Tyler Christopher is adamant he is not fazed by a late change of opponent as he prepares for his first professional bout as a headliner in Birmingham, England, on Saturday.

The 26-year-old Bermudian was due to face 25 -year-old Bulgarian Petar Aleksandov as the main attraction on the March Madness card at the H Suite in Edgbaston.

However, as has been the case throughout his burgeoning professional career, Christopher has been dealt a blow in his final preparations after discovering he has now been matched against 33-year-old Luke Middleton, who has mustered only two wins and two draws from 26 professional contests and comes into the bout on the back of ten successive defeats.

Despite the sudden upheaval, Christopher, who has not fought since sealing a second-round stoppage of Harley Marginson in September last year, remains fully focused on the task of extending his flawless professional record to 6-0 in his first six-round bout.

“I’m not fazed by anything,” said Christopher. “This has happened every time over my last five fights and so I know it's what comes with being a professional. I just have to focus on performing on the night.

“This is my first headline as a professional and that’s really exciting. I feel like I’m making good progress and the aim is to remain undefeated throughout the year and hopefully start to line up some title fights down the line.”

As well as facing a new opponent, Christopher will make the step up to super welterweight after struggling to losing the required weight to to make 147 pounds and fight at welterweight.

“Welterweight is my usual weight category, but it’s getting harder to get down to around 147 pounds because I’ve put on more muscle as I’ve grown and don’t have a lot of fat to lose,” he said.

“In England, they do same day weigh-ins for the smaller professional shows and I just can’t make 147 pounds on the same day as the fight.

“I could make that weight if I had a rehydration period but for these same-day weigh-in fights, I don’t want to deplete myself the night of a fight trying to make a lower weight category.

“Out of training camps I'm around 165 pounds and so thankfully it wasn’t too difficult to get down to super welterweight. This newly-scheduled opponent fights at that weight anyway and so it was just the easiest option to get the fight on.”