WBO No. 1 140-pound contender Jack Catterall and Indian super middleweight contender Vijender Singh will co-headline a special edition of #MTKFightNight Friday from Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai.
Catterall will face Timo Schwarzkopf, while Singh will fight Ghanaian veteran Charles “The Crusader” Adamu in 10-round bouts.
Catterall-Schwarzkopf and Singh-Adamu will stream live on ESPN+, the leading multisport streaming service, beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. PT.
Catterall (24-0, 13 KOs) is a mandatory challenger for unified champion Jose Ramirez, but he will have to wait until 2020 to receive his title shot. The former British champion had standout victories last year over domestic rivals Tyrone McKenna and Ohara Davies and is looking to maintain his ranking. Schwarzkopf (20-3, 12 KOs) is a nine-year pro who has never been stopped and has won two of his past three bouts.
Singh (11-0, 8 KOs) is a three-time Indian Olympian who won his nation’s first Olympic boxing medal at the 2008 Beijing Games. He made his Top Rank debut July 13 in Newark, N.J., knocking out Mike Snider in four rounds. Adamu (33-14, 26 KOs) has fought a plethora of top names during an 18-year career. He won the Commonwealth super middleweight title in 2009 and is coming off a third-round stoppage win in February.
In other action from Dubai:
Former world title challenger Muhammad “Falcon” Waseem (9-1, 7 KOs) will battle former light flyweight world champion Ganigan Lopez (36-10, 19 KOs) in an eight-round super flyweight contest.
Super bantamweight contender Thomas Patrick Ward (28-0, 4 KOs) will take on Mexican veteran Martin Casillas (20-11-1, 10 KOs), winner of four straight, in an eight-rounder.
Golden Contract Super Lightweight Quarterfinals
Friday, 2:30 p.m. ET
The Golden Contract Super Lightweight quarterfinals, a single-elimination tournament presented by MTK Global, will kick off Friday from London’s York Hall at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT.
The eight fighters are as follows: former French and European welterweight champion Mohamed Mimoune (21-3, 2 KOs), unbeaten British prospect Darren Surtees (12-0, 8 KOs), Welsh super lightweight champion Kieran Gething (9-2-1, 2 KOs), Scottish fan-favorite Lewis “Kid Caramel” Benson (12-2, 2 KOs), unbeaten Hawaiian contender Logan Yoon (16-0, 12 KOs), former English lightweight champion Ohara Davies (19-2, 14 KOs), British Southern Area super lightweight champion Mikey Sakyi (8-2, 4 KOs) and WBC International super lightweight champion Tyrone McKenna (19-1-1, 6 KOs).
The quarterfinal draw was set Tuesday afternoon and will feature the following bouts: Gething vs. Benson, Mimoune vs. Surtees, Sakyi vs. McKenna and Yoon vs. Davies.