ALI Adams is caught between a rock and a hard place this week.

The Hammersmith heavyweight with an 8-2-1 record either goes into tonight's (Friday) Sky-televised fight with Newcastle's Dave Ferguson without any sparring whatsoever - or he misses out on a chance to jump into the British top 10.Efforts to procure training partners for the Iraq-born 29-year-old have fallen on stony ground.

"It's either they want a big fee for sparring with me," said Adams, "or they've got upcoming bouts of their own.

"There's only so many boxers around who are in my weight division and available - and we pack a bit of a punch so nobody wants to get hurt just sparring."

Victory in the Ferguson fight at the Leigh Indoor Sports Centre in Lancashire would catapult Adams from 20th to 10th in the British rankings and take him closer to a British title shot that is already rumoured for next year.

But Adams admits he is taking a chance against a man who boasts a 12-10-0 record, albeit with only two fights outside the comfort zone of the Geordie's home town.

Adams said: "Sparring is vital to a boxer's fine tuning. Timing, defensive work - all of that gets missed if you don't have it before a fight.

"I'm fit though - and this is a chance I don't want to turn down, especially bearing in mind the exposure on TV."