Nikki Bascome, the Bermuda boxer, is hungry to mark his hometown debut with an entertaining victory in his second professional bout at the Fairmont Southampton this month.

The junior middleweight will face Kru Joe Marchand-Tipping, of Ontario, Canada, in a four-round bout on the undercard of Teresa Perozzi’s IBA middleweight title defence against American Kali Reis on November 21.

Bascome, who defeated American George Quintero on his professional debut in Florida in February, said that he had plenty of incentives to deliver an entertaining performance against Marchand-Tipping.

“I’m hungry to get back in the ring and definitely excited to fight at home and can’t wait,” Bascome said.

“I’m training really hard and I’ve gone to the next level mentally, so I’m ready. All of my family are going to be there and that’s motivated me a lot.

“They have been very supportive of me and that makes me want to show them what I have been doing all these years.

“This will also be the first time my grandmother and my godparents will be at one of my fights. I definitely want to show them something but at the same time stay focused.”

Marchand-Tipping, who will make his boxing debut, is no stranger to the Island, having coached his wife, Shelby Marchand-Tipping, in her debut win against Talia Iris at Teachers Rugby Fight Night XVI in April.

He is the owner and head instructor of Fifth Round Martial Arts and Training Academy in Stratford, Ontario, and boasts extensive professional experience in Muay Thai.

“I’m not really worried about what [Marchand-Tipping] has done,” Bascome said. “I’m focusing on myself and putting together my game plan to be the best I can be on the night. I’ll be ready for anything he brings.”

Helping to prepare Bascome for his next assignment is Troy Darrell, a former professional and Bermuda Sports Hall of Fame boxer.

“Training with Troy is a real blessing because he has been there,” Bascome said. “He was ranked No 5 in the world and he came up in a tough era.

“He has so much knowledge and is showing me so many different things and I just soak it all up. It’s a real blessing and I enjoy it because he doesn’t allow you to make many mistakes.”

Bascome stepped up his training this week, travelling to Florida for some sparring against quality opponents.

“I spar with a couple of pros and some prospects, one of whom is 4-0 and another up-and-coming prospect who is 7-0 with five knockouts,” Bascome said. “That’s good sparring and there are other amateurs in the gym that are also going to give me some work.

“It’s going to be a good training camp which will push me even higher.”

Although Bascome has not fought in nine months, he insists that he has kept himself in good shape and will be in peak condition on the night.

“We were trying to arrange some fights but things didn’t materialise,” Bascome said. “But through it all I stayed focused and remained in the gym training. I continued my running and sparring and my bag work and kept physically in shape, so me making weight is not a problem because I’m where I need to be.

“I’m just trying to improve as a pro and keep working on my craft to perfect it.

“I’m doing whatever I can to make myself better and push past my limits.”

Allan “Forty” Rego, who has been coaching Bascome for more than eight years, said. “It’s a good thing for him to be able to fight at home and I hope this is the first of many.

“Nikki is really excited about fighting at home because he wants people see him perform.”

Also boxing on the undercard will be Chioke Tucker, Bascome’s stablemate at Rego’s Gym in Warwick. Tucker will be making his professional debut against Martello Jones, also of the Fifth Round Martial Arts.

Tickets can be purchased at the International Sports Shop, Beyond Fitness or PTIX.BM. Ringside tickets are $100, general admission is $65.