Luke Blackledge waiting on opponent for WBC International Silver title defence
Luke Blackledge 17(6)-2(1)-2 is all set to defend his recently attained WBC International Silver super-middleweight title in Blackburn on November 22nd despite still being without an opponent just two weeks away from fight night.
Originally, the 24-year-old was due to fight British Masters super-middleweight champion, Jahmaine Smyle 11(5)-4(2)-2 for the vacant English super-middleweight title.
Blackledge even made this statement on Facebook, “Just got the tickets for my next fight at King Georges Hall, hopefully going to be another sell-out, I will be boxing Jahmaine Smyle in a 10 round title fight.”
Clitheroe boxer, Luke Blackledge was then given a sniff at the Commonwealth title at super-middleweight and was waiting on the Commonwealth Boxing Council to ratify his second title shot.
Blackledge, with just three days notice, fought Rocky Fielding in November 2013 for the Commonwealth honours but was counted out by referee Victor Loughlin after two minutes and 32 seconds of the opening round.
Unbeaten Fielding, the newly-crowned WBA Inter-Continental champion after beating Noe Gonzalez Alcoba in July, relinquished the strap earlier in the year after failing to make the weight for his contest with Ghanaian Charles Adamu at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.
Adamu, who has shared the ring with Carl Froch before, went the distance with George Groves but lost unanimously on the judge’s scorecards.
Blackledge had high hopes of facing the ‘Crusader’ for the vacant strap at Blackburn King George’s Hall on November 22nd and made this statement at the time, “I could be fighting for the Commonwealth title against Charles Adamu who went the distance with Rocky Fielding. We’ve just got to wait for the Commonwealth to approve the bout. I fought Rocky for it last time and I’ve learnt a lot of lessons from that so hopefully I’ll get another shot at it.” This opportunity took precedence over the Jahmaine Smyle fight but for reasons unknown, never materialised.
The frustrations have not flustered the record-breaking boxing star as he became the first boxer in 50 years to be crowned with a professional title in a Blackburn ring when he defeated Philip Kotey 29(22)-9(4)-2 in front of a capacity crowd last September.
Blackledge remains grateful despite all of the failed promises as he optimistically stated, “I’m in the gym every day and I’m learning and developing all the time so I feel I can make it to the top. It’s my dream to fight for a British or Commonwealth strap and then move on to a world title. I’ve come a long way since competing in unlicensed fights to keep me off the streets. I never thought I’d be in this position. I never even had an amateur career so I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. I’m one of the best super middleweight fighters in Britain now and I’m ranked in the WBC.”
The home fighter returns to the same setting at the St. Georges Hall in Blackburn to enter into his eighth title but disappointingly will not be adding to his growing hoard of awards and just defending his honours instead.
Blackledge concluded with a message for his fans, “I’d like everyone to get behind me on November 22nd and I’ve got a big fan base behind me now so I promise you that I’ll get a on a big TV show soon so that everyone can watch me. I’d also like to thank my manager, Steve Woods for everything that he has done for me.”
To follow Luke Blackledge on Twitter click here @LukeBlackledge
Luke would like to thank his sponsors, AJ Wood Ltd, SAGraphics Ltd, Natural Sports Food, and PR Manager, Tim Rickson