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The show goes on even in the absence of its local hero.
Maxi Hughes and Kid Galahad are poised to take the lead in their impromptu main event, having both made weight for their scheduled twelve-round IBO lightweight contest. The fight will headline a DAZN broadcast on Saturday night from Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England.
Hughes (25-5-2, 5KOs) weighed in at 134.4lbs as he looks to make the second defense of the IBO lightweight title he claimed in a twelve-round decision over Jovanni Straffon last September 4 in Leeds. The 32-year-old southpaw from Rossington, Yorkshire is currently riding a six-fight win streak, including wins over former title challengers Jono Carroll and Paul Hyland, Jr., as well as then-undefeated Viktor Kotochigov.
Galahad (28-2, 17KOs) weighed in at 134.7 pounds, the heaviest but well-proportioned of his career. The fight is his first at lightweight, jumping two divisions after previously campaigning at featherweight for much of the last six years. The 32-year-old Sheffield native previously held the IBF featherweight belt, which he conceded in a shock sixth-round knockout loss to Kiko Martinez last November 13 in his hometown.
Hughes-Galahad rose to the top spot after local favorite and reigning WBA secondary featherweight champion Leigh Wood suffered a biceps injury, thus postponing his title defense against Mauricio ‘Bronco’ Lara.
The co-main event features WBA/IBO junior middleweight champion Hannah Rankin in her second title defense as she takes on former WBC/IBO junior lightweight champion Terri Harper.
Glasgow’s Rankin (12-5, 3KOs) weighed in at 153.4 pounds for the scheduled ten-round contest. The fight is her third at junior middleweight after one-stop fights at welterweight and middleweight, the last in a seventh-round knockout loss to Savannah Marshall (12-0, 10KOs) in their fight. for the vacant October 2020 WBO middleweight title.
Harper (12-1-1, 6KOs) weighed in at the heaviest 152 pounds of his career, making his junior middleweight debut. The 25-year-old from Denaby Main, Yorkshire recently moved up to lightweight earlier this year in her first fight after losing her 130-pound titles via fourth-round knockout to Alycia Baumgardner last November 13 at the same program that saw Galahad lose. she titled her before deciding to gain weight well.
The title fight has featured a contentious build-up, complete with the two literally facing each other on stage after Friday’s weigh-in and having to be separated by Matchroom Boxing’s security team.
DOZEN, 2:00 pm ET/7:00 pm GMT:
Solomon Dacres (4-0, 1KO), Warley, West Midlands, 229.4lbs vs. Ariel Bracamante (11-9, 6KOs), La Cumbre, Argentina, 305.5 pounds—10 rounds, heavyweight
Cheavon Clarke (2-0, 2KOs), Gravesend, Kent, 199.3lbs vs. Marcos Nicolas Karalitzky (7-5-2, 2KOs), Buenos Aires, Argentina, 197.5 pounds—8 rounds, cruiserweight
Cyrus Pattinson (4-0, 2KOs), Alnwick, Northumberland, 146.4lbs vs. Jorick Luisetto (12-4, 3KOs), Echirolles, France, 147—6 rounds, welterweight
DAZN/Matchroom Boxing YouTube ‘Before The Bell’ Preview Card (4:35pm GMT/11:35am ET):
Junaid Bostan (2-0, 2KOs), Rotherham, Yorkshire, 154.9lbs vs. Anas Isarte (2-0, 0KOs), 153.6—6 rounds, junior middleweight
Rhiannon Dixon (5-0, 0KOs), Wigan, Lancashire, 134.8lbs vs. Edina Kiss (15-15, 9KOs), Budapest, Hungary, 134.4 pounds—6 rounds, lightweight
Mohammad Sameer (4-0, 1KO), Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, 158.8lbs vs. Dale Arrowsmith (4-65-2, 1KO), Hyde, Lancashire, 159.1lbs, 4 rounds, middleweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
