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Rendall Munroe has landed home advantage for his European super bantamweight title defence against old rival Kiko Martinez.
The Leicester binman, 28, will make his fourth title defence against the Spaniard, 20-1, at Barnsley Metrodome on February 27. Promoter Frank Maloney managed to lure the mandatory challenger to England with a big enough offer, but Martinez refused to fight in Rendall’s beloved East Midlands.
Southpaw Munroe, 17-1, ripped the title from Martinez last March in one of the year’s biggest upsets and Maloney is convinced he’ll repeat that brilliant points win.
Maloney said: “I would back Rendall to beat Munroe in his favourite tapas bar back home in Spain. There was a good offer to go there, but my job is to do everything I can to get the fight in Rendall’s favour.
“Rendall is climbing the world rankings now and there is a lot for him to go for in 2009. A defence against Bernard Dunne would be good business, but his manager Brian Peters is on another planet and needs to land on earth.
“Rendall is also climbing the world rankings so I may even get one of the big named champions here.”
In the chief support, Munroe’s stable mate in the Shinfield camp, Derby’s Scott Haywood, 19-2, will challenge WBC ranked number three, Ajose Olusegun, 25-0, for the Commonwealth light-welterweight title.
Tickets for the show, priced £30 and £80 are available from www.frankmaloney.com and 0871 226 1508
