IN LITTLE OVER a week we’ll be rocking out in what is traditionally known as the Manchester Arena for a box office event between Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker that will have all the bells and whistles, as you’d expect.
The interim WBO heavyweight world title will be up for grabs and there will be nine other major title belts to be fought for on the night.
We like to cover all the bases in boxing here in Queensberry, so this Friday we’re all set for a good old-fashioned British title fight at York Hall.
I would like, at this point, to put in writing and document our condolences to the Royal Family following the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Our gratitude will always go to the Queen for her service to our nation and beyond.
Her Majesty was a champion of our country and a champion of the sport, so the show will continue on Friday and we will all have a chance to pay our respects.
Even though we are in the midst of a sad passage in our country’s history, we must also recognize the hard work and sacrifice put in over a long period of time by our fighters and their opponents to provide our entertainment, while keeping each other safe. themselves and their families
The setting is very different to the AO Arena in Manchester, but the old venue in Bethnal Green has a charm of its own and while the lights may not be as bright on Old Ford Road, the fights will mean as much to the boxers and their fans.
The British title matchup comes at middleweight, where our champion Denzel Bentley makes a first defense of his title against Marcus Morrison.
I was very proud of Denzel in May when he came on the road to win back his belt after the disappointment of losing to Felix Cash just over a year earlier.
Unfortunately, we lost out in a competitive bid for his fight against Linus Udofia and I can only put that down to the fact that I must have forgotten to take my now customary sip of Furocity before sending our envelope to the board.
However, we shouldn’t have worried as Denzel felt right at home in 02 Indigo and beat an excellent opponent to get his precious reward back.
Tonight he defends against another difficult proposition in Marcus, who is a seasoned trader who has been through a series of ups and downs along the way. Marcus, with Joe Gallagher in his corner, loves the job and believes winning this belt is his destiny.
Joe, of course, was also in the corner of our now super middleweight champion Mark Heffron a few weeks ago and Mark, being a former Denzel opponent, will have been in a good position to offer some advice.
If Denzel can overcome this difficult hurdle, he can really move on to the European and world level. I know he fancy a shot against new WBO champion Janibek at some point in the future, but there is no rush for that and we wouldn’t want to push him into a world title fight just for the sake of it.
We want you to have the best possible chance of winning, which means gaining more experience against quality opponents.
We have another amazing little fight on the card at York Hall, with cruiserweight contest winner Ellis Zorro getting his first fight as a fighter from Queensberry against Dec Spelman.
Having started a bit late and now 29 years of age, Ellis is ready to go and Dec will offer the perfect proof of his credentials at a higher level.
A former English light heavyweight champion, we know Dec well because he appeared in big fights on three of our cards. Unfortunately for him, all three ended in loss, but against a very high caliber opponent in Shakan Pitters, Lyndon Arthur and Anthony Yarde.
He gave a very good account of himself in all three fights, and if the last two hadn’t been such big opportunities, he probably would have moved up to cruiserweight before he did.
By his own admission, Ellis can be something of a cruiserweight, so he’ll have to pick up the pace against Dec, who will be all over him from the first bell.
We will learn a lot about Ellis in this fight and see if he is ready to start mixing with more established British contenders. I think he will be.
I won’t go over the entire card, but I’m looking forward to seeing our teenage super featherweight prodigy, Royston Barney-Smith, back in action.
The 18-year-old, who was an exceptional amateur and two-time European champion, is trading north-west London for the capital’s east after his first two professional fights took place at Wembley Arena and Wembley Stadium.
Unfortunately, an injury prevented him from a July date, but he will return on Friday determined to remind everyone why he is considered one of the top prospects in the country. He also promises a KO or a stoppage, so we’ll see if he delivers.
A night of boxing at York Hall rarely fails.
