Azim aims for title contention fast-track against Ukrainian champion Faniian
Unfinished business: Viddal Riley and Anees Taj heated cruiserweight rivalry returns to ring for highly-anticipated second instalment
Adam Azim (8-0, 6 KO), British boxing’s brightest prospect, steps up another level for his next outing when he faces IBO International champion Aram Faniian (22-1, 4 KO) at the historic York Hall, London on Saturday June 10th.
The bout headlines the BOXXER fight night event, which airs live and exclusively in the UK and Ireland on Sky Sports.
Azim’s astounding amateur career included 10 national championships and had him marked from an early age as a potential future great. He has lived up to that expectation thus far, scoring five KO wins from as many fights in his first year as a professional then starting 2023 with a win over the previously-undefeated South American slugger Santos Reyes.
Having fractured the scaphoid bone in his right wrist en route to the unanimous decision win over Reyes – possibly when he dropped the Nicaraguan in the second round – Azim has elected to take another huge challenge now that he is fully recovered and returning to the fray.
Fanyan has lost just once in 23 professional outings, dropping a decision during a 2019 challenge for the WBC Youth Silver Super Lightweight Championship. Since then, Fanyan has gone on a nine-fight win streak and has begun collecting the kind of titles needed to build a base for eventual world title contention.
In his last outing, Fanyan beat Timo Schwarzkopf to win the IBO International Super Lightweight championship and prior to that he captured the WBO Oriental Super Lightweight championship – a win over the heralded Azim in London would make headlines across the boxing world and would open up bigger title opportunities for him in 2023.
For Azim, this high-risk fight brings the possibility of high rewards, with victory moving him up the WBA rankings from his current #14 spot and also potentially levering him into European title contention.
The road to title contention also leads Frazer ‘Big Fraze’ Clarke (6-0, 5 KO’s) to York Hall for what will also be his first appearance in the iconic British boxing venue.
Having last week received news that he will be the next mandatory challenger for British heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley, the 2020 Olympic medallist will sharpen his tools in the ring on June 10th ahead of his summer title showdown.
Cruiserweight prospect Viddal Riley (8-0, 5 KO’s) and his antagonist Anees Taj (7-3, 5 KO’s) have some unfinished business to attend to following their February war ending unsatisfactorily in a fourth-round doctor’s stoppage due to a cut above Taj’s eyebrow.
The four rounds they fought in February were a firefight, Taj having raised the temperature with relentless pre-fight verbal barraging of his better-known rival. Having arrived in the ring determined to steal the show – and Riley’s shine – Taj won himself a legion of new fans with his spirited performance and will have new levels of support behind him going into this highly-anticipated rematch.
In another bad-blood encounter confirmed for the card, a war of words which began in Manchester last month will be settled in London in June when unbeaten prospects in Aaron ‘The Silencer’ McKenna (16-0, 8 KOs) and Shakiel ‘Dr Steel’ Thompson (10-0, 6 KOs) meet in a mouth-watering middleweight contest for the WBC International Middleweight Championship.
The two were on the same card last month and exchanged words at the pre-fight press conference, instantly sparking interest in an encounter among Britain’s boxing fanbase. The surely-heated clash takes place next month and is a high-stakes encounter – one will leave the ring as champion, the other with the first loss of his professional career.
"Numerous British boxing greats have passed through the iconic York Hall on their way to the top and on June 10th it's Adam Azim's turn to take his next step to greatness at this storied venue. He's a risk-taker who takes big steps up with every fight and I think in future we will look back at this fight as a pivotal moment in his career," said Ben Shalom, BOXXER Founder and CEO.
“On top of that, I'm excited to see Frazer Clarke make his final preparations ahead of his British title shot later this year and I'm really looking forward to Viddal Riley against Anees Taj and Aaron McKenna against Shakiel Thompson – those are two seriously heated matches which are going to be guaranteed crowd-pleasers.”
Phase 2 announcement to follow this week. Tickets on sale this Friday at BOXXER.com (Pre-register for tickets now at BOXXER.com)
Article sponsored by HÖRFA
