European super bantamweight champion Gamal Yafai will make the first defence of his title on May 15 in Manchester.
The 29-year-old won the belt last December in Milan in a career best performance dethroning Luca Rigoldi via unanimous decision. The younger brother of former world champion Kal had been without a significant fight since he had lost to Gavin McDonnell in 2018. Two six-round contest and an eight-rounder had kept the Birmingham fighter ticking over. The fight in Milan was something of a sink or swim one for Yafai’s career but he delivered an aggressive, power punching performance which led to hearing, ‘And the new…'”
Next month’s voluntary defence has still to be announced but the fight makes it a European title triple-header on the night. Tommy McCarthy will make the maiden defence of his cruiserweight strap against Romania’s Alexandru Jur and the vacant super-middleweight belt will be up for grabs when Lerrone Richards faces former WBA champion Giovanni De Carolis.
Joshua Buatsi will co-headline the card with his opponent to be finalised soon. Terri Harper will also attempt to unify the women’s super featherweight division when she puts her WBC title on the line.