BUMPER NOVEMBER ON THE CARDS

By Frank Warren

THE MONTH OF November we have mapped out should certainly go off with a good few bangs – and not just the ones we will hear in and around Bonfire Night.

We have a thrilling month in store, from a world title tilt over in Vegas, a Euro-cracker in Telford to a fascinating domestic duel at the 02 with a potential shot at Canelo at stake.

As often seems to be the case when a clutch of fight dates come together, we begin at venerable old York Hall on November 11 where our Scouse firework Nick Ball will be ignited once again in a defence of his WBC Silver featherweight title.

Young Nick has got the world at his feet – or hands – following his recent exploits that began with his resounding defeat of Isaac Lowe at Wembley Stadium back in April. He is an unassuming individual outside of the ring, but such an explosive character when he steps inside and Nick is someone who has and will continue to capture the public’s imagination.

Another big hitter, top heavyweight prospect David Adeleye, will be on parade in Bethnal Green in what will be his 10th fight as a professional. Heavyweights are the talk of the town at the moment and David will be looking to force his way into the conversation.

A day later, over at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Denzel Bentley will be rolling his own dice by challenging for the WBO world middleweight title against the fearsome Kazakh, Janibek Alimkhanuly.

Denzel knows full well he will not be the betting favourite in this gambler’s paradise, but he knows what he is getting into and is keeping his cards close to his chest. Hopefully he holds a winning hand and maybe he knows something we all don’t because it is a fight he has been calling for for some time now.

Every now and again, fighters just get a hunch over a fight and fancy it. Denzel and his team have watched Janibek closely and had absolutely no hesitation over taking the fight when it became an option to them. The same cannot be said of many others in the middleweight division.

The following week – Saturday November 19 – we head up to Telford, where local lad Liam Davies will challenge for the vacant European super bantamweight title against the tough Romanian Ionut Baluta.

British champion Liam has been on a roll since teaming up with us at Queensberry, scoring a couple of blistering knockouts, plus winning the WBC International Silver and British titles. He is growing a big fanbase in his home town, which means we can carry on building Telford as a destination for major fights.

He’s got no easy pickings when it comes to Ionut, who defeated Brad Foster to win the WBC International title last time out in May. Now based in Bushey with trainer Josh Burnham, Ionut is now able to develop his career following earlier big wins over former world champion TJ Doheny and Irish Olympian David Oliver Joyce.

Fans in Telford will also get the chance to see Anthony Yarde prepare for his January shot at unified light heavyweight world titles against Artur Beterbiev. This will be a little sharpener for Anthony due to his title business being delayed and the most important thing is for him to come through unscathed.

A week later we rock up at the 02 Arena for a cracking card of boxing headed by Zach Parker and John Ryder battling it out for the WBO Interim super middleweight title.

I predict a special fight and I cannot really imagine Zach ever being in a dull one. He has made short work of the three opponents put in front of him since we teamed up with him as he reinforced his position at the head of the WBO rankings.

With Canelo holding every belt at super middleweight and his intentions unclear, we lobbied the WBO for an Interim title fight and initially we were preparing to welcome over the then WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade.

Injury put the fight back and then Andrade withdrew, which took us to the next contender, who is John Ryder. John has been on a fine run of form, beating Daniel Jacobs this year and previously being considered particularly unlucky in a world title fight against Callum Smith.

The winner out of Zach and John will either fight Canelo or, if he vacates, be elevated to full world champion. So the stakes are very high at the 02.

Also on the card is our big middleweight hope Hamzah Sheeraz in a defence of his WBC Silver title, plus Dennis McCann going for the Commonwealth super bantamweight title against Joe Ham. Marauding lightweight Sam Noakes makes his return to the ring after injury and takes on the unbeaten Scot Calvin McCord. Irish powerhouse Pierce O’Leary is also on parade fighting for the WBC International title.

So that is our November offering and the fun doesn’t stop there. The following week we will be back in London with the best heavyweight on the planet, Tyson Fury, plus Daniel Dubois in a heavyweight double-header.

The big fights keep on coming and 2023 is already firmly in the planning stage.