Ovill ''The Upsetter'' McKenzie defends his Commonwealth light heavyweight title against Tony ''The Warrior'' Dodson at the Bowler's Arena in Manchester on Friday night. It is the latest chapter in an amazing fairy story for the likable McKenzie whose career was going nowhere until he was invited to compete in 2009's cruiserweight Prizefighter and won the tournament. In 2010 McKenzie came within a whisker of shocking world ranked Tony Bellew, and last year became Commonwealth champion with one of the fastest knockouts on record.

32-year-old Ovill McKenzie [19-11, eight KOs] has the kind of record that at first glance would condemn him to the rank of journeyman, but don't be fooled - last November McKenzie won the Commonwealth light heavyweight title with one of the fastest knockouts in recent history - the referee calling time after just 15 seconds in his win over Welshman Jeff Evans, who had been knocked cold by one monster right hand.

The muscular Jamaican born McKenzie shows little sign of wear and tear and is still in fantastic shape, and could yet feature majorly in a buoyant domestic light heavyweight scene lead by WBO champion Nathan Cleverly, especially when one considers that his fellow countrymen Glenn Johnson is still very much active within the highest echelons of super middleweight and light heavyweight boxing at age 41.

McKenzie turned professional in 2003, but by 2005 his record was a less than impressive 5-6 with just one knockout victory. He then hit form and strung together an eight bout winning streak which included a two round TKO in 2006 over Peter Haymer for the vacant Commonwealth light heavyweight title, but lost it spectacularly the following year when he was blitzed in one round by the always dangerous Dean Francis, a quality fighter who lifted British, Commonwealth and European titles from super middleweight to cruiserweight during his career.

McKenzie won just one of his next four bouts, and looked to be headed for the boxing scrap heap when he was invited to join the lineup for Sky TV and Matchroom Promotion's cruiserweight edition of Prizefighter in May 2009. Despite being the smallest man in the lineup and the betting outsider, McKenzie upset the apple cart by winning his three fights and taking home the Prizefighter trophy and the winner's check for £32,000.

With his career suddenly reborn, McKenzie flattened contender Billy Boyle in one round in February 2010, and 10 months later in a fight for the Commonwealth 175 lb crown gave rising Liverpool light heavyweight star and future world title challenger Tony Bellew the shock of his life when he put him down twice - first briefly in round one and then with one of the punches of the year in round two. Had the blow landed just two inches lower and struck Bellew's jaw, he would surely have been knocked cold, but to his credit he showed amazing powers of recovery to get up, then come back and win the fight.

From rounds three to seven Bellew boxed beautifully before stopping McKenzie in the eighth round, a vicious left hook flooring the Jamaican, and a follow up barrage causing referee Terry O'Connor to stop the fight. The result was somewhat controversial and many believed that the referee had stopped the fight prematurely.

The two fighters met again in a July 2010 rematch, and despite much anticipation, it was an anticlimax as a competition with Bellew, clearly respectful of McKenzie's power, boxing a cagey fight throughout and winning a landslide decision.

The quick blowout over Evans last November proved McKenzie is far from finished and still hungry for success. With former WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli now competing as a light heavyweight, a bout between two of the biggest hitters in British boxing would be a natural and a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. For the moment however, McKenzie must focus fully on Friday's Commonwealth title defense against Liverpool's former British super middleweight title Tony Dodson [28-6-1, 14 KOs].

31-year-old Dodson is a 13 year professional who has lost just three times in the last eight years, and only against top-quality opposition. Dodson's career was somewhat hot and cold in the early years - he lost just once in his first 16 bouts, and then suffered back-to-back ninth round TKO's against Portland's Albert Rybacki and Frenchman Pierre Moreno.

Despite those setbacks, Dodson dusted himself off and stopped the unbeaten Allan Foster in 11 rounds to lift the British super middleweight title in November 2003. Despite this success, Dodson would subsequently spend the next two years out of the ring, returning in 2005.

In November 2006, Dodson was KO'd in three rounds by future two-time WBC super middleweight champion and recent Super Six runner-up Carl Froch in a bout for the British and Commonwealth 168 lb titles. He was TKO'd in the 12th round of a sensational fight against fellow scouser Tony Quigley for the vacant British super middleweight title in March 2009, and came up short the following year in another epic encounter, this time against the third and most successful of a trio of top Liverpool super middleweights - Paul Smith.

Since then, Dodson has won four on the bounce, and last time out beat cagey Manchester veteran Darren Stubbs on a seventh round retirement.

Dodson is a solid all round ring technician but is far more of a boxer than a puncher. Worryingly for his supporters, four of his six defeats have come inside the distance, and his lack of a genuine knockout punch may cause him problems in keeping a rampant McKenzie at bay.

McKenzie's record is deceptive - the majority of his defeats came early in his career, and since Prizefighter in 2009, only Tony Bellew has beaten him. Although only eight of his 19 career wins have come inside the distance, the Jamaican is extremely heavy-handed with genuine one punch knockout power, and he has flattened six of his last nine opponents.

Dodson looks to have a mountain to climb against a naturally bigger, more powerful opponent who looks brimming with confidence and at his peak professionaly. The Liverpool fighter will no doubt set a blistering pace and try to build up an early points lead. If Dodson can keep McKenzie at a distance and his defence tight there is a real possibility of an upset.

My biggest worry for Dodson is the ''macho'' streak he has displayed throughout his career as a fighter, which means at some point in this fight he is likely to engage in a war with McKenzie. If this happens, he will be knocked out - plain and simple.

I believe Dodson's trainer Oliver Harrison will attempt to safeguard against this and send his man out to box and not brawl, and I believe that Dodson will have some early success doing just that. However, the last thing McKenzie will be thinking about is a distance fight, and he will be looking to turn this encounter into a punch-up as quickly as possible. Dodson will not be able to resist getting into some fierce exchanges with McKenzie, and this will ultimately prove his undoing, by around the fourth round.

McKenzie by KO in four.

Big Fight Odds: Ovill McKenzie 4/11, Tony Dodson 2/1 bet365