QUEENSBERRY today held the final press conference ahead of Saturday’s (Aug 28) ‘Night of Champions’ card at the Utilita Arena, Birmingham, live on BT Sport 1 from 7:30pm.
Belfast’s Anthony Cacace (18-1, 7 KOs) defends his British Super-Featherweight crown against Lyon Woodstock (12-2, 5 KOs).
Akeem Ennis-Brown (14-0, 1 KO) will risk his British and Commonwealth Super-Lightweight championships against Liverpool’s former amateur superstar Sam Maxwell (15-0, 11 KOs).
Former World title challenger Anthony Yarde (20-2,19 KOs) meets US based Colombian Alex Theran (23-5, 15 KOs) in a non-title Light-Heavyweight ten rounder.
Local fighter Ijaz Ahmed (8-2) faces Kaisy Khademi (8-1, 2 KOs) for the vacant British Super-Flyweight championship. When they met over ten rounds in February, Ijaz won on points.
Telford’s English Bantamweight champion Telford’s Liam Davies (9-0, 4 KOs) boxes an eight rounder and Stoke Middleweight Nathan Heaney (12-0, 4 KOs) will have 1600 fans supporting him in the arena when he fights.
Official weigh-in results below:
ANTHONY YARDE v ALEX THERAN
Yarde weight: 12st 12lbs 4ozs
Theran weight: 12st 11lbs 8os
AKEEM ENNIS-BROWN v SAM MAXWELL
Ennis-Brown weight: 9st 13lbs 3ozs
Maxwell weight: 10 stones
CACACE v WOODSTOCK
Cacace weight: 9st 3lbs 9os
Woodstock weight: 9st 3lbs 5oz
HEANEY v ALEXANDROV
Heaney weight: 11st 6lbs 7ozs
Alexandrov weight: 11st 5lbs 6ozs
DAVIES v COMMEY
Davies weight: 8st 12lbs 8ozs
Weight: 8st 11bs 2ozs
BANCE v HALL
Bance weight: 10st 6lbs 3ozzs
Hall’s weight: 10st 5lbs
JAMES v SAMBOU
James weight: 10st 3lbs
Sambou weight: 10st 8oz
AHMED v KHADEMI
Ahmed weight: 8st 2lbs 1ozs
Khademi weight: 8st 2lbs 5ozs
TAYLOR v SHARP
Sharp weight: 12st 11lbs 1ozs
Taylor weight: 12st 5lbs 8oz
HAYDEN v JONES
Hayden weight: 9st 12lbs 8oz
Jones’ weight: 9st 11lbs 6ozs
Here are a selection of quotes from the press conference.
FRANCIS WARREN: “Akeem Ennis-Brown v Sam Maxwell is contrasting styles. Sam is always switched on and you have to respect Akeem’s style. It is a great fight. I am so excited for Anthony Cacace and Lyon Woodstock’s fight. It has been rescheduled and finally we’re here. We have two very tough men who will give it all. A rematch between Lyndon Arthur and Anthony Yarde is a massive fight, but let us get Saturday done and dusted. The rematch is contracted and we are focused on getting it on. It is a terrific show, three British title fights and Anthony Yarde. It’s worth tuning in for.”
ANTHONY CACACE: “I have no worries about being rusty after a lay-off. I have been boxing 20 years and this comes second nature. I am used to the big stage and raring to go. I felt like I was never going to defend this title. It’s been bad luck after bad luck, but I have trained hard and I am ready for what Lyon brings. I will do whatever I want with Lyon. I can fight him, box him but I respect what he brings to the table. I will win and it doesn’t matter what way.”
LYON WOODSTOCK: “I more than confident I will take the title. I don’t believe in the whole idea of ring rust because we’re both warriors. This is like a tribal thing, mine against his. I respect him as a warrior and gladiator. On Saturday, two tribes are going to come together and go to war. I have experienced high and lows. That is what builds your character and the loss to Zelfa Barrett was part of the journey. Hand on heart, I haven’t thought past this fight. It is all or nothing and going to be great.”
AKEEM ENNIS BROWN: “Of course I respect Sam. I respect any fighter who gets in the ring because it takes a lot to do that. I think I have the superior record and that is a fact. This win should give me the platform to go and get bigger fights. Some of the wins I had should have put me in that position, but somehow I still get avoided. I am not worried about his power. I love a challenge and that gets me excited. I have the style to nullify any fighter. He is getting beat up and knocked out. I am going to punch him up.”
SAM MAXWELL: “Everything Akeem brings to the table I have seen before. I have the amateur experience and feel I have boxed at a higher level in the pros. I was prepared for it (Akeem to try and get under his skin) because I knew what type of character he is. I called him a clown but I didn’t expect him to dress as one today. I am being underestimated going into this fight. I thrive on being the underdog. He is a weak man. His record tells you that and he has nothing that will trouble me. I am going to knock him spark out and hurt him. When I win this it is dream achieved and it will open up bigger opportunities.”
ANTHONY YARDE: “The biggest excitement for me is having fans back because they play such a part. It’s about entertaining so when you hear the crowd roaring it lifts you. We have made some tweaks but training has gone fantastic. I have always enjoyed a laugh and joke in training, but we know when it is time to be serious. I always enjoy the job. For me the focus is Saturday because I have a decent opponent.”
TUNDE AJAYI: “Anthony has always been dedicated to boxing and his work ethic has never changed. Having James Cook in the training team has added to everything . His experience has been invaluable. You can’t buy that. I’d be lying if I said the Arthur rematch wasn’t in our heads, but in terms of the training and preparation has been this weekend.”