This Saturday night, Huntingdon-born Jordan Gill will be headlining at the East of England showground in nearby Peterborough against Mexican Emmanuel Dominguez for the WBA International title, live on Sky Sports.
The undefeated featherweight trains out of Rotherham under the guidance of Dave Coldwell, and captured the Commonwealth title in October with a dominant seventh-round stoppage victory over Ryan Doyle on the undercard of John Ryder against Andrey Sirotkin in London, extending his record to 22-0 and 6 knockouts in the process.
Gill will no doubt be inspired by the speed with which fellow featherweights like Josh Warrington and Carl Frampton have transitioned from local superstardom to World championship glory. The Cambridgeshire native will be looking to attain valuable experience against different styles, as evidenced by this bout with Dominguez, in the processing to cultivating a local following and advancing to higher profile fights in the future in a division packed with potential domestic opponents, including but not limited to Isaac Lowe, Ryan Walsh and Reece Bellotti.
The undercard features undefeated cruiserweight Richard Riakporhe facing Tommy McCarthy for the WBA Intercontinental title. The Londoner is managed by Dillian Whyte, and produced a sensationally gory stoppage in the eighth round last time out against Sam Hyde – in a fight he was probably losing – to extend his record to 8-0 with 7 knockouts.
Riakporhe has also been vocal regarding the prospect of facing current undefeated British champion Lawrence Okolie, and will surely be a keen observer of Okolie’s defence against seasoned campaigner Wadi Camacho at the Copper-Box Arena in late March.
The card also features a bout between Leigh Wood and Ghanaian Abraham Osei-Bonsu for the Commonwealth title vacated by Gill, whilst Hoosier fan favourite and Plainfield-born Anthony Sims Junior – a cousin and ex-promotee of Floyd Mayweather – returns to light-heavyweight against Argentine Mateo Veron.
Article by: Navi Singh