Power Gets British Title Shot, Watson Makes Debut.

On Friday at the famed London and Castle Centre in South London, unbeaten prospect Martin Power faces former Commonwealth Super Flyweight champion Dale Robinson for the vacant British Bantamweight title and sterling amateur Craig Watson makes his professional debut against seasoned Irish journeyman Willie Valentine.

Power, 16-0 (7), is coming off a difficult scrap with hard as nails import Shinny Bayaar this past December but will have a much tougher assignment against Huddersfield’s Dale Robinson. The Yorkshireman previously held the Commonwealth and British Southern Area Super Flyweight titles and has only lost to slick IBO champion Jason Booth during his eighteen fight career.

“Dale Robinson is a pretty good fighter and his record certainly backs that up,” said Power. “He fought for a world title and only lost a very close fight by two rounds. I’m not underestimating him by any stretch of the imagination but I do think I’m capable of beating him on the night.”

At stake is the much coveted British title and for Power, this opportunity represents a lifelong goal that the Londoner isn’t about to let slip by. “For any British fighter, to become British champion is a worthy ambition in and of itself,” he said. “If everything goes right for me on Friday then my goal will be to stay at the weight and defend the belt three times so I can keep it forever. That’s what I’d love to do, because to tell you the truth there’s some world titles out there that are easier to acquire than a British title.To win this fight and to go on and win the Lonsdale outright would mean a great deal to me.”

In the chief support bout on the Power – Robinson card, featherweight Andy Morris contends for the vacant English title against Warren Dunkley, but a high profile amateur lightweight
that has captured the imagination of British fight fans will be making his professional debut at the Elephant and Castle Centre.

Craig Watson recently floored Olympic Silver Medallist and national hero Amir Khan in an ABA tournament and the Manchester man is out to prove it wasn’t a fluke. First though he’ll have to get past Dublin native Willie Chapman, who brings a 6-6 record into the contest.

Chapman reeled off five straight wins before a loss to former WBO number one ranked super feather Gavin Rees threw him off the rails. Watson is well aware that if he is to keep the momentum gained in the Khan fight going, he must look good against the rugged Irishman.

“I want to knock my opponent out because I want to impress the fans as well as my manager Frank Maloney,” said the Mancunian. ” I’m looking forward to this fight and I’ve been training solid, three times a day with people like Steve Foster Jr., Wayne Rigby and Wayne Pinder. I can’t wait to fight and hopefully I can stop Valentine.”

What the debutante really wants is to get Amir Khan back in the ring as a professional where he feels he can improve upon the controversial circumstances of the knockdown he scored against the Bolton teenager. Chapman is savvy enough to realize however that he may have to wait for that opportunity.

“I believe that when I put Khan on the canvas, he was given a long count,” he recalled. “If he had been given a proper count instead of eighteen seconds, I reckon that I could have gotten on top of him again and knocked him out.

“I myself would like a rematch as soon as possible but if we do it early in my pro career, I don’t think that there’d be much money in it compared to fighting Khan later for an eliminator to a British title, for example.

“I want to win impressively and get the fans to know about me during my first year as a professional and I also want everyone to know that I’m gunning for Amir Khan. I want to fight him more than anyone else and I do let everyone I speak to know that I want very badly to get him back in the ring again.”