Click here for a full factfile on Julius Francis

Mike Tyson, the most feared boxer of his generation, has confirmed he will fight in Britain for the first time.

The former undisputed world heavyweight champion will take part in a non-title bout at Manchester's MEN Arena on 29 January next year.

But the man who will be in the opposite corner that night is virtually unknown outside boxing circles: Julius Francis.

The previously unheralded Francis has been given his biggest break as Tyson tries to resurrect his career after the latest in a series of setbacks.

But Francis' profile with the British public is so anonymous that he was not invited to the BBC Sports Review of the Year - which includes an audience made up of the country's top sports stars - until news of the Tyson fight broke.

So who is this relative journeyman who will go into the ring against a legendary fighter famed for his brutal power, killer instinct and occasional outbreak of ear-biting?

Thankless task

Few people would volunteer to trade blows with Tyson, who has only ever fought outside the US once before - when he was sensationally beaten by another unknown fighter, Buster Douglas, in Tokyo in 1990.

But Francis will reportedly receive £350,000 for the fight - comfortably the largest purse of his career - and he is confident of pulling off a shock victory.

"I volunteered for this job," he says. "My manager asked me and I jumped at the chance.

"Tyson is not the fearsome fighter he was in the late '80s and early '90s. He's still a force to be reckoned with, but I'm prepared to go in there and put everything on the line to prove myself."

It has been a long, hard road to the top of the sport for Francis.

He has achieved his big chance at the comparatively advanced age of 35.

But then he did not turn professional until he was 28, after suffering a traumatic early life.

Boxing, as with so many of the sport's great figures - including Tyson himself - proved Francis' salvation.

As a tear-away youngster and some-time football hooligan in south London, he was frequently in trouble with the law and served time in prison for a number of offences.

He admits he was on the street for a time and suffered a serious stomach wound that required 60 stitches after he was stabbed with a carving knife in a fight at a party.

These days, though, he is a reformed character and chooses not to dwell on his rollercoaster past.

"I'd never say life owes me anything," Francis told BBC Radio 5 Live. "I've gone out and worked for it.

"Those things are in my past - but I've paid my debt now and I'll leave them in the past and go on from there."

On the buses

Francis is now determined to use his status as British champion to influence young people in a similar position to him.

He can frequently be found travelling round the capital on a "book bus", visiting schools to help encourage pupils to read.

"I hope they listen to me," he said. "I've got a bit of knowledge and experience to give them about things that have happened to me."

And asked whether the prospect of facing the mighty Tyson would be terrifying, he admitted the experience of reciting poetry to inner-city schoolchildren had prepared him for the task.

"There is a fear when I go into school and have all these expectant seven and eight-year-olds waiting with bated breath, looking at this big giant.

"It does scare me sometimes - it brings me out in a cold sweat."

Julius Francis factfile

• 1964: Born 8 December in Peckham.
• 1993: Turns professional with a fifth round stoppage of Graham Arnold in Brockley.
• 1994: Unbeaten record comes to end with defeat by American John Ruiz in Bristol . But recovers to record two more wins before the end of the year. Ruiz has gone to become a top contender.
• 1995: Wins Southern Area heavyweight title in London with an eighth round stoppage of Damien Cesar. But ends the year with two defeats, against Brighton's Scott Welch and Russian Nikolai Kulpin.
• 1996: Beaten once in five fights, by Manchester's Michael Murray, finishing the year with fifth-round stoppage of former British champion "Big Bad" James Oyebola to retain Southern Area crown.
• 1997: Steps up a level to challenge Zeljko Mavrovic for the European title, but stopped in the eighth round in Austria. Beats Joseph Chingangu for the Commonwealth crown and then stops Garry Delaney to add the British title.
• 1998: Beaten by Germany's Axel Schulz on points in Germany, and two months later is hammered to a second round defeat by future WBO champion Vitali Klitschko.
• 1999: Enjoys best form of career to see off previously unbeaten prospects Pele Reid and Danny Williams. And gains revenge over Welch, to retain British title and win the Lonsdale Belt outright.
• 14 December: Signs to fight Mike Tyson on 29 January at Manchester's MEN Arena.

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