Joshua Nelson ready for pro bow
South London lightweight Joshua Nelson is all set to make his pro bow on the stacked Goodwin Promotions show on September 19th at London’s home of boxing – York Hall.
Southern Area welterweight champion Johnny Garton (14-1) headlines the show in a tantalising rematch with Martin Welsh (12-4-1) which will double up as an English welterweight championship eliminator.
A former Haringey Box Cup silver medallist, 26-year old Nelson will oppose Bulgarian Todor Boyadjiev (1-3) over four three-minute rounds to kick off his professional career.
The exciting prospect, managed by Michael Amoo, is a student of the talent-packed Pro SW Gym in Loughton, Essex which is also home to Philip Bowes (9-2), Richard Commey (22-0), Mitchell Smith (13-0) and brother Jez Smith (3-0).
Of his inauguration to the paid ranks, he said, “It feels wicked, I couldn’t ask for a better venue. I know that you’ve got your O2 Arenas but to start off, coming up in this game, that’s the best venue to begin. I boxed there as an amateur against Charlie Driscoll in the ABA’s.”
He continued, “I’m full time as a pro but not got any sponsors on board as yet so it’s just family members helping me out. “My biggest supporters are my sisters, I’ve got four. They will definitely be the noisiest ones on the night! Every time that I fight, I feel like they’re in the ring with me. They know how hard I train and how much it means to me.” The Catford-born boxer enjoyed a successful amateur career reaching the Haringey Box Cup finals in 2013 as well as the ABA Novice finals.
“No one had to convince me to turn pro, where I had so much potential and done it for so many years, I owed it to myself. “That’s my mentality, I don’t see the point in doing all that hard work for six years if it doesn’t lead to something.”
Nelson’s place of business is a state-of-the-art gym in the Epping Forest District of Essex where he sharpens his skills alongside Commonwealth and IBF Inter-Continental lightweight champion Richard Commey. “I spar with Commey, so far I’ve done around 14 rounds last week and got loads more to do with him,” said Nelson.
“I’m in the gym Monday to Friday, twice a day. Morning sessions, back in the evening again, and a run three times in a week, long distance about seven miles at a fast pace with Richard Commey and he sprints when he runs so you have to keep up with him, you just can’t drop behind!”
Of his future plans for the rest of the year, Nelson has already got dates firmly booked in the diary, eager to be as busy as possible at this early stage of his fledgling career.
“I’ve already got another date in early December on a Goodwins show,” he confirmed.
The Goodwin Promotions show in mid-September promises a whopping 18 bouts headlined by a final eliminator for the English welterweight crown between ‘The Pexican’ Johnny Garton and former English title challenger Martin Welsh who gets his second shot at the Southern Area champ which could lead to his second crack at the English crown.
The warring pair fought out an action packed draw for the Southern Area strap earlier in 2015 and this eagerly-awaited replay is a worthy bill topper. Ricky Hatton’s Upton Clan consisting of Anthony Junior (9-0), Paul (8-0) and Sonny (7-2) all appear in six round contests.
The Evangelou brothers make their return to the ring after injuries. The elder of the duo – Andreas has a six round light-heavyweight contest whilst the younger sibling Chris (12-3) has a six round welterweight bout against Bulgarian Stanislav Nenkov (12-12) who has won four of his last five fights.
Heavyweight action comes in the form of London’s exciting Dominic Akinlade (3-1) in an international contest against unbeaten Bulgarian Angel Angelov (2-0) fighting outside of his native country for the first time.
21-year-old Max Lovell (1-0) from Bedford will be seeking his second pro win to follow up from his successful debut win over Kevin McCauley in June this year. He contends with 28-year-old Sussex journeyman Liam Griffiths (3-56-1) over four rounds at 154lbs. London’s lightweight prospect ‘Mustard Mike’ Peart (1-0) looks to double his win ratio following a 12 month hiatus due to injury woes. He goes in against 19-year-old Hungarian Aron Szilagyi (3-7-1).
Joey Vaughan (2-0) brings his all action style back to York Hall and will be looking to make it three from three when he takes on Portsmouth’s Lewis O’Mara.
Ryan Davies (6-0) is one of the south coast’s brightest prospects and he takes on unbeaten Danny Parsons (1-0) from Walton-on-Thames in what will be a fight that should promise fireworks. Kay Prospere (5-0) from Luton is making a big name for himself under trainer Terry Stewart and has a six round contest for his sixth professional fight.
Reading’s Aji Sharif (3-2) looks to bounce back from back-to-back losses against journeyman Moses Matovu (5-61-4) in a four round cruiserweight contest. ‘Showstar’ Sohail Ahmad (6-0) is slowly but surely moving his way towards title contention as he looks to gain win number seven. Darren Townley from Plymouth doubles the debutant count as he makes his induction into the paid ranks alongside Nelson on the same night.
Tickets priced at £35 standard, £60 reserved seating and £100 ringside are available from Team Nelson on 07943 520 514 or online at http://www.goodwinpromotions.co.uk/ Matchroom Fight Pass will televise live and exclusive. Subscribe at http://www.matchroomboxing.com/fight-pass/
Team Nelson would like to thank his sponsors Prep 2 B Lean and Streetwise Management and PR Manager Tim Rickson
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