Brad Pauls puts his British middleweight title on the line against Denzel Bentley, while the vacant European belt is also on the line at the SSE Arena, Wembley on Saturday.
Frank Warren's Queensberry promotes Pauls v Bentley on TNT Sports in the UK, while DAZN airs the card in the US.
After building an undefeated record, primarily in the south of his hometown of Newquay, Pauls (19-1-1, 11 KOs) went to that very arena last February and dropped points against Tyler Denny in the fight for the English title.
“The Newquay Bomb” won the same prize seven months later, stopping Mitchell Frearson for the vacant place in the round of 16, which gave him a win over British champion Nathan Heaney in March.
It was a thriller and the exciting fight could not find a winner so the fight was declared a draw. The immediate rematch in July was a cracker, with the 31-year-old Pauls eventually outlasting Heaney and scoring the finishing blow Final round for a famous victory.
His first defense comes against Bentley (20-3-1, 17 KOs), a man who has held the Lonsdale belt twice.
“2 Sharp” won the belt for the first time against Mark Heffron, but then dropped it in the third round of a loss to Felix Cash in his first defense and would win it back again in May 2022 by taking a split decision against Linus Udofia .
Next came a heavy defeat for the WBO world title as he was overtaken by now unified champion Janibek Alimkhanuly and after defending his British crown in just 45 seconds, the 29 year old was then upset by the aforementioned Heaney on Cards last November.
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There have been two second-round victories since then, with Danny Dignum defeated for the vacant WBO International belt in May, and Derrick Osaze shot into the air in August.
Prediction: Pauls has had no trouble getting into the trenches when needed, and Bentley will likely apply pressure here early. I think Bentley could outlast his man and take the win in the later rounds.
Noakes fights Walsh
Exciting talent Sam Noakes headlines the undercard, defending his British, Commonwealth and WBO International lightweight titles against the experienced Ryan Walsh.
Noakes (15-0, 14 KOs) has been nearly flawless so far, with only Yvan Mendy taking him 12 rounds, all of which he lost in April, and his last exit in September when he defended his European title with a retirement win against Gianluca Ceglia .
Walsh (29-4-2, 13 KOs) has had a long career and has only boxed twice in over two years. In his warm-up for this in September he defeated Reece Mold within one round.
Prediction: Noakes has impressed more with each passing challenge and I think he can handle the task against a slowing Walsh in the first half of this contest.
Okolie meets Muhamed
Lawrence Okolie makes his Queensberry and heavyweight debut when he takes on Hussein Muhamed.
Okolie (20-1, 15 KOs) bounced back from a single professional loss to his former stablemate. Chris Billam Smith by winning the WBC bridgerweight crown with a first-round victory over Lukasz Rozanski in May.
“The Sauce” gave up the belt to take the heavyweight title, and first up is Muhamed (18-1, 14 KOs), who is coming off a loss of his own, a third-round knockout loss to Zhan Kossobutskiy in November 2022.
Prediction: Okolie should celebrate his heavyweight graduation with a win within the scheduled ten-round distance.
Dacres-Adeleye meet for the English heavyweight title
An interesting fight for the English heavyweight title could be close as David Adeleye challenges Sol Dacres.
Adeleye (12-1, 11 KOs) is looking to bounce back from a loss to British champion Fabio Wardley last October, while Dacres (9-0, 3 KOs) defended his title with a seventh-round loss to Michael Webster in July .
Prediction: Adeleye should win the title via stoppage.
Remaining undercard
Sean Noakes (8-0, 4 KOs) is the second Noakes in action on the night and he can defend his English welterweight title for the first time by defeating Mathew Rennie (14-0-1, 1 KO). exceeds.
Aloys Junior (8-1, 7 KOs) is one to keep an eye on in 2025 and beyond, and the cruiserweight should be able to pick up another stoppage win, this time against Lewis Oakford (6-1 ).
In the only eight rounds on the program, Royston Barney-Smith (12-0, 6 KOs) can close out his year with a super featherweight stoppage win over Andres Navarrete (12-2, 3 KOs).
Another attraction in the super featherweight division should be Billy Adams (4-0) picking up another points win, this time against Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira (6-16, 5 KOs).
The only four-rounder makes his debut for Billy Crotty, who can prevail on points against Dylan Courtney (2-17-2, 1 KO) in the light heavyweight division.
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