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I’ve been around the business of boxing for a very long time now and, as such, have attended personally and viewed more shows on TV than I care to remember. So I think I am pretty well placed to judge on the broadcast presentation of a promotion and, I have to say, I believe the quality of BT Sport’s production of our Manchester show on Saturday was first class.
The launch show of our groundbreaking partnership with BT Sport went off with a bang on Saturday night in Manchester, with the most telling shots fired by the two Liams in a much-anticipated fight that didn’t disappoint. It was the classic encounter we all expected it to be, with the only downside being the premature ending due to the open gash on the eyelid of Williams.
I have promoted hundreds of major shows over the years and, on paper, I think tonight’s Manchester bill is up there with the best of them. You know you are in for a good night when the chief support captures just as many, if not more, headlines than the main event. And you can be sure we have got a classic in store when Liam Smith and Liam Williams get to settle a domestic at the Manchester Arena.
The owner of currently the longest unbeaten record in British boxing for an active fighter has every incentive to extend this sequence when he faces his toughest test yet on Saturday. Terry ‘Turbo’ Flanagan hasn’t been overly troubled during his innings so far of 32 not out in a knock that includes five world title contests.
In my opinion, based on my multiple decades in the game, fans at the Manchester Arena on April 8 – along with viewers on BoxNation and BT Sport – are about to witness in action one of the finest arrays of young talent ever assembled on a single card for many years. I am not just spouting the idle, ill-informed hype that British boxing fans must be becoming weary of hearing by now. This bill is a genuine blockbuster and I will be mightily surprised if a good number of the fights don’t catch fire and turn into ring classics.
We last week set the ball rolling for our Leicester promotion on April 22 and I saw it remarked on social media that it is a card that ‘covers all the bases’. Well, looking at it, it is a show with something for nearly everyone, whatever your fistic preference. Following our inaugural BoxNation/BT Sport blockbuster in Manchester on Saturday week this bumper card features a world, British, English and also a Midlands Area title – so there aren’t too many missing from the championship jigsaw. And there might well be one or two surprises to be added on yet.
Much as it was a scrap we were extremely keen to put on for the British fight fans, it looks like the Manchester lightweight derby between Terry Flanagan and Anthony Crolla has gone by the board – for now, at least. Twice we have tried to tempt Crolla to the table with offers to fight his city rival in a fight which would have resonated far beyond the Manchester boundaries, but both times he opted for the challenge of attempting to overthrow the Venezuelan stylist Jorge Linares.
The eagle-eyed among boxing fans quickly cottoned onto the fact that Liam Smith took part in a little sharpener in Barcelona at the weekend. It turned out to be a shrewd move by Liam, who hasn’t seen action since losing his WBO world title to Canelo Alvarez in September. Even then he wasn’t operating at full throttle because his training was so severely disrupted by a cut sustained during preparations.
Once again, BoxNation delivered a tasty fistic treat over the weekend – a prelude to the bonanza to come when our exciting union with BT kicks in with the blockbuster Manchester bill on April 8. And again boxing people were largely divided by the outcome of a big fight where the three wise men at ringside were called upon to determine the winner. The match-up between the formidable Kazak Gennady Golovkin and the heavy-handed Daniel Jacobs was more absorbing than explosive but, but the Brooklyn banger was clearly boxing to orders and was mostly obedient in sticking to the script.
Gennady Golovkin is unbeaten in 36 fights, winning 33 by knockout. Tonight he faces his toughest test yet when he looks for his 37th straight win as a professional in his WBC, WBA, IBO and IBF title defence against American Daniel Jacobs.