British middleweight champion Tommy Langford (18-0) has landed a dream fight against WBO World No.1 Avtandil Khurtsidze (32-2-2) for the interim WBO World middleweight title on April 22nd at the Leicester Arena, live on BT Sport.
Langford was due to face fellow Brummie Craig Cunningham (17-1) in a maiden defence of his Lonsdale belt that he won with a split decision over Sheffield’s Sam Sheedy last November in Cardiff. Instead, the Bideford-born, Birmingham-based boxer signed contracts to face the Georgian that was mandatory challenger to Billy Joe Saunders’ WBO World title.
Khurtsidze accepted a step-aside fee to allow Saunders to chase after a bigger fight rumoured to be against either Canelo or Murata later this year.
The World Boxing Organisation introduced the interim belt as part of the deal for Brooklyn-based Georgian with No.3 ranked Langford named as his opponent.
Khurtsidze earned the top spot by winning the WBO International belt with a 10th round beatdown of the highly-rated Antoine Douglas (19-0-1) in March last year, whilst Langford rocketed up the rankings after winning his WBO Inter-Continental strap against Mexican Julio Cesar Avalos (16-4) in July 2015 and defending the honours a further four times over the following 12 months.
April 22nd in Leicester will provide ‘The Tornado’ with his first fight in the UK, although no stranger to fighting abroad, the Georgian has fought 18 times in the Ukraine, 14 times in the States, once in France and Belarus, and twice in his native country.
Born in Kutaisi in 1979, he boxed for the Georgian national boxing team, winning national championships from the age of 20 onwards.
As a professional, he has won five major titles during his 15-year professional career, including the now defunct EBA middleweight title, the WBA Inter-Continental, IBO World, WBC Silver, and, most recently, the WBO International middleweight title.
He is ranked in the top spot with the WBO, 7th with the WBC and IBF, 11th in the IBO, and number 8 in The Ring Magazine ratings. Clearly heavy-handed, he has five first-round KO’s on his ledger and over half of his stoppages have come in the first half of the contests.
It’ll be the biggest test of the ‘Baggies Bomber’s’ four-year professional career so far and one that could propel him into super-stardom overnight.
He commented, "I’ve always said that I’ll take opportunities when they come along and this is as big as it can get for me, at this stage. It’s a huge chance and I’m not going to go through my career having not taken those opportunities when presented to me.
"It’s a tough but winnable fight that will elevate my career to the top level, where I plan to stay."
The 27-year-old already has a huge following from the South West of England due to his Devonshire roots and has struck up a close relationship with Premiership outfit West Brom FC and their fans.
The 3,000-capacity purpose-built Leicester Arena will be heavily filled with Langford followers, which will also play host to the BT Sports cameras as part of Frank Warren’s latest landmark TV deal.
'City of Champions'
The Queensberry Promotion’s show at Leicester Arena will be supported by Tyrone Nurse (34-2-1) defending his British super-lightweight belt against former English champion Joe Hughes (15-2).
The 27-year-old from Huddersfield, has the chance to win the Lonsdale belt outright if he can successfully defend it against the 26-year-old from Wiltshire.
Indian superstar and former Olympian Vijender Singh (8-0) will also be in action on the night. The Bhiwani boxer, who won medals in three consecutive Commonwealth Games from 2006 – 2014, is unbeaten in eight fights with seven wins coming inside the distance.
English super-middleweight champion Jahmaine Smyle (14-4-2) will defend his title against Forest Hill's Daryll Williams (14-0).
‘Smasher’ is a local lad from Leicester who beat former Premier League footballer Leon McKenzie on points in his previous fight in November last year.
The 27-year-old 'Ferocious' is a Southern Area titlist who will be entering the lions den with all intent to upset the locals.
Another local lad, super-featherweight Leon Woodstock (8-0), will be looking to extend his unbeaten run in front of his home crowd.
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Tommy Langford would like to thank his sponsors TX ODDS, Bartercard UK, UK Display Stands, JS Wright & Co Ltd, Denco Thermal, All Car Leasing, MAN Commercial Protection, Strategy Plus Web Design, Atlas Pain Relief, Pro Gains, Ringside UK