ST JOSEPH’S star Andrew Selby can claim a third major title in just his eighth professional fight next month when he faces WBC international flyweight champion Ardin Diale in London.

Selby, 28, who won the vacant British and IBF inter-continental straps in his fifth and seventh outings respectively, challenges the Philippines boxer at Olympia on February 4.

The bout takes place on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jnr’s tilt at the IBO world super-middleweight crown against belt holder Renold Quinlan.

Diale is the same age as Selby but is vastly more experienced in the pro ranks with 46 fights dating back to his debut in August 2008.

His encounter with the Welshman will be Diale’s first in Europe and comes six years after he lost his one and only world title fight, in Mexico against Julio Cesar Miranda.

It is likely that Diale will give London Olympian Selby the toughest test of his fledgling professional career.

“He is the sort of opponent I have to beat to prove my credentials as a future world champion,” said Selby.

Selby has won all seven of his bouts in the paid ranks to date and has impressed hugely with the way he has made the transition from the amateurs.

All bar two of his wins so far have come inside the distance and he made light work of Jake Bornea, another fighter from the Philippines, in his last outing in November.

Selby stopped his opponent in the seventh round to claim the IBF inter-continental title, six months on from securing the Lonsdale Belt with a unanimous points victory over Louis Norman.