LUKE Blackledge believes there is a lot more to come from him after signing a three-year deal with promoter Frank Warren and his Box Nation TV channel.

The 25-year-old Clitheroe super-middleweight retained his Commonwealth belt with a points victory over Lee Markham at the Manchester Arena on Saturday — and then penned a deal with Warren after the fight.

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It was a sixth win in a row for Blackledge, who is expected to be back out on the undercard of Billy Joe Saunders’ world title fight with Andy Lee in Manchester on Saturday, December 19.

That could be a third defence of the Commonwealth strap he won at King George’s Hall in April, but Blackledge believes he has now moved beyond challenging for the vacant British title.

“I’ve only been a professional for five years, I’m 25-years-old, I’ve got another five or ten years in the sport and there is a lot more to come,” said Blackledge.

“There’s no rush. I’ve had 24 pro fights but this was only my second fight of the year because of injury, so hopefully I’ll be back in December.

“It might be a defence of my Commonwealth title, or even for another title, but I feel the British title would be a step down for me.

“There’s no reason I couldn’t get a world title shot. Lee drew with Frank Buglioni, and I actually thought he beat him, and Frank got a world title shot last month.”

Blackledge has won 20 and drawn two of his 24 outings, with his last defeat coming to the unbeaten Rocky Fielding in November 2013, and he is unbeaten under Alex Matvienko, his trainer since 2014.

Saturday’s win over Markham has strengthened Blackledge’s position in the top six of a competitive domestic scene, featuring Fielding, Callum Smith, George Groves, Martin Murray and James DeGale.

Blackledge was initially dismissive of Markham post-fight, but having watched the tape back on Monday he feels he didn’t give the 27-year-old enough credit.

“He made it difficult,” he said. “It was a hard fight. The game plan was to push him off balance and control the head, but the referee stopped that happening after the second round and he was warning me, so that made it tricky.

“The gloves were terrible. I had said this before the fight, then after hurting him in the second, he managed to get his changed in the corner and that didn’t help.”

Blackledge will now hope to impress again on the undercard of the eagerly anticipated Saunders-Lee fight.