BBN preview JE Promotions' Hope & Glory card this Saturday night in Worksop
JE Promotions’ prepare to stage their eighth event at North Notts Arena this Saturday, a venue that hadn’t hosted professional boxing in its entire history until promoter Joe Elfidh decided to introduce it to his hometown of Worksop in March 2016.
Their latest instalment is titled ‘Hope & Glory’, in association with Scott Calow Boxing, and continues to break new ground with their first ever title fight headlining the six-fight card.
Doncaster’s Kyle Fox (5-0) is all set to make history as he becomes the first boxer to fight for a title in the Nottinghamshire town of Worksop.
The 24-year-old, trained by Michael White at the Fighting Fit Gym in Dinnington, faces former Dutch national champion Innocent Anwanyu (25-34-3) over eight three-minute rounds for the International Challenge welterweight belt.
The Nigerian-born 62-bout veteran has experienced over 390 professional rounds in his 12-year career. Despite not winning a fight since February 2017, the Netherlands native hasn’t been stopped in his last 10 contests against some top prospects and a Southern Area champion. He took British super-featherweight champion and Prizefighter winner Gary Buckland the distance over eight-rounds in 2012 and even managed to floor him in the sixth-round with a left hook when caught off balance.
Fox, a former Yorkshire amateur champion, raced to five fights unbeaten in his debut year in the paid ranks and has upped his sparring to completing 10-12 rounds with various fighters from Scot Calow’s Nottingham-based gym in preparation for his first title fight.
He said, “It’s exciting to know I’ll be headlining the show for first title in Worksop. Just that bit of history is exciting in itself, there’s no pressure on me, just excitement.
“I’ve told my management team from start that I only want tough fights, I don’t like easy fights because the better the opponent, the better I perform.”
Fox has plans to challenge for the Central Area welterweight title – currently vacant – at the Doncaster Dome by the end of this year.
Worksop will also get to see their newest pro boxer Dylan Clegg as he makes his eagerly-awaited debut in his hometown at super-middleweight against Chessington’s Richard Harrison (2-29).
Managed by Scott Calow and trained by Michael White at the Fighting Fit Gym, the former amateur had 25 fights in the unpaid code and brings a large fanbase with him to the paid ranks.
His 33-year-old London-born opponent has experienced 31 bouts in as many months, first debuting in December 2015, and has only been stopped five times in 29 defeats, racking up 118 rounds of action in the process.
Scunthorpe’s ‘Kid Nytro’ Dec Spelman (11-1), 26, returns to the ring for the first time since his ill-fated fight with Scott Westgarth in February, who collapsed in the dressing room and later died in hospital.
The Scunthorpe boxer almost quit boxing following the death of his opponent in an English light-heavyweight title eliminator, which Spelman lost on points. His opponent is expected to be announced very shortly.
Heavyweight Mark Bennett (1-0) made his successful transition from the untested unlicensed scene into the pro ranks last November against Hungarian Ferenc Zsalek (21-62-6) on points, but picked up an unfortunate injury that kept him on the side-lines since.
The 30-year-old Doncaster puncher only had his first boxing fight aged 27 and has ambitions to be fast-tracked to the top-10 in Britain as soon as possible. His opponent is also expected to be announced any day now.
Sonny Price (3-0) has his fourth bout in eight months, since making his pro bow last November, against Iranian Yadollah Ghasemi (1-11-1) who travels in from Birmingham.
The seven-time Yorkshire amateur champion hasn’t put a foot wrong yet, winning all 12 professional rounds so far against Jamie Quinn (3-47-2); Youseff Al Hamidi (14-117-3); and Ibrar Riyaz (6-135-4), respectively.
The 21-year-old super-lightweight from Swallownest spent 10 years in the amateurs, racking up over 50 fights and now has ambitions to become a British champion.
Langold’s Luke Middleton makes his pro debut against Hyde’s Dale Arrowsmith (1-16-1) after experiencing just 15 amateur fights. Trained by Nick Staff at the Fighting fit Gym, the middleweight makes his pro bow over four three-minute rounds.
His rangy opponent was floored in his last fight to JE Promotions’ stablemate Lenny Fuller (1-0), but boxed clever to see out the remainder of the fight unscathed.
The headlining fight will be a big occasion for the East Midlands town, backed up by an undercard full of promising talents.
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For tickets to the next show, visit JE Promotions’ FB Page or call 07883 943 994
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