(March 9, 2021) — One of Europe’s top welterweights returns this Friday, March 12, as #MTKFightNight is back with Lewis “The Croc” Crocker making the first defense of his WBO European belt in a 10-rounder against German contender Deniz Ilbay at University of Bolton Stadium in Bolton, England.
 
In the co-feature, Irish fan-favorite Gary Cully will battle Kazakhstan’s Viktor Kotochigov in a 10-rounder for the vacant WBO European lightweight title.
 
Crocker-Ilbay, Cully-Kotochigov and undercard bouts will stream live and exclusively in the United States on ESPN+ starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT.
 
Crocker (12-0, 7 KOs) captured the WBO European belt last August with a dominating seventh-round stoppage over Louis Greene, a former British Southern Area champion. The Belfast native takes another step up against Ilbay (22-2, 10 KOs), who is 7-1 in his last eight bouts. He last fought in December 2019 and notched a first-round stoppage over Milos Janjanin.
 
Cully (11-0, 5 KOs), from Naas, Ireland, went 2-0 in 2020, including a first-round stoppage over Joe Fitzpatrick to capture the Irish lightweight title. He returned last August and survived a fifth-round knockdown to edge Craig Woodruff via decision. Kotochigov (12-1, 5 KOs), a former WBC International lightweight champion, seeks to rebound from last October’s upset loss to Maxi Hughes.
 
In other streaming action:

• Former Commonwealth featherweight champion Isaac Lowe (20-0-3, 6 KOs) makes his first ring appearance since the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury II undercard and will face Ed Harrison (2-5) in a six-round junior lightweight bout. Lowe is ranked as a top-10 featherweight by two of the major sanctioning organizations.
   
• Former British amateur star Jordan Reynolds will make his highly anticipated professional debut in a six-round middleweight bout versus the durable Robbie Chapman (6-6).
   
• In an eight-round welterweight tilt, Bolton native Sahir Iqbal (8-0, 1 KO) will fight an opponent to be named.
   
• The ESPN+ stream is scheduled to begin with the pro debut of Carl Fail, who will clash with the unbeaten Jordan Dujon (4-0) in a six-rounder at junior middleweight.

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Deniz Ilbay (21-1, 9 KOs) will face Jonathan Jose Eniz (23-11-1, 9 KOs) for the IBO Intercontinental Welterweight title on March 2 at SØR Amfi in Arendal.

The Cologne-boxer is back in action following a convincing victory over domestic rival Denis Krieger at the Schwalbe Arena in Gummersbach on December 1, and can now take the next steps towards a World title challenge as he meets 24 year-old Argentinian Eniz for the IBO Intercontinental strap.

“I would like to thank Team Sauerland for this opportunity,” he says. “My aim is to fight for a World title, and winning the IBO Intercontinental belt will bring my closer to this. I will not underestimate Eniz, but I’m confident I can win!”

Ilbay says he is looking forward to boxing in Arendal having witnessed the last Team Sauerland event at the SØR Amfi live on German TV: “I watched it on Sport1. It looked like a great show with an amazing atmosphere, and I’m really looking forward to boxing in front of the Norwegian fans.”

Ilbay’s IBO Intercontinental title fight is the second championship contest confirmed for Arendal with hometown hero Kai Robin Havnaa facing Rad ‘Thunder’ Rashid for the IBO International Cruiserweight title.

“This is an exciting addition to what promises to be one of the biggest events in Norwegian boxing history,” said promoter Nisse Sauerland. “Fans in Arendal can now look forward to a second title fight. There will be lots of good options out there for Deniz if he wins, and the World title will not be far away.”

Kai Robin Havnaa tops the bill at the SØR Amfi in Arendal with a historic IBO International Cruiserweight title fight against Rad ‘Thunder’ Rashid.

Katharina Thanderz provides chief support with a super featherweight contest against Rachel Ball, Deniz Ilbay faces Jonathan Jose Eniz for the IBO Intercontinental title, Hadi Srour is back in the professional ring to meet Zoltan Szabo, and Kristiansand’s Jamshid Nazari takes on Ivica Gogosevic.

Tickets are available via www.ticketmaster.no or by calling (+47) 22 82 81 97.