Byrne: ‘If there’s anyone I’m happy to fight, it’s Josh’

“Of course Josh is a contender. I’d expect nothing less. Over the years we’ve had some fantastic battles, and while we don’t exactly get on there’s a lot of mutual respect between us. Even a pissed off Josh Brookes isn’t a dirty Josh Brookes. We have some really good clean battles, and I enjoy racing the guy. “I’m not quite sure how they’ve made the step they’ve made, but I saw how you guys at MCN had tweeted that Josh’s 2015 title attack started with a double here at Brands and thought ‘oh flipping hell, we could do without someone else in the mix!’”