Connor Boundy previews this weekend’s action…
East Londoner Kevin Mitchell will headline the first live televised boxing event of 2015 from the O2 arena this Saturday.
The card was originally going to be headlined by heavyweight sensation Anthony Joshua. The 2012 Olympic gold medallist was scheduled to face American Kevin Johnson until an injury forced the 25-year-old to pull out. The card will instead be headlined by lightweight Mitchell who faces Daniel Estrada for the WBC Silver lightweight title, in what is scheduled to be a WBC title eliminator.
Mitchell’s last fight came back in May in an exciting eleventh-round stoppage victory against Ghislain Maduma on the undercard of the rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves.
If the man from Dagenham can get past the battle-tested Mexican this Saturday night then it puts him in line for a shot against current WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares in the summer.
Also on the bill is Islington’s middleweight contender John Ryder who will be up against Billi Godoy in a scheduled 12 round contest for the WBO Intercontinental middleweight title. Ryder impressed in his last outing in October and will hope it continues in his toughest contest since his only loss to current European champion Billy Joe Saunders.
Other fights on the bill involving an exciting domestic dust-up between Tommy Martin and Ricky Boylan for the vacant English light-welterweight title. Tyler Goodjohn comes up against John Wayne Hibbert for the latter’s WBC International title with the winners of both fights being pushed into a showdown later in the year.
Former Team GB star Charlie Edwards will be making his professional debut on the card. Edwards, who competed for England at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, will be fighting at flyweight in the paid ranks. Also on the card is cruiserweight prospect Isaac Chamberlain
The show titled ‘Capital Punishment’ is promoted by Matchroom Sport and will be shown live on Sky Sports.