The week starting Monday the 29th of January is a huge one for boxing with lots of events happening throughout.
Title fights-
Lets start where every fighter wants to end with the titles.
There are three title fights that take centre stage this week with the first kicking off in London where Adam Azim (10-0-0) will defend his EBU European Super Lightweight title against fellow unbeaten prospect Enock Poulsen (14-0-0).
The Slough based fighter has faced a lot of criticism, along with the Boxxer stable, for taking too many “easy” fights and shying away from a challenge but if you know anything about Adam Azim he is far from a coward.
He comes into this fight off the back of a headline TKO win against Franck Petitjean in Wolverhampton just under 3 months ago.
Azim has expressed a want to defend his European Title and will get his chance this week.
His opponent Enock Poulsen comes into this fight having already beat Azim’s previous opponent Petitjean and having already held the European title.
Both with unbeaten records meaning someones 0 has to go in the co-main.
The next title fight (of three) on this card is Caroline Dubois (8-0-0) who looks to defend her IBO Lightweight Title against Miranda Reyes (7-1-1).
Dubois comes off the back of a dominant win against Magail Rodriguez where she knocked the Mexican down in the 6th and 9th on the way to a Unanimous Decision.
With Dubois on a media hunt for a big fight with the likes of Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron it’s key she keeps her momentum up in this fight.
She will have her work cut out for her with Reyes who looks to upset the party.
The final title of this card is the long awaited matchup between British Light heavyweights Dan Azeez (20-0-0) and Joshua Buatsi (17-0-0) for the British and Commonwealth Light Heavyweight titles.
This is a rescheduled card from back in October when the fight got cancelled due to a injury to Azeez’s back.
The two have a heated past with hard sparring sessions and a war of words coming out in the buildup to this one.
Azeez comes into the fight off the back of a stellar record beating the likes of Rocky Fielding and Shakan Pitters.
Buatsi has a equally impressive record beating Craig Richards early into his career.
The two come in with massive history and a hot rivalry only heated up more by the previous cancellation.
The fight will come with its controversy with speculation on the validity of the injury and its subsequent cancellation.
Other promoters in the UK have questioned the selling power of this fight as Boxxer have changed the venue to a smaller capacity whereas Azeez believes he’s rattled Buatsi after Josh was questioning the injury.
But one things for certain the in ring action of this one will be fireworks.
Non-Title Events-
The biggest non title event of the weekend sees Connor Benn (22-0-0) return to the ring in the City Of Sin against Peter Dobson (16-0-0).
Probably the most controversial fighter in the world right now will look to right the wrongs of last year.
Coming off the back of a underwhelming but dominant Unanimous decision in his USA debut against Rodolfo Orozco, Benn looks to put on a show this time.
If your looking for a knockout then look in the first 4 rounds as all of Benn’s 14 knockouts have come before or in the 4th round.
He faces Dobson who has 9 knockouts of his own in his 16 fights.
This will be a first USA headline for Benn who is looking to make a big name for himself out in the land of opportunity.
The same card sees the USA debut of Johnny Fisher who comes into the fight after knocking out Harry Armstrong in round 7 for the southern area title.
He faces Dmytro Bezus who was a recent opponent of David Adeleye but did get knocked out in the second round.
Johnny will face the Ukrainian without his famous home support of the “Bosh army” who will be supporting from the UK.
This looks to be a great tester for the Romford Bull as fighting a ex opponent of Adeleye will give a litmus test on the potential of Fisher.
The Undercard will also feature two unbeaten middleweights battle it out for the IBF North American title when Austin Williams (15-0-0) takes on Armel Mbumba-Yassa (10-0-0).
The undercard of Azeez Vs Buatsi includes return of Olympic medalist Ben Whittaker and, from boxing royalty, Francesca Hennessy who both look to get there 2024’s up and running.
Ones To Keep An Eye On-
The final card to keep an eye on is a Mark Prior Promotions card in Middlesborough which features unbeaten prospects; Tommy Hodgson, Jimmy Tyers and Tom Summerbell.
Listen to our preview here-
