Pompey Chimes will be ringing out tonight in Southampton

David Birmingham heads down the M27 looking for the fifth win of his professional career.

Slovakian Ivan Godor lies in wait for the Leigh Park lightweight as he aims to maintain his unbeaten run.

And the former Blues footballer will be nailing his colours to the mast before he boxes.

Birmingham, who played for Pompey in the Championship, always walks into the strains of the Chimes as his ringwalk music.

That isn’t going to change despite boxing in Southampton – the Blues’ traditional rivals. The task for Birmingham is to look good as he aims to get into the title mix this year.

His trainer, Michael Ballingall, explained there’s a balancing act to consider with the boxer.

That’s as he weighs up his relative inexperience after turning pro last year, with the fact he’s now 36.

His trainer is confident he can fight for a title in 2017, however.

Ballingall said: ‘Dave’s been training hard.

‘He’s got a six rounder and is coming off a good stoppage win.

‘He’ll be looking to put in a good performance.

‘It should be a good test for him. Dave is no spring chicken anymore.

‘So we need to get him boxing regularly by the end of the year.

‘Hopefully we can get him some sort of title fight by then.

‘Obviously, he is not getting any younger so we can’t leave it too long to bring him along.

‘But we can’t bring him along too quickly, either. We have to groom him and get him right.

‘The good thing is he’s committed and puts his heart and soul into boxing.

‘By the end of the year, he should be ready to go for a title fight.

‘He needs to be patient, keep working and he’ll get there.’

Meanwhile, Lucas Ballingall returns to the ring against Georgian veteran Tornike Tortladze as he looks to stay sharp.

The featherweight aims to make it 7-0 after putting a hand injury problem behind him.

Ballingall Snr said: ‘Lucas has got a tough journeyman who usually campaigns at a higher weight.

‘His hand injury is fine now, thankfully, and it’s not stopping him throwing punches.

‘Lucas has had a bit of illness but is fine, and looking forward to getting the rounds under his belt.’