Aaron McKenna will have a new opponent this weekend.
BoxingScene.com has learned that Mickey Ellison has stepped in to face the unbeaten Irishman, after Linus Udolfa was forced to withdraw due to illness.
McKenna-Ellison will take place on the undercard of the Natasha Jonas-Mikaela Mayer IBF welterweight title fight this Saturday from M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. The show will air live on Sky Sports in the U.K. and ESPN+ in the U.S. beginning at 7:00 p.m. GMT/2:00 p.m. ET.
Ellison (14-6, 5KOs) proved to be the perfect replacement in terms of available and ready opponents. The former Central Area light heavyweight champion was supposed to fight unbeaten puncher Costas Nanga in Sweden last Friday. The fight was cancelled due to a problem with paperwork.
The fight with Nanga was made at light heavyweight but Ellison stayed in shape following the cancellation. He jumped at the chance to fight the highly rated Irishman.
Ellison has lost four of his last six starts, including his last two. He dropped an eight-round decision Lerrone ‘Sniper The Boss’ Richards last November 10 in Brighton and was stopped in the eighth round of his September 6 meeting versus Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic in the U.S.
Prior to that, Ellison picked off a pair of unbeaten prospects in Thomas Whittaker Hart and Jake Barton in back-to-back upset wins.
McKenna will fight in the U.K. for the eighth consecutive time. The 24-year-old middleweight from Smithborough, Ireland outpointed previously unbeaten Uisma Lima over ten rounds to win the vacant WBC International middleweight title.