Mark Chamberlain was on his way home from a festive night out with his sponsors when Frank Warren’s name appeared on his phone.
“I thought it was strange,” he told Blighty Boxing. “‘I’ve got an opportunity here if you want it? I’ll let His Excellency tell you’, so he’s passed me over to Turki Alalshikh.
“He just said, ‘Mark I’ve got an opportunity over here on the 8th of March. Do you want to fight?’ I said, ‘Yeah, sign me up.’ I couldn’t care less who I was fighting. Just the experience to get out there and be on the card was good enough for me.”
On March 8 the undefeated lightweight will therefore fight European champion Gavin Gwynne on the undercard of the heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It is often said that Alalshikh is an avid fan of the sport and watches every fight he can. Chamberlain may not have a huge profile but his knockout power has made him one of the most exciting fighters in Britain and he caught the eye of Alalshikh, who is said to have personally sought his services.
“For them to be talking about me out there then he must like something so I’ll make sure I put on a good display on the night and keep him happy,” Chamberlain said.
“He must have taken a liking to me somewhere along the line.”
Both Chamberlain and Gwynne recently came through tougher-than-expected outings. In November, Chamberlain got involved in an exciting fight with Artjoms Ramlavs before stopping the Latvian in the 10th and final round, and in December Gwynne was led a merry dance by the Italian veteran Emilano Marsili before grinding him down and forcing the previously-undefeated 47-year-old to retire after seven rounds.
Chamberlain is a significant figure in Queensberry’s exciting group of lightweights. He is the explosive one-punch knockout artist. The newly crowned British champion Sam Noakes is the relentless wrecking machine, and Gwynne is the experienced fighter who has been there, seen it and done it.
There has clearly been a plan for one of the three to emerge from the group as the likeliest to pursue world honours, and a meeting between Noakes and Chamberlain is quickly becoming one of the best match-ups British boxing can offer.
Noakes recently did his part by beating Lewis Sylvester for the British title vacated by Gwynne, and although Chamberlain respects the Welshman, he believes that his youth will be crucial when they meet in the ring.
“I take my hat off to him,” the 25-year-old said. “Obviously he’s won a lot in in boxing. British, European and Commonwealth champion and just give up the British for Noakes to fight for so he’s a true champion and he’s a good fighter.
“I truly believe I’m young, hungry and I’m coming through and I’m gonna show everyone what I’m about on that night because I truly believe I need a hard fight like this to push on in my career now. I’m not looking past Gwynne because it’s not going to be an easy night but I truly believe if we stick to the game plan, we’ll have a good, good scrap and I’ll come out on top.”