Savannah Marshall (12-1, 10 KO’s) is on track to land a record-setting 1-2 this summer as she follows October’s sell-out of The O2 London – the UK’s largest arena – by headlining a sold-out show at the AO Arena Manchester on Saturday, July 1st.
The undisputed World Super-Middleweight Championship will be on the line when Marshall walks out to challenge defending champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2 KO’s) and becomes the first female boxer ever to headline the UK’s two largest arenas in back-to-back events.
Previously set to occupy the co-headline slot, the undisputed world championship bout now takes main event status as Liam Smith postpones his rematch with bitter rival Chris Eubank Jr to recover from a minor but nagging injury which has dogged his training camp.
The two antagonists set a pay-per-view record for their weight class when they fought in January, a bout Smith won by fourth-round stoppage, and a stellar support card was put in place for their highly-anticipated rematch, which was also set to air as a Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view event.
With two world title fights – Liverpool’s Natasha ‘Miss GB’ Jonas (13-2-1, 8 KO’s) is set to defend her unified world light-middleweight championship at the event – plus a guaranteed-fireworks British super-middleweight title fight pitting Manchester man Mark ‘Kid Dynamite’ Heffron (29-2-1, 23 KOs) against Zak Chelli (13-1-1, 6 KOs), that stacked undercard now becomes a stacked event which will air live on the Sky Sports network.
Also confirmed for the card is Ben ‘The Surgeon’ Whittaker (3-0, 2 KO’s). Another prospect heavily-tipped by boxing insiders is Callum Simpson (11-0, 9 KO’s), who journeys from his native Yorkshire following his stunning third-round stoppage in the same venue in March.
“I’m gutted and sorry to all the fans about the postponement. I’ve always said a fully fit Liam Smith beats Chris Eubank Jr every time. I tried training through because I was desperate not to let anyone down but I’ve had to withdraw from the bout in July following the latest medical assessment this week. I’ll heal up now and then be fully fit for later in the summer,” said Liam Smith.
“I wanted BOXXER to put a big card together and they more than delivered, so I’m honestly delighted that BOXXER is keeping the card on without the pay-per-view, which doesn’t always happen. I would encourage all the fans to get behind Tasha Jonas and Savannah Marshall in their world title fights, and the other fighters in a brilliant card.”
Ben Shalom, BOXXER founder and CEO, saluted Smith’s courageous efforts to stay on the card and looks forward to another record-setting night in Manchester.
“Nobody is more disappointed than Liam Smith, he’s the ultimate professional but he had no choice but to postpone the bout. We’re working on a new date for the fight and hope to announce that in a week or so. In the meantime we’ve got a huge night taking place in Manchester on July 1st,” he said.
“Savannah Marshall headlining the UK’s two biggest arenas in back to back fights is a first for a female fighter and shows the strength of the women’s sport today. She’s fighting for the undisputed world super-middleweight championship against the USA’s Franchon Crews-Dezurn – a fight which could headline any arena in the world.
“Manchester’s own Mark Heffron defending his British title against Zak Chelli, Natasha Jonas laying her own world titles on the line, plus a once-in-a-generation talent like Ben Whittaker and the outstanding Callum Simpson takes on Boris Crighton – this is a card stacked with great fights and we are very excited for it.
“We understand a lot of fans will be disappointed to hear the Smith-Eubank rematch is being postponed, so we’ve arranged a free voucher for every fan in the venue to have a drink on us on fight night, plus they will receive priority access to Smith vs Eubank II tickets for the new date when it’s announced, and a discount on those tickets.”
Eubank Jr’s promoter Kalle Sauerland of Wasserman Boxing said a new date for the Smtih vs Eubank rematch will be announced imminently. “We have been informed that Liam Smith is not fit to fight on July 1st. We are awaiting further medical reports before we announce the new date shortly.”