George Liddard takes another step up on Saturday when he faces Dario Morello in a middleweight main event, topping a busy card that also gives several unbeaten fighters a proper test rather than another routine outing.

Liddard is still perfect at 14-0-0, but Morello arrives with a 26-1-0 record and considerably more professional experience. Jimmy Sains and Tom Cowling meet in another strong middleweight contest, while Emmanuel Buttigieg and P A Gordon put their unbeaten records on the line against each other.

The show is sanctioned by the British Boxing Board of Control and will be broadcast live on DAZN.

George Liddard vs Dario Morello

George Liddard has moved to 14-0-0 without putting a foot wrong so far, but Dario Morello represents a different sort of assignment. The Italian comes in at 26-1-0 and has more than twice as many professional fights behind him.

That experience is what makes this interesting. Liddard has the unbeaten record and the momentum, but Morello isn’t being brought in with the sort of record you can casually dismiss. Twenty-seven professional fights gives him a depth of experience Liddard simply hasn’t had the chance to accumulate yet.

For Liddard, this feels like the sort of fight where we learn a bit more. Looking good while moving through the early stages of a career is one thing; doing it against someone who has lost only once in 27 fights is another. If Liddard can impose himself here and look comfortable doing it, the conversation around where he goes next becomes considerably more interesting.

Jimmy Sains vs Tom Cowling

The co-feature could easily produce one of the more competitive fights of the night. Unbeaten Jimmy Sains brings a 12-0-0 record against Tom Cowling, who is 15-1-0.

Sains has yet to taste defeat as a professional, while Cowling has 16 fights behind him and only one loss. It’s another case of an unbeaten prospect reaching the point where simply protecting the zero doesn’t tell us much anymore. Cowling has the record to make Sains work for it.

Other Key Fights

There is another unbeaten middleweight clash between Emmanuel Buttigieg (12-0-0) and P A Gordon (9-0-0). Somebody’s perfect record has to go unless they finish level, and on paper it’s one of the most intriguing pairings on the card. Between them they are 21 fights unbeaten.

At featherweight, Tiah Mai Ayton puts her 6-0-0 record up against Ellie Hellewell (8-1-1). Ayton is still early in her professional career, while Hellewell has already experienced a defeat and a draw, making this another useful measuring stick for an unbeaten fighter.

Pat McCormack returns at welterweight with an 8-1-0 record to face Brian Maximiliano Albim Rios (11-2-1). McCormack is coming in off the first defeat of his professional career, so there is an obvious bit of interest in seeing how he responds rather than simply looking at the records.

Undercard

Unbeaten middleweight Ioan Croft (6-0-0) faces the much more experienced Tomas Andres Reynoso (13-11-1). Reynoso’s record is mixed, but 25 professional fights gives Croft another chance to pick up rounds against someone who has been around.

Harley Burrows looks to move on from his 1-0-0 start when he meets Carlos Miguel Ronner (7-12-0) at middleweight.

At super featherweight, 2-0-0 prospect Louie Ward takes on Jon Martinez (16-12-5). Martinez has 33 professional bouts on his record, so Ward will be facing an opponent with plenty of ring experience despite the difference in their recent trajectories.

Completing the card, unbeaten featherweight Connor Mitchell (3-0-0) meets Caine Singh (4-9-2).

A Good Test for the Unbeaten Names

Liddard is the obvious focus, but there’s a theme running through this card: unbeaten fighters being asked increasingly serious questions. Sains, Buttigieg, Gordon, Ayton, Croft, Burrows, Ward and Mitchell all arrive without a professional defeat.

They won’t all necessarily leave that way. Buttigieg and Gordon make sure of that. The big question, though, is whether Morello can be the man to put the first mark on Liddard’s record.

 

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