Frank Maloney Boxing Signs British Champion Martin Lindsay

British featherweight champion Martin Lindsay has signed a promotional deal with Frank Maloney. The Belfast star (16-0) showed his star qualities on Friday when he outpointed Jamie Arthur in the first defence of his British crown.

Maloney predicts the all-action 27-year-old will become Irish boxing's next superstar and fill the gap left by Bernard Dunne's retirement.

He said: "Lindsay's performance against Arthur is what TV and fans love to see. He marched forward constantly, wasn't afraid to take a backward step and threw hurtful punches for 12 rounds."

Maloney is already making plans for Lindsay to make the next defence of his title in Belfast, and hopes to move him towards a world title fight inside 18 months.

Maloney added: "The aim is to keep Martin busy and I want to make sure his next fight is in Belfast. Martin is very popular there and there will be plenty of big occasions in his home city for him as he steps up to world level.

"There is no hurry, even though he is the mandatory contender for the European title. His next fight will be a British title fight. There are plenty if decent challengers out there like Akaash Bhatia, but I will talk to Martin's team before approaching anyone."