ST JOSEPH’S lightweight Gavin Gwynne will soon be welcoming a new addition to his ever-expanding fan club – someone who is certainly going to give him an added incentive to thrive in the boxing ring.

The unbeaten 27-year-old, who clinched a sixth straight victory in Cardiff last Friday, is taking a break from the gym as he prepares to become a father for the first time.

And when Gwynne returns to training there is a chance he could have a title fight to get himself in shape for, with his management team trying to set their man up for a crack at the Welsh crown.

Gwynne eased to a routine points victory over journeyman Ibrar Riyaz in his most recent outing – the Welshman had to step up to super-lightweight after his original opponent was forced to pull out.

And the Treharris native feels he is now ready to take on bigger challenges, although he knows there is a pretty significant one just around the corner.

“Everything is ready for the baby, it’s just a waiting game at the moment,” he said.

“I’ve pretty much had three fights back-to-back so Tony Borg (Gwynne’s trainer) has told me to have a rest and when I go back I'll be a new man.

“I’ll be a father when I do go back to the gym and I think that will give me extra motivation as I know I’ve got to succeed to give my little one a good future.

“Before I was just doing it for myself but I’ll have a family soon.”

In the ring, Gwynne feels he needs to be tested more, and a first title shot in his own backyard is a good place to start.

“I’ve been in talks with my management team (Chris and Jamie Sanigar) about fighting for the Welsh title on a show in Merthyr,” he added.

“As long as everything goes smoothly with the birth I can get back to training and start preparing for that.

“I don’t think I’m going to fight for a couple of months though because the baby is my number one priority.”

On his desire for stiffer competition, he continued: “I was sparring with Lee Selby and Craig Evans for my last fight and when you’re in with boys like that you know the level of opponent isn’t going to be as good as them.

“I really need to step things up, Tony has said the same, because the boys I’m fighting at the moment aren’t really challenging me.”

As for that defeat of Riyaz, Gwynne gave credit to his opponent.

He said: "He was tough. I landed some massive shots that would have floored a lot of guys.

"I was actually hurting my hand with some of them and he was coming back at me.

"But I felt comfortable and did what I wanted, and if I had been fighting at lightweight I might have got the stoppage."