COLIN KENNA has prepared thoroughly for his fight against Edmund Gerber tonight – but will still have to work much of it out as he goes along..

The Southampton heavyweight landed a plum fight on the undercard of the world title bout between David Haye and Audley Harrison at the MEN Arena.

There he will take on undefeated German number one heavyweight Gerber who has 12 wins out of 12, eight coming inside the distance.

Kenna (pictured) has not only been hitting the gym hard following his creditable draw with Damien Campbell last time out but also studying Gerber’s previous fights to see what he can learn.

However, with so few opponents actually giving the German a test, it will be a bit of a case of making it up as he goes along for Kenna, who will not be accompanied by long term trainer and promoter Jack Bishop as recovers from his recent ill health.

Bishop said: “I’ve got down to the gym most nights and I’ve been impressed with Colin.

“He’s got himself in very good shape and every night he’s done ten rounds with the pads, which is really hard work – he even did it last Saturday rather than go and watch Saints, which shows how serious he is.

“There is no hiding place when you are on the pads – on the bag you can take it easy if you want and go through the motions a bit, when you spar you can even hang on.

“But he’s really been going for it which is good news.”

Kenna’s stock has risen dramatically again following his draw with Campbell – to the extent that Bishop has already been offered another fight for his man next month.

But for now the focus is on Gerber, though Bishop admits they haven’t been able to learn much about their man.

“He is something of an unknown quantity,” said Bishop.

“Colin has been round to my house and we’ve watched a lot of his fights but he’s not fought anybody of any note and most of them have gone down quickly.

“What we do know is that he’s big and he can punch but what we also know is that Colin will give him the best fight he’s had so far.

“The lad has not faced anybody who can get in his face like Colin can, give him the trouble Colin can and has the experience Colin has.

“I remember when I took Colin to spar Audley Harrison and he went straight at Harrison which shocked him a bit and that might be a plus for us because this boy has never had anybody go for him.”