Dillian Whyte will take on Moses Itauma on August 16th, but in the undercard there is an even higher stakes match-up.
Moses Itauma and Dillian Whyte will face off in what could be a passing of the torch moment for the rising young star.
Whyte has looked poor in his recent outings and, with Buddy McGirt having never watched Itauma fight, may belt out his trademark howl for the final time in Saudi Arabia this month.
On the undercard, a bizarre bit of matchmaking will see Filip Hrgovic vow to take the soul of David Adeleye. The Croatian ‘El Animal’ is coming off a win over Joe Joyce, whilst Adeleye’s last fight saw him controversially beat Jeamie TKV for the British title after Adeleye struck TKV after the ref called break.
Also on the card, Ray Ford faces Abraham Nova after Anthony Cacace was forced to withdraw with injury.
As great as some of these fights are, none are as important as one fight, which will see Britain’s only reigning world champion defend his title against a tough opponent.
Nick Ball carries Britain’s hope on his shoulders as he faces Sam Goodman
Nick ‘The Wrecking’ Ball, the ferocious Liverpudlian featherweight, is the last defense against a dark period for British boxing.
With Chris Billam-Smith losing his world title to Gilberto Ramirez late last year, Tyson Fury losing his belts to Oleksandr Usyk, and Daniel Dubois also being beaten by Usyk very recently, Britain has been left with just one world champion.
Ball came close to claiming the title when he faced Rey Vargas in March 2024, but after 12 rounds was awarded a split decision draw.
Unlucky not to get the win, Ball went straight into a gunfight in his next match as he faced Ray Ford for his world title on the Matchroom vs Queensberry 5v5 card.
Ball just about edged a win over Ford, becoming the world champion.
22-0-1 Ball is set to face 20-0 Sam Goodman, an Aussie who was scheduled to face Naoya Inoue, but withdrew with injury.
If Ball wins, a fight between Ball and Inoue may be ever closer, and Britain could have its final belt stolen by ‘The Monster’.
There were 14 British titleholders in 2016 – nine years later there’s just one
Now that Dubois has lost his title, Ball is the only British world champion still with a belt.
This is a huge fall from grace for British boxing, as a look into the past will reveal just how many world champions the country once had.
In 2016, Britain had the following world champions at one point or another: Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Billy Joe Saunders, Carl Frampton, James DeGale, Carl Froch, Ricky Burns, Jamie McDonnell, Terry Flanagan, Liam Smith, Anthony Crolla, Lee Selby, and Lee Haskins.
Even recently, Joe Cordina and Sunny Edwards joined Billam-Smith and Fury, until Edwards was beaten by Bam Rodriguez and Cordina was dethroned by Cacace.