Media turned out in force today to attend open workouts headed by cruiserweight contender Richard Riakporhe and his rival Deion Jumah ahead of their March 26 showdown at OVO Arena Wembley, live on Sky Sports.
Joining Riakporhe and Jumah were several standouts from the card, including British light-heavyweight champion Dan Azeez, the Olympian and Team GB member Caroline Dubois and the Azim brothers Adam and Hassan.
Here’s what the headline protagonists had to say today:
RICHARD RIAKPORHE
“The girls are often chasing after me so I am not surprised that someone like Jumah wants me too.”
“The fight makes sense because other opponents fell through and I want to fight. On paper it’s a good fight – he’s southpaw, he can box, he’s undefeated. But I can box southpaw as well, so we will see what happens on March 26. the most important thing is to get the win, by any means necessary. I believe I stop him.”
DEION JUMAH
“I think I beat him over every round and maybe stop him in the later rounds. He’s a big guy, strong puncher but I don’t rate his boxing ability at all. He doesn’t have what I have in terms of boxing skills, in any way, shape or form.
“He’s beaten a lot of unbeaten fighters, I don’t expect it to be an easy fight but I expect to outbox him. I have to nullify his power and then the opportunities to stop him will present themselves.”
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Headlining the BOXXER Fight Night event will be a key clash in the British cruiserweight division between Richard ‘The Midnight Train’ Riakporhe (13-0, 9 KO’s) against rising threat Deion Jumah (14-0, 7 KO’s) in a mouthwatering showdown.
British Light-Heavyweight Champion Dan Azeez (15-0, 10 KO’s), who will make his first defence of the belt he won by stopping former champion Hosea Burton in November.
Olympic medallist and Team GB captain Frazer Clarke (1-0, 1 KO) takes the next step of his professional journey and looks to pick up his second win when he faces Spanish power-puncher Gabriel Enguema (10-12, 6 KO’s).
Clarke’s fellow Olympian Caroline Dubois (1-0) will join him at Wembley for her second professional contest, having successfully entered the pro ranks with an emphatic win in Cardiff last month. Younger sister of Daniel Dubois, Caroline won numerous plaudits as a 37-3 amateur and has the potential to become one of the faces of the women’s sport worldwide.
Lightning-fast lightweight Adam Azim (3-0, 2 KO’s) – one of the top prospects in British boxing today – faces Conor Marsden, while his brother Hassan Azim (2-0, 1 KO) – equally highly regarded – has a four-round contest in the welterweight division.
Former WBO Global Welterweight Champion Chris ‘2 Slick’ Kongo (12-1, 7 KO’s) aims to get back into world title contention this year and signed a multi-fight promotional deal with BOXXER earlier this year in pursuit of that aim.
Trained by renowned coach Ben Davison, who counts Undisputed World Super-Lightweight Champion Josh Taylor among his stable, Kongo will be kicking off his world title campaign on this card.
Ben Davison will also be in the corner of London heavyweight Jeamie TKV as he makes his professional debut against Luke Batstone. TKV’s highly-decorated amateur career included tenure as the Southern Area Heavyweight Champion and English Heavyweight Champion plus a silver medal at the 2019 African Games.
Southampton’s Joe Pigford (18-0, 17 KO’s) – owner of some of the heaviest hands in British boxing – seeks to add yet another stoppage win to his unbelievable record when he faces Argentina’s Guido Pitto (27-9, 8 KO’s). Pigford presently has 94% of his victories by way of KO or TKO.
The 18-year-old Team England amateur standout Jimmy Lee – winner of eight national titles and a European gold medal – makes his professional debut in a lightweight contest against Luke Merrifield after ending his amateur career with a 94% win ratio (47-3).
A key clash in the English welterweight division sees Louis Greene (13-2, 7 KO’s) face off with Harry Scarff (10-2, 3 KO’s).
Opening the card will be Anthony Joshua’s female prospect Shannon Ryan. Joshua signed the super-flyweight to his 258 MGMT agency recently and intends to guide her to world champion status in the coming years.
