Sheffield, England – 19 December 2023 – GBM Sports will launch 2024 with a mega fight card in Sheffield on Friday 9th February at the Canon Medical Arena that will feature red-hot and unbeaten middleweight star Shakiel Thompson; European Super-Bantamweight Champion Thomas Essomba, who’s life story reads like a Hollywood script, and a blistering 50/50 English Super Bantamweight Title showdown between Stevi Levy and Ebonie Jones, all LIVE and FREE on TalkSPORT YouTube Boxing Channel.

GBM Sports Promoter Izzy Asif follows up his phenomenal ‘Clash on the Court’ event last October that officially opened the brand new Canon Medical Arena, the new home to the basketball teams the Sheffield Sharks and Hatters, with high praise from fans and media.

A breakthrough year for GBM Sports saw it secure a multi-fight broadcast agreement with the world’s largest sport radio station talkSPORT to live stream its events on the official YouTube Boxing Channel.

Undefeated Sheffield Middleweight Thompson (10-0-0, 6 KO’s), features on the card via Sky Sports and promoter BOXXER, faces a competitive test against a former European Kick Boxing champion in Gino Kanters.  

The fast rising Sheffield star has amassed an unbeaten ten-fight record with over half coming by stoppage and aims to deliver a powerful performance to demonstrate that he is ready to challenge for belts this year.

Sheffield based Cameroonian, Essomba (12-8-1, 4 KO’s) who made headlines around the world when he and his teammates from the Cameroon boxing team walked out of the athletes’ village at London 2012 and defected.

Just over a decade later and an incredible journey that could by turned into a Hollywood movie, Essomba was crowned European Champion in May when he sensationally dethroned Italian Alessio Lorusso in Monza.

Now calling Sheffield his home after being granted full citizenship in 2020, Essomba will make the first defence of the title on home turf against the tough Frenchman Konki (14-1-0, 1 KO).

Essomba said, “I’m just so happy to be defending my EBU title at home and looking forward to putting on a show for my Sheffield people.  A massive thank you to my brother Sunny Edwards and Chris from RCP Electric who have funded this fight for me and thank you to GBM Sports and Izzy Asif for putting the show on.  After all the messing around from the French team, I’m looking to causing Konki a lot of problems on the night.”

Levy (9-2-0), Norfolk’s first ever female professional boxer, and Portsmouth’s Jones (4-0-1), a former soldier in the Royal Engineers, collide in a real 50/50 battle with the Vacant English Super-Bantamweight title on the line.

A dearth of hot Sheffield talent from the GBM Sports stable will all feature as they continue to build their careers in 2024.

Unbeaten super-featherweight Faraqat ‘Frak’ Ali (8-0-0) defeated Mexican Christian Lopes Flores last time out and is now on the edge of contention to challenge for the first title of his career.

With three out of four opponents stopped early, dynamite punching prospect Nohman Hussein (4-0-0, 3 KO’s), who also works as an NHS Cardiac Arrest Practitioner, continues to raise pulses whenever he fights.

Former Sheffield Sharks basketball star Neptahali Nembhard (1-0-0) made a successful transition to boxing and follows up his pro debut victory when he totally outclassed Vasif Mamedov.

Conisbrough Welterweight Joe Hayden (11-0-0) looks to maintain his winning record as he looks to keep on course for his first title tilt.

Even more Sheffield boxers’ fighting out of the talent laden city feature on the card, starting with cruiserweight talent Sheldon McDonald (7-1-0, 2 KO’s), mentored by local legend Johnny Nelson, who aims to continue his 3-fight winning run with a victory as he targets titles.

Liam Cameron (21-5-0, 8 KO’s) is another boxer on the card with a remarkable life story that could be made into a movie.  The Sheffield favourite made a triumphant return in October by defeating Robbie Connor after five years out of the ring after serving a four year ban following a failed drugs test and alcohol issues.  Conquering his demons, Cameron is now focused on getting himself back into title contention.

Colourful unbeaten super-middleweight Red Johnson (4-0-0) is back to thrill the fans with his own brand of entertainment in and out of the ring.

Another incredible story on the card sees super-welterweight Owen Durnan (1-0-0) who overcame cancer to make his pro-debut with a victory just last month and now have his second fight.

Finally Bree Wright (Burbeary) (4-0-0, 1 KO) has turned her life around after she was close to taking her own life, suffering mental issues and family tragedies only to be inspired by Tyson Fury’s own comeback and now she is an unbeaten pro with an unbeaten record.

Promoter Izzy Asif is thrilled to put this card together and begin 2024 with a bang.  He said, “Boxing is a sport driven by the stories and characters in the sport and you won’t find a fight card with more real life Rocky stories than on this one.  Each one of them has an inspirational story and how they overcame the odds to be on this card.  GBM Sports promote great shows with in-arena entertainment for the fans to creates an electric atmosphere, but primarily it’s the fighters and fights that make it the event.  This is the start of a big 2024 for GBM Sports, our biggest year yet, where we intend to stage eight shows around the UK and really stamp our brand nationally along with our new broadcast partner talkSPORT.  Watch out!”

LONDON, ENGLAND – (April 21, 2023) – Rising star Callum Simpson will take a step to greatness when he returns to the ring on June 10 at London’s iconic York Hall – as Adam Azim headlines in a WBA Continental Super-Lightweight Championship bout with Aram Fanyan.

Barnsley super-middleweight Simpson (11-0, 9 KOs) sensationally ripped up his reputation as the ‘best kept secret in British boxing’ when he emphatically stopped Celso Neves last month in Manchester on his BOXXER debut.

And the prodigal 26-year-old will be intent on creating more headlines when he ventures to the capital for the first time in his career this summer – live, in the UK & Republic of Ireland, on Sky Sports.

Unbeaten prospects Aaron ‘The Silencer’ McKenna (16-0, 8 KOs) and Shakiel ‘Dr Steel’ Thompson (10-0, 6 KOs) meet in a mouth-watering middleweight contest for the vacant WBC International Middleweight Championship.

The road to title contention also leads Frazer ‘Big Fraze’ Clarke (6-0, 5 KO’s) to York Hall for what will also be his first appearance at the fabled British boxing venue. 

Having last week received news that he will be the next mandatory challenger for British heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley, the 2020 Olympic medallist will sharpen his tools in the ring on June 10th ahead of his summer title showdown.

Cruiserweight prospect Viddal Riley (8-0, 5 KO’s) and his antagonist Anees Taj (7-3, 5 KO’s) have some unfinished business to attend to following their February war ending unsatisfactorily in a fourth-round doctor’s stoppage due to a cut above Taj’s eyebrow.

Elsewhere on the card, brother of headliner Adam, welterweight Hassan Azim (6-0, 3 KOs) looks to extend his unbeaten start to life as a professional.

English champion Sam Gilley (15-1, 7 KOs) will be out to light up his native East End after impressing last time out at Ally Pally last November.

The ‘Magic Man’ dropped Sean Robinson in the sixth en route to a unanimous points victory to successfully defend his title

Rhys Edwards (14-0, 4 KOs) produced a breathtaking performance in his win over Brian Phillips in Manchester last month – and the undefeated Welsh super-bantamweight will be back in action on June 10. As will Iranian featherweight Razor Ali (7-0, 1 KO), who wowed at Wembley back in February with his third round stoppage of Hector Avila Lozano.

And the series 8 winner of popular TV series ‘SAS: Who Dares Wins’ Joshua Gustave will be on display too. The Ilford middleweight is 4-0 as a professional with all four victories coming from fights at York Hall. 

This event is presented in association with official partners Everlast and Wow Hydrate.

Tickets are now on sale at BOXXER.com and are expected to sell out fast.

LONDON, ENGLAND – (Tuesday, April 18th) – Adam Azim (8-0, 6 KO’s), British boxing’s brightest prospect, steps up another level for his next outing when he faces IBO International champion Aram Fanyan (22-1, 4 KOs) at the historic York Hall, London on Saturday June 10th.

The bout headlines the BOXXER fight night event, which airs live and exclusively in the UK and Ireland on Sky Sports.

Azim’s astounding amateur career included ten national championships and had him marked from an early age as a potential future great. He has lived up to that expectation thus far, scoring 5 KO wins from 5 fights in his first year as a professional then starting 2023 with a win over the previously-undefeated South American slugger Santos Reyes. 

Having fractured the scaphoid bone in his right wrist en route to the unanimous decision win over Reyes – possibly when he dropped the Nicaraguan in the second round – Azim has elected to take another huge challenge now that he is fully recovered and returning to the fray.

Fanyan has lost just once in 23 professional outings, dropping a decision during a 2019 challenge for the WBC Youth Silver Super Lightweight Championship. Since then, Fanyan has gone on a nine-fight win streak and has begun collecting the kind of titles needed to build a base for eventual world title contention.

In his last outing, Fanyan beat Timo Schwarzkopf to win the IBO International Super Lightweight championship and prior to that he captured the WBO Oriental Super Lightweight championship – a win over the heralded Azim in London would make headlines across the boxing world and would open up bigger title opportunities for him in 2023.

For Azim, this high-risk fight brings the possibility of high rewards, with victory moving him up the WBA rankings from his current #14 spot and also potentially levering him into European title contention.

The road to title contention also leads Frazer ‘Big Fraze’ Clarke (6-0, 5 KO’s) to York Hall for what will also be his first appearance in the iconic British boxing venue. 

Having last week received news that he will be the next mandatory challenger for British heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley, the 2020 Olympic medallist will sharpen his tools in the ring on June 10th ahead of his summer title showdown.

Cruiserweight prospect Viddal Riley (8-0, 5 KO’s) and his antagonist Anees Taj (7-3, 5 KO’s) have some unfinished business to attend to following their February war ending unsatisfactorily in a fourth-round doctor’s stoppage due to a cut above Taj’s eyebrow.

The four rounds they fought in February were a firefight, Taj having raised the temperature with relentless pre-fight verbal barraging of his better-known rival. Having arrived in the ring determined to steal the show – and Riley’s shine – Taj won himself a legion of new fans with his spirited performance and will have new levels of support behind him going into this highly-anticipated rematch.

In another bad-blood encounter confirmed for the card, a war of words which began in Manchester last month will be settled in London in June when unbeaten prospects in Aaron ‘The Silencer’ McKenna (16-0, 8 KOs) and Shakiel ‘Dr Steel’ Thompson (10-0, 6 KOs) meet in a mouth-watering middleweight contest for the WBC International Middleweight Championship.

The two were on the same card last month and exchanged words at the pre-fight press conference, instantly sparking interest in an encounter among Britain’s boxing fanbase. The surely-heated clash takes place next month and is a high-stakes encounter – one will leave the ring as champion, the other with the first loss of his professional career. 

“Numerous British boxing greats have passed through the iconic York Hall on their way to the top and on June 10th it’s Adam Azim’s turn to take his next step to greatness at this storied venue. He’s a risk-taker who takes big steps up with every fight and I think in future we will look back at this fight as a pivotal moment in his career,” said Ben Shalom, BOXXER Founder and CEO. 

“On top of that, I’m excited to see Frazer Clarke make his final preparations ahead of his British title shot later this year and I’m really looking forward to Viddal Riley against Anees Taj and Aaron McKenna against Shakiel Thompson – those are two seriously heated matches which are going to be guaranteed crowd-pleasers.”

Several more HUGE fights will be confirmed later this week with tickets on sale on Friday at BOXXER.com

Pre-register for tickets now at BOXXER.com

This event will be presented in association with official partners Everlast, WOW HYDRATE and Village Hotels.

Josh Warrington retained the IBF Featherweight title with a 12-round split decision over Kid Galahad at The First District Arena in Warrington’s hometown of Leeds, England.

Warrington of Leeds won by scores of 116-113 and 115-112.  Galahad of England took a card 115-113.

Warrington is now 29-0.  Galahad is 26-1.

Zelfa Barrett won a 12-round unanimous decision over Lyon Woodstock in a super featherweight bout.

Barrett won by scores of 118-110 and 117-111 twice and is now 22-1.  Woodstock is 12-2.

JJ Metcalf stopped former world title challenger Jason Welborn in round eight of their scheduled 12-round super welterweight bout.

In round eight, Metcalf was deducted a point for a low blow. He more than made that point up seconds later as he landed a vicious body shot that sent Welborn down for the count at 2:25.

Metcalf is 20-0 with 12 knockouts. Welborn is 24-8.

Shakiel Thompson won a six-round decision Alistair Warren in a super middleweight fight.

Thompson won by a referee score of 59-55, and is now 4-0. Warren is 11-24-5.