ANTHONY YARDE HITS the comeback trail towards his next world title challenge on 23 September with an all-British clash against Ricky Summers at the OVO Arena, Wembley on the big Zhilei Zhang-Joe Joyce rematch card, live on TNT Sports.

Tickets to see the heavyweight clash between Zhilei Zhang and Joe Joyce at the OVO Arena, Wembley on Saturday 23 September, are on sale now available from AXS.com and ticketmaster.co.uk.

Yarde, the self-styled Beast from the East, won the admiration of the boxing public back in January when he gave unified world light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev his toughest fight to date before being retired by his own corner in the eighth round in front of a packed and enthralled crowd at the same Wembley venue.

For Yarde (23-3, 22 KOs) it represented a second world title challenge after previously going up against the formidable Sergey Kovalev in the then champion’s home town back in 2019.

Summers (19-3-1, 6), from Staffordshire, was most recently in big fight action in March when he defeated Joel McIntyre to win the English light heavyweight title. It was his second tilt at the English belt, having dropped a split decision against the current British and European champion Dan Azeez in April 2021.

Also featuring on the Wembley card, headlined by The Big Bang seeking to once again knock The Juggernaut off course, is WBC International Silver and Commonwealth lightweight champion Sam Noakes (11-0, 11) defending his titles, along with WBC International super lightweight champion Pierce O’Leary (12-0,7) making a second defence of his belt.

Also in the light heavyweights, the undefeated and flamboyant Nottingham stylist Ezra Taylor (6-0, 4) takes a significant step up when he faces Portsmouth man Joel McIntyre (20-7, 5) over eight rounds.

Former two-time European Amateur champion Royston Barney-Smith will have fight No.7 on his professional journey over six rounds.

Powerhouse cruiserweights and social media enemies Tommy Fletcher (5-0, 4) and Aloys Jr (4-1, 4) will brew their growing rivalry by both fighting in six-round fights to complete the card.

“I am delighted to be getting Anthony Yarde back in business following his January exploits against Artur Beterbiev,” said promoter Frank Warren. “He wants to be and we want him to be in a major fight again before the end of the year so a tough domestic opponent like Ricky Summers is the perfect test in order to bring Anthony back to his best.

“While Ricky will be an obvious outsider, we all know he will give his absolute all and make it as uncomfortable as possible for the favourite.

“A huge heavyweight showdown like Zhilei Zhang v Joe Joyce deserves a compelling undercard and that is what the fans will be getting on 23 September, live on TNT Sports.

“In Sam Noakes and Pierce O’Leary you will see two of the most exciting young fighters in the country and we also have the charismatic future light heavyweight star Ezra Taylor in a tough one against the experienced Joel McIntyre.

“The elite young super featherweight Royston Barney-Smith is also back on parade alongside our two explosive cruiserweight hopes in Tommy Fletcher and Aloys Jr.”

Tickets to see the heavyweight clash between Zhilei Zhang and Joe Joyce at the OVO Arena, Wembley on Saturday 23 September, are on sale now available from AXS.com and ticketmaster.co.uk.

Lawrence Osueke says he is “more than ready” to step up in class as he prepares for his British Light-Heavyweight title Eliminator with Ricky Summers at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle this Saturday, shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US.

Aiming to take his first step towards title glory on home soil, 31-year-old Osueke must get past former British title challenger Summers if he is to move towards a short at the current belt-holder Joshua Buatsi.

Osueke has made confident strides thus far in his career, reeling off nine straight victories, with one early finish. Boxing is in the Newcastle fighter’s blood – his uncle, Manny Burgo, was a top 10 British Heavyweight who shared the ring with former British and Commonwealth Champion Julius Francis.

Entering the pro ranks at 30, Osueke is determined to make up for lost time by working his way towards a first title shot as quickly as possible, and the Steve Wraith-managed fighter believes he is ready to start climbing the domestic 175lbs ladder.

“It’s a good step up for me at this stage of my career,” said Osueke. “He’s a hungry fighter, I’m a hungry fighter, it’s going to be an interesting fight and a fight that I think I’m going to come through and win. We’ve been looking to step up for a while and when the opportunity came to box on another big Matchroom show we took it.

“I’m always confident. You’re in the wrong game if you’re not confident. It’s a step up in terms of being a ten rounder which I haven’t done before. He’s more experienced than me so it is a step up but it’s a step up that I’m more than ready for.

“He’s right up there in the domestic Light-Heavy scene. He’s got a decent ranking, he’s fought some decent guys. He took Frank Buglioni the distance when he fought him for the British title. A win over him will definitely elevate my career.

“At this stage in my career I’m not looking too far ahead. The aim is to keeping on building and aim for the top as always. Everyone is going to see the best of me with a better opponent in there.”

London (25 January 2019) Andre Sterling and Ricky Summers will meet in a British Light-Heavyweight Title Eliminator on the stacked O2 show on Saturday 23rd February.

Sterling versus Summers adds to an action-packed evening, promoted by Poxon Sports for Premier Boxing Champion (PBC), headlined with the long-awaited clash between bitter rivals James DeGale and Chris Eubank Jr., the explosive showdown between Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion Joe Joyce and Former World Champion Bermane Stiverne, the return of Former IBF World Featherweight Champion Lee Selby and the UK debut of Marsellos Wilder, exclusively LIVE on ITV Box Office.

28-year-old Andre Sterling’s career has been going places fast. In his last fight out in November 2018, the New Cross fighter was crowned Southern Area Light-Heavyweight Champion after outpointing the tough Kirk Garvey at The York Hall, Bethnal Green.

That career best win put Sterling forward for his British Title Eliminator opportunity and he knows a victory could land him a dream shot at the prized Lonsdale belt.

The former Fitzroy Lodge amateur is now unbeaten in nine fights with four finishing inside the distance since turning pro in April 2017.

This will be the first time Sterling steps out onto the biggest of stages at The O2, but he’s in a bullish mood and is ready to grasp his golden chance.

Sterling said, “This opportunity is massive for me and I’m grateful. I’m feeling good, happy with my close-knit team, and I’m having a superb training camp. My sparring sessions have been great, and my weight is just where I want it to be. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for and I’m ready. It’s going to elevate me to a new level. My future is very bright and there will be big fights ahead for the British public to savour.”

He added, “Ricky is a good fighter, there’s no doubt about it, but I’ll have too much for him. There’s no way he’ll keep up. I’ll show no mercy and you can tell Ricky that much. I hope he’s ready because I’ll be bringing huge fire power to the fight. That isn’t to say I won’t be vigilant about when I unleash the lion from the cage; you’ll see my boxing skill and pedigree on show. Just watch out.”

For 31-year-old Ricky Summers, who hails from Tipton in the West Midlands, he has already come within touching distance of the British title after challenging for the title against then Champion Frank Buglioni in July 2017 at The O2.

He gave Buglioni a hard first title defence and took the Londoner into the trenches before losing on the scorecards in an action-packed fight. It certainly enhanced Summers’ reputation and he’ll now look to capitalise on that experience against Sterling.

He rebounded strongly after that night, displaying an array of skills, a combination of fast hands and powerful shots, to out box Gonzalo Romero and Tayar Mehmed to take his record to 15 wins from 16 fights.

Not only does Summers feel ready to get back into title contention, but he feels he is even better placed to do so than when he fought Buglioni.

Summers said, “I bounced back in the right way after the Buglioni fight. I lost that night because of experience. Frank wasn’t a better fighter, but he had already boxed on the big stage. Now I have that experience of having already fought at The O2 to take into the ring with me this time. That’s going to be invaluable. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity to get back in the spotlight, and I’m going to take my chance this time. There’s a lot on the line: the loser has nowhere to go, while the winner has bigger things to plan for.”

He added, “I think Andre Sterling is a good fighter and I respect him. He’s accumulated a good record since turning pro. He’s a skilful boxer, but he’s heavy handed. It will be a good clash of styles. I’ll have far too much for him though. I’ve improved tremendously as a fighter. I think the size difference between us will be a factor too.”

Both men have a great opportunity to step up in front of a huge crowd at The O2 and will put everything on the line to secure a victory that with will open doors and propel their careers to new heights.

Tickets available from www.AXS.com and Inner Ringside/VIP Hospitality from www.sportandmusic.co.uk

This fight will be shown exclusively on ITV Box Office. For further information and updates, please go to www.itvboxoffice.com

NOTE TO EDITORS: Please clearly credit ITV Box Office in any published material

Late last year, ITV announced a ground-breaking new deal with Haymon Sports and Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) to bring exclusive coverage of exciting PBC world-class boxing events to ITV viewers and fight fans in the UK.

The unique collaboration is the first time that Haymon Sports and PBC has partnered with a UK broadcaster to stage boxing events regularly in the UK. The exclusive three-year deal will guarantee a minimum of 15 televised events each year, drawing from PBC’s unrivalled group of over 160 of the best boxers in the world, which includes more than 60 current and former world champions in matches staged both in the UK and the US. PBC, the sports’ pre-eminent boxing brand, is broadcast over cable and network television in the United States.

The world-class action from events for the next three years will include free-to-air broadcasts on ITV’s channels, including ITV main channel and ITV4 and ITV Hub, and will also include pay per views on ITV’s PPV channel, ITV Box Office.

This new deal for boxing adds to ITV Sport’s portfolio of first class events, which includes exclusive free to air coverage of the England football team’s qualifiers for both the European Championship and World Cup, the 6 Nations and exclusive coverage of the Rugby World Cup, UK horse racing, the Tour de France and the French Open.