Eddie Hearn and Matchroom are delighted to announce the full schedule for Fight Camp – an unrivalled summer of elite boxing based at the Matchroom HQ in Brentwood, Essex with the first three weeks shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US – and the final week shown live on Sky Sports Box Office.

The unique and ground-breaking outdoor setting overlooking the city of London will play host to huge World Title clashes, British and Commonwealth Title showdowns, Heavyweight wars and countless other Title fights as Matchroom bring top tier boxing back to the screens of fights fans across the UK and US.

Matchroom’s summer of boxing launches with a bang on Saturday August 1 as Sam Eggington (28-6, 17 KOs) puts his IBF International Super-Welterweight title on the line against Ted Cheeseman (15-2-1, 9 KOs) in a guaranteed barnburner, Belfast’s big-hitting James Tennyson (26-3, 22 KOs) takes on Cardiff’s Gavin Gwynne (12-1, 2 KOs) for the vacant British Lightweight title, Chatteris talent Jordan Gill (24-1, 7 KOs) meets Watford’s Reece Bellotti (14-3, 12 KOs) in an electric Featherweight battle, fast-rising Ipswich Heavyweight Fabio Wardley (8-0, 7 KOs) steps up to take on Middlesbrough’s Simon Vallily (17-2-1, 7 KOs) for the vacant English belt and gifted Sheffield Super-Lightweight Dalton Smith (5-0, 4 KOs) squares off with Liverpool’s Nathan Bennett (9-1, 2 KOs).

Terri Harper’s (10-0, 5 KOs) defence of her WBC and IBO Super-Featherweight World Titles against British rival Natasha Jonas (9-1, 7 KOs) headlines week 2 on Friday August 7 supported by Bournemouth’s Chris Billam-Smith (10-1, 9 KOs) defending his Commonwealth Title against undefeated Cardiff man Nathan Thorley (14-0, 6 KOs), Liverpool Super-Welterweight Anthony Fowler (12-1, 9 KOs) gets his second outing of the year against Adam Harper (9-1), Oldham Lightweight prospect Aqib Fiaz (5-0) steps up against Birmingham’s former Midlands Area Champion Kane Baker (13-6) and Leeds Featherweight prospect Hopey Price (2-0) fights on UK soil again following his win on the huge Andy Ruiz vs. Anthony Joshua 2 show in Saudi Arabia.

Felix Cash (12-0, 8 KOs) puts his Commonwealth Middleweight Title on the line for the second time against former World Title challenger Jason Welborn (24-8, 7 KOs) at top of week 3’s bill on Friday August 14, recent Matchroom signing Zelfa Barrett (23-1, 14 KOs) meets Ireland’s undefeated Eric Donovan (12-0, 7 KOs) over ten rounds, Northampton Super-Welterweight Kieron Conway (14-1-1, 3 KOs) takes on Rotherham’s Navid Mansouri (20-3-2, 6 KOs), Watford Super-Bantamweight Shannon Courtenay (5-0, 2 KOs) faces the toughest opponent of her career in Rachel Ball (5-1) and hard-hitting Super-Middleweight menace John Docherty (8-0, 6 KOs) looks for his second win of the year.

Fight Camp concludes with an unmissable night of blockbuster action on Saturday August 22, shown live on Sky Sports Box Office, as Dillian Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) defends his WBC Interim Heavyweight World Title against Alexander Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KOs) and Irish legend Katie Taylor (15-0, 6 KOs) defends her Undisputed Lightweight World Titles. There’s more Heavyweight action on offer as Martin Bakole (15-1, 12 KOs) returns to the ring against Russia’s Sergey Kuzmin (15-1, 11 KOs) and Luther Clay (13-1, 5 KOs) defends his WBO Global Welterweight Title against Chris Kongo (11-0, 6 KOs).

Adam Smith, Sky Sports Head of Boxing Development, said: “Eddie Hearn has supplied a sizzling summer schedule in August, starting with three Sky Sports shows packed with British talent. Sam Eggington against Ted Cheeseman should be a classic clash, while the exciting trio of Jordan Gill, Fabio Wardley and Dalton Smith will be eager to impress.

“Terri Harper has already endeared herself to fight fans with her remarkable success story, but Natasha Jonas is a genuine threat as we return to Matchroom HQ with a high-class World Title fight. Anthony Fowler and Chris Billam-Smith have big ambitions and cannot afford slip-ups on the same bill.

“Felix Cash defends his Commonwealth belt against the dangerous Jason Welborn on our third action-packed show. We’ll get another chance to see Shannon Courtenay in action – she is a rising talent with an entertaining style – and it’s a perfect platform for Kieron Conway and Zelfa Barrett to showcase their skills.

“Fight Camp ends with fireworks as Dillian Whyte risks his World Title ambitions against the big-hitting Alexander Povetkin, live on Sky Sports Box Office. Katie Taylor can cement her status as one of the sport’s finest fighters when she returns to action on another fantastic bill. We’re back with a red-hot line-up of live boxing!”

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Below are quotes from the final Dillian Whyte vs. Joseph Parker press conference ahead of Saturday night’s action at The O2 in London, shown live on Sky Sports Box Office.

Dillian Whyte: “Joseph is a fighting man, that’s his heritage, but he’s short of options. He could have gone to USA to fight Bryant Jennings for a small purse and no attention or come to the UK in front of a sell-out crowd and get better pay and a more prestigious fight. He’s motivated – he knows beating me gets him close to another shot at AJ, so that’s what makes him dangerous: “if I do Dillian, I’m back in the big time again” – but he’s got to get past me first.

Joseph Parker: “It was important to get back in the ring in another big fight straight away. Dillian is on the cusp of fighting for a world title and beating him would put me right back at that top table. There won’t be any excuses from me. I’m here to do damage and I’m here to punch with bad intentions. I’m going to break him down and he’s going to take a lot of punches. He’s been talking a lot of smack in the build up and I believe that is a sign of self doubt. I hope he’s ready to take a lot of punches because I’m going to give it to him real bad. He thinks I can’t go to war, let’s wait and see.”

Promoter Eddie Hearn: “Dillian could easily have sat back and waited for his shot at WBC king Deontay Wilder, but the Brixton man is not one to wait patiently in line – this is a real 50-50 contest and I’ve no doubt that the winner will be in world title action very soon.”

Carlos Takam: “I’m very glad to be back here in the UK. When I was offered the fight against Dereck I immediately accepted it. Dereck is as tough as they come and I’m prepared for a tough night.”

Dereck Chisora: “Carlos took AJ rounds, he’s a tough guy so this is no walk in the park – it’s a marathon. He goes rounds with good fighters so I know that I’ve got 12 rounds ahead of me. They asked for this at the beginning of the year but there was no right slot for it at that time. I know it’s going to be a long night, there’s no two ways about it. I didn’t learn anything from his AJ fight as he was fighting a different game than he’ll bring tonight, I just want him to be in front of me so we can have a good time.

https://fightnews.com/whyte-parker-final-press-conference/26256

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The blockbuster Heavyweight clash between Dillian Whyte and Joseph Parker has now officially sold out after final production holds were released this week.

Whyte and Parker collide for the WBC Silver and WBO International Heavyweight crowns this Saturday at The O2 in London, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

‘The Body Snatcher’ is on the cusp of World title action after destroying Lucas Browne with a devastating sixth round KO in London in March to defend the WBC Silver title and number one ranking he’d landed by beating Robert Helenius in Cardiff in October.

Parker is back in the UK after fighting in the Welsh capital in an historic unification battle with Anthony Joshua in March, with Whyte’s old foe handing a first career defeat for the New Zealand star on points.

“This is a hugely important clash for the Heavyweight division that has captured the imagination of the public,” said Promoter Eddie Hearn.

“Dillian Whyte’s career is on a ferocious upward curve right now and his popularity is continuing to grow.

“Dillian’s brutal KO of Australian Lucas Browne at The O2 in March underlined that prowess at the top level and now another visitor from down under is here to try to halt Dillian’s rise to the top.

“Joseph Parker is a softly spoken and likeable man – but make no mistake that in the ring, he’s all business and has bad intentions for Dillian – this is a real 50-50 contest and I’ve no doubt that the winner will be in World title action very soon.”

https://www.boxingnews24.com/2018/07/whyte-vs-parker-sells-out-the-o2/

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