Adrian Roach is optimistic he can rise to the occasion when he faces Taverio Stewart at the Bermuda Boxing Association’s Fight Fest, which pits local boxers against Canadian opposition.

Roach, 22, is predicting a tough battle against his more experienced opponent but is backing himself to win the three-round super-welterweight bout, which will headline the card at the Bermuda College Gymnasium on Saturday.

“I feel good about the fight and have seen my opponent before,” Roach told The Royal Gazette.

“He is a really good fighter. I do believe this is a step up in competition and in amateurs the levels of your opponents fluctuate a lot. But I definitely feel like this is more of a test, one that I will still rise to the occasion for.”

Roach, who boasts a 28-6 record, is particularly thrilled for the opportunity to showcase his talents at home for the first time since securing a points win over Mexican Anthony Hernandez at Epic Entertainment’s Fight Night Champion in January 2023.

“I’m definitely excited to be back at home fighting after some time,” he said.

“It’s always a pleasure to fight in front of a supportive Bermudian crowd filled with people you know. You can definitely feel the energy in the room.”

Roach is getting quality sparring in preparation for the upcoming fight at his training base in Las Vegas.

“Preparation is going good and I’m training alongside some of the best in the world, including world champions, contenders and other highly skilled boxers,” he added.

“The days are long and gruelling, but it all pays off in the end when my hand is raised in the ring.

“I’m thankful for my coaches, Leo Richardson, of Controversy Boxing Gym, as well as my coaches out here in Vegas, Coach DJ, Kay Karoma and all the others. I’m looking forward to a great night of fights.”

The undercard features Bermuda’s Jaylon Roberts, Ngai Franklin, Marcus Vassell, Legai Tucker, Jahnia Trott and Bruce Perinchief.

Roberts will go up against Jonathan Kirupakaran in a middleweight contest, while Tucker will take on rival lightweight Hami Madadikahkeshi.

Vassell has been pitted against Munir Abdul-Jabbar in a super-welterweight clash with Perinchief facing Christopher Balodis, also at super-welterweight. Trott will do battle with Taj Gordon in a light-heavyweight bout and Franklin is competing in the super-middleweight division against an opponent yet to be confirmed.

The BBA is using the event to help in its efforts to establish a national team.

“We have this great core group of young athletes that is going to be the nucleus of the national team if they stick with it, so this event is about us forming a Team Bermuda,” association president Nathan Dill said.

“All this time we were fighting each other, but now this event we are fighting international opponents from Canada, so this is the next step in us building that national team.

“From this, those fighters who stick with it we should expect to see them excel as we saw Adrian Roach, Tyler Christopher and Andre Lambe. They all came through the national programme and now are moving on to bigger and greater things.

“We are looking at some great competition and entertaining matches and are expecting Bermuda to come and support.

“We have the CedarBridge programme that we've been running for about seven years, the Whitney programme we've run this year and thanks to the Department of Youth and Sport, those programmes have been successful, but we’re moving to be self-sustaining.

"We want to be able to fund our own programming so some of that money can go towards other things, like having the athletes get opportunities overseas and fight and develop at training camps.

“This is a fundraiser primarily, but also an opportunity for our athletes to get some fierce competition.”

The event will be preceded by a masters exhibition bout featuring trainer Leo Richardson clashes against American Omar Anderson.

“This is Leo’s birthday, so that’s why the date is so significant,” Dill added.

“Leo has transcended to be a central figure for Bermuda boxing, so it’s his birthday and he’s going to have a masters boxing match against Omar Anderson, who is a DJ turned boxer.

“He is well known to Bermuda as a DJ, but he’s now had a couple of fights in the masters category, so he’s going to face Leo to celebrate his birthday.”

“This is fundraiser for our us with all proceeds going towards our youth programme through Controversy Boxing Gym and Bermuda boxing.”