Jessica Barry: “I’m fully focused on delivering a career-best performance.”

Jessica Barry: “I’m fully focused on delivering a career-best performance.”

It will be a different experience for Jessica Barry this weekend in Birmingham. After toiling away on the small hall circuit, Barry finally gets her chance under the bright lights on Saturday night. The 32-year-old will face Reina Tellez live on Sky Sports.

“It felt a bit surreal at first,” Barry told FightPost. “But then, I’ve been reminded by people that I have done the work to get here, and now I feel like yeah, this is where I’m supposed to be at this stage of my career. I’m grateful that my first show like this is so local and I can have lots of support here.”

Barry (10-1) understands the importance of her fight against the American on Saturday. It could change everything for her. Life away from those bright lights has been hard of late for Barry.

“Fighting off TV hasn’t been difficult until recently, when you start, you are excited because the aim is for it to lead to bigger things,” Barry says. “But the longer that goes on and you’re still fighting for titles on small shows is hard, as you have the pressure of delivering for it, including bringing the support. I’ve also had really bad luck with the small shows, with so many fighters avoiding the fights or pulling out. Then it becomes very disheartening and feels like all your hard work is going nowhere. That’s how I felt on my last fight when I had to fight my opponent for the third time because everything kept falling through.”

Tellez (13-1-1) is well-regarded, and a win over the American would change the trajectory of the career of the British fighter. Tellez is coming off a defeat to Amanda Serrano earlier this year, and will see Barry as an opportunity to get her career going in the right direction again. For Barry, it is a nothing-to-lose, everything-to-gain type of fight.

“I have no real thoughts on my opponent,” Barry told me. “I’ve been focusing on myself. She seems similar to me. A good amateur career, and has been very successful as a pro so far. But she’s signed by MVP and is coming off a loss, so the pressure is on her for this fight, not on me. She has to deliver to get her career back on track now. There’s more pressure for her than me.”

Barry believes fighting her best fight will leave her leaving Birmingham with her hand raised in victory. “I’m not even concentrating on winning this fight. I’m fully focused on delivering a career-best performance, and winning will just be a byproduct of this performance. From there, I hope to push for serious titles with some serious contenders with MVP. I just have to prove myself in this fight.”