Oakey, Francis Make Weight In Portsmouth

With their thrilling light heavyweight showdown looming tonight at Portsmouth, England’s Mountbatten Centre, British champion Tony Oakey and his Commonwealth counterpart Dean Francis have both leaped the final hurdle in their preparations as Oakey tipped the scales at 173 pounds (12 stone 5) while Francis came in at the divisional limit of 175 pounds (12 stone 7) at yesterday’s weigh-in.

This contest has deeply divided the boxing public as followers of pure punching power fancy Francis to walk off with the treasure while believers in heart and workrate are backing Oakey to the hilt.

The packed Mountbatten Centre will itself be a combat zone as both camps come head to head with Oakey’s legion of fans attempting to hold home advantage despite the invasion of Basingstoke faithful, who only need to travel 50 miles to support Francis.

Four years have passed since one man has unified these belts at light heavy and this is the most hotly anticipated British/Commonwealth title clash at the weight since Clinton Woods stopped Crawford Ashley in March of 1999.

It’s a classic matchup of boxer vs. slugger and with both combatants in a must win situation, the bout has clear Fight of the Year potential.

The competitive nature of the main event continues throughout the support bouts on the bill, with such matchups between super featherweights Henry Castle, 17-4 (9), and Lee Cook, 9-0-1 (3) as well as light middleweights Sam Webb, 10-1 (3) and Paul Dyer, 18-8 (1).

Also scheduled to appear are bantamweight Jason Booth, welterweight Mark Thompson, cruiserweight Mickey Steeds, light welter Gray Buckland, welterweight Chas Symonds along with light middleweights Jason Rushton and Jay Morris.

Frank Maloney Promotions presents “Fright Night”, the British and Commonwealth light heavyweight title fight between Tony Oakey and Dean Francis with full undercard on Friday, June 13, 2008 at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth, England.

Sky Sports will televise live on SS2 at 9:30PM.

Frank Maloney Promotions announces “Collision Course”, the British heavyweight title defense of champion Danny Williams vs. challenger John McDermott at the Goresbrook Leisure Centre in Dagenham, England on Friday, July 18, 2008. Tickets are priced at £90 and £40 and are available by logging onto www.frankmaloney.com or by calling the Box Office at 0871 226 1508.