Coventry, UK (2 November 2021) Birmingham star Shakan Pitters will be walked into the ring by none other than Grime sensation Jaykae, next Saturday.
Pitters headlines the Hennessy Sports multi-title show at the Coventry Skydome Arena on November 13, when he faces Leeds puncher Reece Cartwright, for the Vacant WBC International Light-Heavyweight title, live and free on Channel 5.
Also in title action will be Coventry sensation River Wilson-Bent’s when he challenges for the Vacant English Middleweight title against Rowley Regis rival Tyler Denny in a fiery Midlands derby and undefeated Irish Middleweight ace Aaron McKenna challenging for his first title.
‘Big Shak’ knows a win will smash him into the top 15 in the world and with the renowned Jaykae recently collaborating with Ed Sheeran, the long-time Birmingham friends are ready to put on another special show.
“We grew up in more or less the same area, Small Heath, so we’ve basically seen each other grow up,” said Pitters, the former British and Commonwealth champion.
“He’s doing his music, I’m doing my boxing and it’s obviously brought us even closer together. It was always going to happen, it was just getting the timing right. This is it.
“Jaykae is a massive star that represents Birmingham. Everyone knows who he is and just how good he is. The ring walk and my fight are going to be great for all the fans, not just those in the Skydome, but everyone watching it live on Channel 5.
“He will get them going and electrify the crowd, then it will be over to me to put on an electric performance. It will be explosive.
“Jaykae will drop a banger, then I will drop and bang out Reece Cartwright.”
Jaykae, whose real name is Janum Khan, has been blowing up the scene for a while now and has played at all the country’s leading festivals like Glastonbury, Reading and Creamfields, and has appeared on stage with Drake and supported Stormzy and Skepta.
He is about to team up again with Mick Skinner and The Streets, the ground-breaking hip-hop group from Birmingham and was one of the local stars that performed alongside the likes of AJ Tracey, Lady Leshurr and Aitch at the BBC 1Xtra show at the Arena Birmingham in 2019.
Pitters was in the crowd that night and not only hopes to have Jaykae walk him into the ring again once he has taken care of Cartwright next Saturday but would love to see more grime stars from the second city get involved.
“I hope this is the start of something,” he said.
“I like to support my city and behind the scenes I do a lot with the schools in Birmingham and a few charities as well, so I would love to work more with the brilliant music stars we’ve got.
“I’d love to do it again with Jaykae, maybe Mista, maybe M1llionz… There are so many. The best artists in Birmingham walking in with me would be brilliant.”
Pitters is never short of a few words in the build-up to his fights but has confirmed he will not be joining Jaykae on the mic.
They are “still discussing” which one of the star’s biggest songs will see him in, but the big punching light-heavyweight is happy to let his friend get the Skydome rocking.
“I’ve tried a bit of freestyle rapping when I’ve been on holiday with my mates, but I am not really about that,” he said.
“Jaykae always sends out a positive message for Birmingham so I will leave the words to him. I’ll just let my fists do the talking.”
Shakan Pitters v Reece Cartwright for the Vacant WBC International Light-Heavyweight Championship headlines the triple-title card that includes a fiery midlands derby between Coventry hot-shot River Wilson-Bent against Rowley Regis rival Tyler Denny for the Vacant English Middleweight Championship. Red hot Irish middleweight sensation Aaron ‘The Silencer’ McKenna will challenge for his first championship title. Aaron’s joins older brother Stevie ‘The Hitman’ McKenna who is lighting up the welterweight division with his dynamic and KO performances. The rest of the Hennessy All Stars team will be out in full force starting with welterweight ace Kaisee Benjamin, Birmingham super-middleweight Idris Virgo; Sevenoaks highly talented super-welterweight Michael Hennessy Jr.; undefeated County Donegal middleweight starlet Brett McGinty; unbeaten Brighton heavyweight destroyer Tommy Welch and two new additions to the card, Leamington Spa lightweight Danny Quarter and Chelmsley Wood lightweight Scott Melvin, both in separate four round contests.
Presented by Hennessy Sports in association with William Hill, Infinitum, Numan and Everlast, tickets are priced at £45, £55, £90 and £120 and are available from https://iceaccount.co.uk/wbc-championship-boxing-info
For further information go to www.hennessysports.com or social media: Facebook @HennessySports, Twitter @HennessySports and Instagram @hennessysports
