A English championship bout, two Olympians and the promotional debut of an exciting super middleweight prospect have today been announced for the undercard of the BOXXER Fight Night: Manchester event taking place Saturday March 25 at the AO Arena.
Headlined by Lawrence Okolie (18-0, 14 KO’s) defending his WBO World Cruiserweight Championship against undefeated, 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist David Light (20-0, 12 KO’s), today’s announcements revealed a March card packed with quality from top to bottom.
English title fights have a deserved reputation for producing some of the most exciting contests in boxing and that tradition looks set to continue in the evening’s chief support bout when Michael Gomez Jr (18-1, 5 KO’s) and Levi Giles (13-0, 3 KO’s) enter the ring to contest the vacant English Super-Featherweight Championship.
Gomez Sr was a firm favorite of fight fans in his home city of Manchester thanks to his all-action, no-nonsense fighting style. His son Gomez Jr – the current Central Area Super-Featherweight title holder – is continuing the family business and will have the Manchester Arena crowd behind him for his English title tilt.
Manchester’s storied arena played host to many a Gomez Sr bout and also hosted Gomez Jr’s professional debut in 2014, making it a fitting scene for his bout against the undefeated Grimsby man Giles, who is taking the first title shot of his career in this ten-round contest.
Hard-hitting heavyweight prospect Frazer ‘Big Fraze’ Clarke (5-0, 4 KO’s) – a bronze medallist for Great Britain at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – is another fighter who counts Manchester’s arena as his second home, with three of his five professional bouts to date having taken place there.
His sixth outing is by far his toughest test to date. Experienced American Rydell Booker (27-7-1, 14 KO’s) has shared the ring with some of the biggest names in the sport. He lost a decision to Hall of Fame heavyweight James Toney in a 2004 world heavyweight title fight and went the distance with the highly-accomplished Filip Hrgovic and Kubrat Pulev.
Clarke’s fellow 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Karriss Artingstall – now 2-0 in the professional ranks – also returns to the ring in Manchester, with her opponent set to be confirmed in the coming days.
Hotly-tipped super-middleweight prospect Callum Simpson (10-0, 8 KO’s) – the reigning Central Area champion – recently signed an exclusive promotional agreement with BOXXER. Yorkshireman Simpson trained alongside former world champion Josh Warrington when he entered the professional ranks and has stopped 80% of his opponents thus far.
Other names confirmed for the March 25th card today include Welsh featherweight Rhys Edwards (13-0), who faces Liverpool’s Brian Phillips (12-3, 3 KO’s), and the return to the BOXXER ring of welterweight Samuel ‘True Sensation’ Antwi (14-2, 6 KO’s), middleweight Aaron McKenna (15-0, 8 KO’s) and former Team GB member and Tri-Nations amateur champion Harvey Lambert (1-0), with opponents for the trio to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
The confirmed card for BOXXER Fight Night: Manchester is as follows – with more to come:
12 x 3 mins WBO World Cruiserweight Championship
Lawrence Okolie vs David Light
10 x 3 mins Vacant English Super-Featherweight Contest
Michael Gomez Jr vs Levi Giles
8 x 3 mins Heavyweight Contest
Frazer Clarke vs Rydell Booker
6 x 2 mins Featherweight Contest
Karriss Artingstall vs Linzi Buczynski
6 x 3 mins Super-Middleweight Contest
Callum Simpson vs TBA
8 x 3 mins Middleweight Contest
Aaron McKenna vs TBA
6 x 3 mins Welterweight Contest
Samuel Antwi vs TBA
6/8 x 3 mins Featherweight Contest
Rhys Edwards vs Brian Phillips
4 x 3 mins Super Welterweight Contest
Harvey Lambert vs TBA