EDWARDS MEETS CAMPOS IN WORLD TITLE TRIPLE-HEADER IN LONDON

Sunny Edwards will defend his IBF World Flyweight title against Andres Campos at the OVO Arena Wembley, London on Saturday June 10 live worldwide on DAZN – and topping a blockbuster triple-header of World title action with Nina Hughes defending her WBA Bantamweight crown against Shannon Courtenay and Cherneka Johnson defending her IBF Super-Bantamweight strap against Ellie Scotney.
 
Edwards (19-0 4 KOs) makes his Matchroom debut in the capital having penned a promotional deal with Eddie Hearn in March, and the unbeaten Sheffield-based slickster makes his fourth defence of the IBF strap he landed in April 2021 against Moruti Mthalane in London.
 
‘Showtime’ is gunning for unification clashes in the second half of the year and having seen off challenges from Felix Alvarado, Muhammad Waseem and Jayson Mama, he welcomes unbeaten Chilean Campos to his homeland. Campos (15-0 4 KOs), ranked at seven in the IBF rankings, has held the WBO Latino Flyweight strap since March 2020 and the 26 year old, who has called Edwards out before, landed the 15th win of his career in January and fourth inside the distance – and now lands the World title shot he’s been craving.
 
“Campos has been calling for a fight with me for a couple years now since I’ve been champion which is strange to me,” said Edwards. “So, now I’m gonna cook him like sweet chilli and send him back packing with his tail between his legs, the little muppet!”
 
An all-British World title clash sees WBA Bantamweight ruler Hughes (5-0 2 KOs) makes the first defence of her title against former title holder Courtenay (8-2 3 KOs). Hughes landed the title in Dubai in November against Jamie Mitchell, and the late-bloomer from Essex will face a hungry Courtenay in London as the Watford star aims to regain the title she lost on the scales before dropping a majority decision to Mitchell in Liverpool in October 2021 having beaten Ebanie Bridges to win the belt in London six months earlier.
 
The third World title bout on the bill pits Australian IBF Super-Bantamweight champion Johnson against unbeaten Briton Scotney. Johnson (15-1 6 KOs) got her hands on the vacant title on her home patch in Melbourne 12 months ago against Melissa Esquivel and then bravely coped with a brutal cut in the second round of her first defence against fellow Aussie Susie Ramadan as they served up a classic at the Rod Laver Arena in October. Scotney (6-0) lands her first World title shot against Johnson, and the Catford star, will fight at the Wembley venue for the third time in her burgeoning career after landing the European title in her last outing in October.
 
There’s an action-packed undercard supporting the three World title bouts, with some of Matchroom’s brightest talents in crunch clashes.
 
Cruiserweight Cheavon Clarke looks to close in on a British title tilt as he faces David Jamieson in a final eliminator for the British title. Clarke (5-0 4 KOs) got vital rounds under his belt in February in Nottingham in his first ten rounder when Israel Duffus became the first fighter to take him to the final bell, and now the 32 year old meets Jamieson (10-2 7 KOs) to get into pole position for the British strap, and it would lead to a second crack at the title for Jamieson, who met current champion Mikael Lawal for the belt in November.
 
Youssef Khoumari and Reece Bellotti will meet in an eliminator for British Super-Featherweight title. Khoumari (15-1-1 6 KOs) performs on his doorstep in a key battle for the 26 year old to get into range for the Lord Lonsdale belt, and the Wembley talent has bagged a pair of wins since being edged out by Jorge Castaneda in October 2021.
 
Watford’s Bellotti got himself back into winning ways after picking up the Southern Area title last April by stopping Dean Dodge at York Hall having dropped losses to World rated Raymond Ford and Jordan Gill on Matchroom bills previously.
 
The ‘Romford Bull’ Johnny Fisher (8-0 7 KOs) will bring his Bull Army to Wembley for the third time as the 24 year old Heavyweight fights for the ninth time in the pros, Anthony Joshua-managed Shannon Ryan (4-0) returns to the venue of her March 2022 debut to continue her pro journey, and rising starlets George Liddard(2-0 2 KOs) and Muhammad Ali (1-0) feature on Before the Bell. 
 
“What a night we have in store on June 10 in London,” said Hearn. “Sunny headlines in his first fight with us and with those massive unification fights on the horizon, he’ll be looking to shine against Andres, who can upset the odds in his first World title fight.
 
“All-British World title fights always have that extra bit of spice, and I expect Nina and Shannon to deliver fireworks, and the same applies to the battle between Cherneka and Ellie, a fight that will be high in drama and skill.
 
“Chev and Youssef will have their title credentials tested in important battles with David and Reece, Johnny’s incredible support will be out in force again and it’s a great platform for Shannon, George and Muhammad to strut their stuff – June 10 is another night of must-see action live on DAZN.”

Ticket details will be released soon.




Female boxing pioneer Maureen Shea seeks justice after being passed over for world title fight

NEW YORK — The recent announcement that Cherneka Johnson will defend her International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior featherweight title against Ellie Scotney has left the team of Maureen Shea perplexed and looking for answers.

Shea (30-2-1, 13 knockouts), rated no. 2 by the IBF, and Scotney, rated no. 1, had been ordered by the IBF on February 7 to face off in an interim title fight, which Scotney’s promoter Matchroom Boxing proposed for April 29 in Sheffield, England. Johnson suffered a major head gash during her most recent title defense against Susie Ramadan in October and was ruled unlikely to be ready to make a mandatory defense until at least June.

Shea and manager Luigi Olcese reached an agreement with Matchroom for the interim title fight. Shea’s team signed and returned the contracts to Matchroom on February 18, but the contracts were never executed by Matchroom and returned to the IBF before the deadline.

Now Shea is seeking justice after being pushed aside for a title opportunity that she has waited a long time for.

“This is bad for every female boxer out there. The IBF needs to step in. Matchroom did not negotiate in good faith or intend to make this fight. Matchroom’s economics should not dictate the opportunities to the sanctioning bodies,” said Shea, a native of The Bronx, N.Y. who now resides in Delray Beach, Fla.

As it stands, Johnson (15-1, 6 KOs) is expected to make her second defense of the belt against Scotney (6-0) on May 20 at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Shea, who is also half Irish, believes she should be next in line at the winner after being unfairly skipped over.

“Maureen should get an immediate shot at whoever wins this fight. We should get that in writing because we negotiated in good faith. We could have moved in a different direction but we didn’t. We passed over an opportunity to stay busy for this,” said Olcese. “This is bigger than Maureen Shea because it happened to her in this instance, but it’s happening to other females as well.”

Shea, a pioneer of the sport, is a former WBC interim featherweight champion who has been unbeaten for the past 14 years.

She last fought in May of 2022, outpointing veteran Calista Salgado in Queens, N.Y.