Heavy Impact | Joyce vs Hrgovic Programme

 

Promoters Message

Good evening everybody and welcome back to the fantastic Co-op Live Arena here in Manchester for a particularly special occasion for us at Queensberry.

‘Heavy Impact’ tonight represents our first promotion in conjunction with our new broadcast partners DAZN, the streaming giants who have quickly become the Global Home of Boxing. It is a move that will deliver on every level for our fighters and the fans, who will benefit from a multitude of promoters operating on the same platform, with just a single subscription required.

So the Global Home of Boxing now features the Home of the Heavyweights, which is Queensberry, and for our first exclusive show on the platform we naturally swayed towards the big fellas.

The Big Juggernaut, Joe Joyce, gets the chance to reboot his prospects by taking on El Animal, Filip Hrgovic in a classic crossroads collision that should be a thrilling affair. Neither man is known to take a backward step and I don’t think for one minute that this will be an overly tactical encounter.

Both of these giants have got it all to do if they want to position themselves back in the elite of the division. I don’t often like to say this, but the loser will be up against it in terms of returning to the big time.

The stakes are very, very high and this is a fitting headliner for this great venue and our DAZN introduction.

Everyone loves a British title bash and we’ve got a big one, with the vacant heavyweight belt up for grabs in what will be a mighty confrontation between our man David Adeleye and Jeamie TKV Tshikeva.

This is a London shootout and the winner will move himself into the Heavyweight Premier League, currently dominated by Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois, with the likes of Fabio Wardley, Lawrence Okolie, Derek Chisora, Agit Kabayel, Joseph Parker and Moses Itauma in hot pursuit.

Tonight we also get to welcome British Olympic heavyweight Delicious Orie to the professional scene and I am very excited to see him in action and get him moving. He won’t be rushed, he will get all the experience he needs with the right fights at the right time. Then he will come into title contention and Britain will have another heavyweight hero to celebrate.

We’ve got a local theme at super lightweight, with the Commonwealth title on the line between Shaw star and British champion Jack Rafferty and his unbeaten challenger from Leeds, Cory O’Regan.

I’ve been so impressed with what I have seen from Jack, both as a fighter and as a person. He is totally dedicated to his craft and fully deserves his success, having pretty much done it the hard way.

If he can come through tonight, in front of his many hundreds of fans, he is going to be in big, big fights across the rest of this year and beyond.

In another North West derby at the same weight, Bolton’s Khaleel Majid and Salford’s Alex Murphy clash in a first 10-rounder for both men and it is an opportunity for them to shine on this major stage and secure further big fights moving forward.

Royston Barney-Smith will continue his journey at super featherweight as he moves rapidly towards bigger tests and titles. The same goes for Nelson Birchall, the highly talented featherweight who is earning himself a reputation as a young prospect to be reckoned with.

I am happy to have Mark Chamberlain back in the ring, now at super lightweight, after his Riyadh Season exploits were curtailed by a surprising defeat last time out in September. Mark will have this one tonight over eight rounds and will then be parachuted right back into title contention.

We’ve got two further professional debuts tonight, with Congleton super middleweight and storied amateur Ramtin Musah taking to the stage, along with Liverpool flyweight Louis Szeto, who comes with a formidable pedigree. Good luck to both lads and I would also like to extend a welcome to Manchester featherweight Alfie Middlemiss, who features on the card having finished filming his role in the forthcoming series of Waterloo Road. Let’s hope he can take his opponent to school too.

Before I close, I would like to extend my thanks, as always, to our wonderful sponsors Riyadh Season, 32Red, Unibet and That Prize Guy for their magnificent support. Most of all, my appreciation goes to you, the fans, for coming out in support of the boxers and making the watching of live boxing such a special experience.

I hope you enjoy your evening.

Best wishes

Frank Warren