loss, so what I need to do is get back with a win. I win this fight, then I'll be a little bit more looking that way. But until then, I'll have to do what's in front of me.

“There's probably a little bit more severity in a fight like this where you're getting towards the back end of your career. You probably should be winning this fight if you still want to achieve more than you have done so far.

“I understand why I lost against Yarde, and I definitely think I could have done more in the fight, but I definitely learnt in the fight and learnt from the fight. I can be critical of myself, but I think it was a good fight. After he stopped me in the second fight, there were some demons as well.

“It's just kind of your own demons, your own thoughts, your intrusive thoughts will get the better of you. So to go in there at Tottenham and do that in front of a big crowd and be able to put on a show in front of so many fans and such a big event ....

“I'm not happy that I lost, but I'm happy that I was in a good fight.”