THE EUROPEAN LIGHT heavyweight champion Bradley Rea has signed promotional terms with Frank Warren’s Queensberry and DAZN. The 27-year-old won his EBU belt via a unanimous decision over Shakan Pitters at the end of June after previously suffering a series of misfortunes with opponents dropping out at short notice. Rea, known as ‘The Sting’, jumped up two weights – largely campaigning at middleweight since making his debut in 2018 – following his English title points defeat to Tyler Denny in late 2022. While awaiting a meaningful opportunity, the Manchester man recorded five straight stoppage victories, with only one of them making it into the third round. Now, with the currency of his European title and the backing of Queensberry, Rea will be seeking to test himself at the highest level. “I am excited because I feel like I am finally at the stage I belong at,” said Rea. “I’ve been wanting to be on these big shows, big platforms and in fights against big names. “I feel like Frank and Queensberry can deliver that for me. So, I am excited about the future, definitely. This is the place to be, especially for the light heavyweights. I want to be in the big fights against the best names, and this is part of the reason why I was so eager to sign with Frank. “He can deliver the big fights, and he can deliver the big names.” “Brad is fully deserving of this opportunity to shine on a major platform in DAZN,” said promoter Frank Warren. “I greatly admire the way he stuck at it and kept himself ready when nothing really was happening for him, through no fault of his own. “Sometimes it takes a little while for fighters to find their optimum weight and Brad is clearly now a force at light heavyweight, emphasised by his recent European title success. “The light heavyweight division is booming with so much talent and great matches to be made. Brad will now be part of this, and I am looking forward to getting him going.”

London, England – April 2,2025 – In a sensational last-minute twist, Manchester’s Bradley Rea (20-1, 10 KO’s) is stepping up on three days’ notice to challenge reigning European light-heavyweight champion Daniel ‘Blenda’ Dos Santos (22-1, 10 KO’s) in the headline bout of the GBM boxing event airing live on DAZN this Friday, April 4th from York Hall in London. 

Rea has seized his chance after Shakan Pitters was forced to withdraw due to injury on Tuesday. Pitters may require surgery for the injury, which meant his long-awaited showdown with Dos Santos could not be moved to a future GBM card. 

Manchester man Rea is nicknamed ‘The Sting’ for good reason. He exploded onto the radar of British boxing fans in 2021 when he joined the Sky Sports stable with a TKO of Lee Cutler, followed soon afterwards by a first-round stoppage of Craig McCarthy.

Having lost a close decision to Tyler Denny when challenging for the English middleweight championship, Rea – who stands 6’4” – made the decision to step up to light-heavyweight and stop making the brutal weight cuts he needed to compete at middleweight. He’s since gone 6-0, with five of those wins by stoppage.

“I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this. Nobody wants to fight me, I’m too much of a risk, so I always keep myself fit and ready because I knew an opportunity like this would come. This is a very winnable fight for me and what most excites me about winning the European title is that people then have to fight me, they can’t avoid me like they have been doing,” says Rea.

“So I had no hesitation in stepping up on short notice. I feel like headlining on DAZN for GBM puts me right back where I feel like I belong and I am more than willing to roll the dice for an opportunity like this one.”

GBM CEO Izzy Asif saluted Rea’s readiness for battle. “I tell guys all the time – stay ready. You don’t know when a big opportunity will suddenly land on you out of the blue. This is one of those moments and Bradley Rea was ready to answer the call. He’s fighting fit, he’s ready to go, he’s got a great pedigree and he’s got heavy hands. This is going to be a very, very hard-fought fight on Friday night on DAZN and I am very excited to be ringside for it.”

Friday night’s GBM: Once Upon A Time In London card is now as follows:

EBU Light-Heavyweight Championship – 12 x 3

Daniel Dos Santos vs. Bradley Rea

IBF European Super-Lightweight Championship – 10 x 3

Tiernan Bradley vs. Ben Crocker

British & Commonwealth Super-Flyweight Championship – 10 x 2

Emma Dolan vs. Lauren Parker

Welterweight Contest – 8 x 3

Kieran Molloy vs. Ricardo Crepaldi

Heavyweight Contest 6 x 3

Hughie Fury vs. Dan Garber

Light-Heavyweight Contest 6 x 3

Gradus Kraus V Tony Amouaku

Super Lightweight Contest 6 x 2

Lilie Winch V Valgerdur Goodsteinsdottir