| Cheeseman returns to defend British Super-Welterweight title |
| Conor Benn will headline his first ever show when he defends his WBA Continental Welterweight title against Jussi Koivula as the JD NXTGEN series returns to the legendary York Hall in Bethnal Green on Friday June 21, shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US. Benn (14-0, 9 KOs) follows in the footsteps of his father Nigel, a former two-weight World champion, who headlined against Robbie Sims at the famous East London venue back in 1991, and ‘The Destroyer’ is promising to deliver another explosive performance when he meets the 24-6-1 Fin over ten rounds. “It’s a blessing to be headlining a show this early on in my career,” said Benn. “This is the biggest fight of my career to date and it’s definitely a sign of progress. I’m ready to put on an entertaining performance for all of my fans. Everyone knows what my last couple of fights were like at York Hall, it was madness and there’s going to be fireworks again. “It’s a legendary East End venue. When you’re in there as a fighter it feels like a jungle. Everyone is packed in and they all want to see blood. There’s no other energy like it, it’s on you and you feel like a gladiator. This is about putting on another performance for my supporters and that’s exactly what I’m going to do on June 21. “It isn’t going to get much worse than the first Peynaud fight, that was an absolute nightmare. It was scarring. I went through the trenches and I’ve never felt anything like that – the heat and fans screaming – it’s like they’re in your corner. I’m ready to go again and put on a beautiful display this time around.” Bermondsey Super-Welterweight Ted Cheeseman (15-1, 9 KOs) returns to make the first defence of his British title after suffering a tough first career loss to European champion Sergio Garcia earlier in the year. ‘The Big Cheese’ is determined to bounce back with a win as he eyes a huge domestic showdown with Preston’s Scott Fitzgerald. Crystal Palace Light-Heavyweight Craig Richards (14-1, 8 KOs) settled his long-standing feud with Jake Ball in February, clinically stopping his rival in three rounds at The O2 after flooring the Surrey man in each round on his way to claiming the WBA Continental title. ‘Spider’ jumps straight back into another tasty domestic showdown as he takes on undefeated former Southern Area champion Andre Sterling (10-0, 4 KOs) in an intriguing all-London Final Eliminator for the prestigious Lord Lonsdale Light-Heavyweight belt. Crowthorne Super-Featherweight Charles Frankham (1-0) looks to make if two wins from two fights after making a winning start to life in the professional ranks last week, outpointing Tzemal Xouseinoglou on his long-awaited debut at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham. Fast-rising Watford Bantamweight talent Shannon Courtenay (2-0) steps up to take part in her first six round contest after racking up wins against Cristina Busuioc at the Copper Box Arena and Roz Silyanova at The O2 last time out. Former Commonwealth Super-Featherweight champion Reece Bellotti (13-2, 11 KOs) steps through the ropes for the first time since his British title loss to Ryan Walsh on the Dillian Whyte vs. Derek Chisora 2 undercard in December determined to return to winning ways. Ohio Lightweight prospect Otha Jones III (1-0) takes part in his second professional contest after outpointing Giorgi Gelashvili on his pro debut at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York in March. Tickets priced £40, £70 and £130 VIP are available to purchase NOW via StubHub (www.stubhub.co.uk). |
Please follow and like us:
