Merseyside mauler Andrew Cain matched with Mexican Moreno
Image credit: Queensberry Promotions
In championship action on Friday, May 20, will be Liverpool super bantamweight Andrew Cain (9-0, 8 KOs) making the first defence of his WBC International Silver title against durable Mexican Luis Moreno (10-2, 6KOs) at the York Hall, live on BT Sport.
The 10-round championship contest will provide chief support to the main event featuring Brad Foster against the dangerous Ionut Baluta with the vacant WBC International Super Bantamweight title up for grabs.
25-year-old Cain won his belt with an explosive first round stoppage of Pablo Ariel Gomez in Telford in mid-April and is quickly back in business after the fight was stopped with the official time of just 19 seconds, which included the count!
Moreno, 29 from Nuevo Leon, has previously fought on these shores, with the Monterrey man suffering a points loss to hot prospect Dennis McCann in March last year.
'Gallito', which translates as 'Cocky', will be hoping for a better result in his second bout outside of his native country. He has already bounced back with a unanimous points win in his home city in November last year. Maidstone's McCann managed to floor Moreno in their March 2021 fight, the Mexican touching down in the eighth and final round, but couldn't be stopped.
Known for his ferociousness, Cain will be looking for another stoppage to send a statement to the aforementioned McCann or to the headliner Foster. So far, the Merseyside Mauler has only taken 24 rounds from a scheduled 46 available to despatch of his opponents.
Promoter Frank Warren said, "Andrew Cain is a formidable prospect for anyone at super bantam or bantam and I cannot wait to see more of him after his last opponent didn't even get to 20 seconds! I suspect he will have an eye on Brad's title fight and will be keen on a piece of the action there too."
Foster vs Baluta
Brad Foster will challenge for the vacant WBC International Super Bantamweight title against the dangerous Ionut Baluta in the main event of the evening.
Former British, Commonwealth and IBF International bantamweight champion Foster from Lichfield makes his return to the ring following his disputed defeat to Jason Cunningham in Birmingham back in October and he takes on the highly rated Spaniard, the former WBO European champion.
Bidding to get back on on the title track, Foster, 14-1-2 (5 KOs), who became one of the youngest outright British champions when he defeated James Beech jr in July 2020, having previously overcome Josh Wale, Ashley Lane and Lucien Reid, with his IBF International success coming against Alvaro Rodriguez in March 2021.
Baluta, 14-3 (3 KOs), impressively defeated Irish stars, former world champion TJ Doheny and Olympian David Oliver Joyce, before dropping a narrow majority decision to Michael Conlan last time out in April 2021.
Undercard
Liverpool middleweight James Heneghan (6-0) is back in London, with the 23-year-old having his third fight at York Hall.
Two first cousins feature on the card on another special night for the Frankham fighting family. Super featherweight Charles (5-0, 2 KOs) and welterweight Josh (5-0, 2 KOs) will continue their progression in the professional ranks.
Future super bantamweight star Adan Mohamed (4-0, 1 KO) from Buckhurst Hill will have his fifth professional assignment on the card, alongside Bexley welterweight Micky Burke jr (5-0, 2 KOs) and Beckton lightweight Mohammad Bilal Ali (4-1, 1 KO).
Recent Frank Warren signing Raven Chapman (2-0, 1 KO) will have her first fight under the Queensberry promotional banner when she takes on the unbeaten Italian Nadia Flalhi (3-0, 1 KO) over six rounds at featherweight.
Sean Noakes will make his professional debut at the famous East London venue with the Maidstone man – older brother of lightweight Sam – fighting at welterweight over four rounds.
Frank Warren
"I am very much looking forward to seeing Brad Foster getting himself back in the mix, although he won't have an easy night's work against Ionut Baluta, who has proved his credentials on several occasions against fancied opposition," said promoter Frank Warren.
"Brad has never looked for an easy touch and his rise to becoming outright British champion at such a young age was remarkable. He was unlucky against Jason Cunningham and it could have gone either way, but a setback in a close fight is never going to damage your future prospects.
"There are so many exciting fights to be made at super bantam and Brad will want to be right in the thick of it.
"Charles and Josh Frankham are both making excellent progress and I am delighted to have the first cousins fighting on the same card.
"Young Micky Burke will be looking to be back with a bang after some time out of the ring, as will Mohammad Bilal Ali, who has a point to prove after a disappointing performance during the lockdown period.
"We also have two newcomers to our ranks who I would like to welcome in Raven Chapman and Sean Noakes."
Tickets for the show at York Hall on Friday, 20 May are on sale now, available directly from the fighters or via eventbrite.co.uk or alternatively call: 01992 505 550 (office hours only).
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