By Ian Aldous: On Friday night, a brand new platform for British boxing arrives with its first event. Fightzone TV, sponsored by Betfred, will broadcast the English lightweight title fight between Myron Mills (14-1) and Lucas Ballingall (13-1) and has ambitious plans to stage weekly Friday fight nights with 7:30 pm becoming known as ‘Box O’Clock.’
(Photo credit: Sporting Captures)
General Manager of Fightzone TV, Jim McMunn, explained in a recent press release that “our commitment is to deliver 50 events per year, 200 live fights, and give exposure to over 250 boxers, all on one platform, for just £4.99 per month. We believe that Fightzone TV will become the People’s Champion of boxing, delivering first-class events, showcasing new talent, and delivering an affordable place to watch the sport that fight fans love.”
Former two-weight world champion and British boxing legend Ricky Hatton endorses the new product. “It’s a massive platform for lads who might not have got the exposure before,” Hatton said. “Fightzone will be brilliant; I remember years ago there were shows on TV every week from small halls around the country, and they had on some of the best fights that you could see – and some of them might only have been six-rounders! It’s all about Box Office and Pay Per View these days, so Fightzone will be great for fans to be able to see all the talent that’s coming through.”
As well as the English title fight headliner, Anthony Tomlinson, the 12-0 IBO continental and central area welterweight champion, returns to action defending his IBO strap. The Sheffield fighter was in the form of his life pre-pandemic, with three consecutive stoppage wins against Kyle Fox, Rob Hunt, and Stewart Burt that saw his career gather pace as he prepared for big domestic fights. Now training under the guidance of Roger Sampson and Gary Wilson, having parted ways with Stefy Bull and Ray Doyle, the twenty-nine-year-old is looking to make up for lost time.
“It’s Anthony’s first fight with us, and we said it would be for a title,” promoter Dennis Hobson revealed concerning the postponed Anthony Tomlinson vs. James Moorcroft fight that was originally set to headline. “We’ve been lobbying a couple of sanctioning bodies for some time, but because James is coming off a loss, they wouldn’t pass him. The bodies have dragged their feet a bit, and we’ve just found out that it won’t be a title fight. So, the plan is to get James in a fight – and hopefully a win – on one of our later shows and then match the pair of them in August. The fight is worthy of a title, and I don’t want to do it without one.”
“To be honest, every cloud has a silver lining, and Mills against Ballingall is a brilliant fight anyway,” he added. “We’ve made sure with all our cards that if there is a dropout, then we have another fight on that’s worthy of topping the bill, and this does just that. With Anthony being an undefeated, exciting Sheffield fighter, we opted for him to top the card originally, but this English title fight could very easily have been it. It’s a smashing fight, a really even match, and the card is still a really good one to kick off our upcoming run of shows.”
Also on the card, decorated kickboxer and training partner of Rachel Ball, Katie Healey makes her eagerly anticipated pro debut, and southern area cruiserweight king Iain Martell is on the nine-fight bill. This Tuesday night at 8 pm on Fightzone and its social media channels, ‘In The Zone will serve as a preview show for Friday’s event.
Looking ahead at the Fightzone schedule reveals some intriguing clashes for British fight fans to enjoy:
Heavyweight Kash Ali headlines on May 28th; Charlie Schofield and Mickey Ellison battle for the vacant English super-middleweight title on June 4th; Marc Leach and Thomas Essomba fight the following night in a British title eliminator, as well as the return of Bradley Skeete after two-and-a-half years since last competing; on June 11th, a Commonwealth light-flyweight title bout headlines between Matt Windle and Neil McCubbin; finally, Tommy Frank rematches Rosendo Guarneros in a bid to avenge his only loss on June 18th.
Frank had been on the verge of world level when his IBO world title fight against Maximino Flores was sadly scuppered by the pandemic. Last December, a shoulder injury sustained early in his original bout against Guarneros ruined his chances of defeating the Mexican after what had been a bright start. It was the main event of Dennis Hobson’s innovative drive-in fight night at Sheffield Arena’s car park. The same venue will now host a multitude of weekly boxing, all live on Fightzone TV.
Go to Fightzone.uk or download the Fightzone app to join British boxing’s new revolution.