Following the conclusion of the Matchroom Fight Camp series with a shocking conclusion at Heavyweight, Queensberry Promotions hosts another cracking looking night of action from the BT Sport Studios in Stratford.
Frank Warren has his own Heavyweight hope looking to avoid a banana skin on his path to a big fight later this year.
Daniel Dubois (14-0, KO13) is the man with it all to lose this Saturday night, as he moves towards finally facing domestic rival Joe Joyce in an October showdown.
The highly anticipated clash was set for April, but the COVID-19 outbreak put paid to that.
In the interim, Joyce has warmed up for a rescheduled date with a stoppage win over Michael Wallisch at the end of last month, and this weekend sees Dubois attempt to keep to his side of the bargain.
Originally, ‘DDD’ was set to meet Erik Pfeifer, but the unbeaten German based Russian has been forced to withdraw after being unable to provide sufficient medical documentation in order for him to compete.
In steps Ricardo Snijders (18-1, KO8) and the Dutchman gets a shot at Dubois’ WBO International Heavyweight belt over 12 rounds.
22-year-old Dubois has picked up eight belts so far in a 14 fight career, and has only been the distance a solitary time with, old campaigner, Kevin Johnson taking him ten rounds at the back end of 2018 in a dour points win for Dubois.
Big things are expected of the Peacock Gym product, and he has power in both hands. He has passed each test thus far with flying colours, but hasn’t truly been tested in his just over three years in the paid side of the sport.
Solid wins against former world title challenger Razvan Cojanu (KO2) and domestic rival Nathan Gorman (KO5) have enhanced Daniel’s profile.
But, he has also had his fair share of inferior continental and world opposition, as facile blowout wins against Ebenezer Tetteh (TKO1), and last time out against Kyotaro Fujimoto (KO2) can attest to.
Snijders isn’t likely to pose too big a problem for Dubois this weekend, but the bigger picture will be Joyce, in what should be a great contest if Dubois can come through safely against the man from Heerlen.
26-year-old Snijders has one defeat in a professional career that began in January 2016. He has only ventured outside his homeland once in that time, and that produced his sole reverse in May 2019.
Joel Tambwe Djeko floored Snijders in the tenth on the way to a points defeat in Belgium. Snijders has fought once since, knocking out Istvan Kun in two rounds in September last year.
Prediction: Dubois may take time to re-acclimatise himself to the professional ring, but it shouldn’t take too much time to get going.
Snijders won’t like feeling the power of his opponent, and once Daniel ups the work rate, he should be able to halt the Dutchman comfortably before the halfway mark.
The undercard has a couple of interesting contests, that could go either way.
The IBF International Super-Flyweight title is on the line, as Sunny Edwards (14-0, KO4) puts his belt on the line against the underrated Wolverhampton based Cameroonian Thomas Essomba (10-5, KO4).
‘Showtime’ Edwards has looked impressive in spells, but sometimes can be guilty of losing concentration, demonstrated in him being floored against both Junior Granados and Marcel Braithwaite.
In both cases, Edwards took clear enough points wins, but he should be seriously be tested by former Commonwealth Flyweight champion Essomba.
Thomas gave Lee McGregor a good argument before being stopped in the twelfth and final round, and in his comeback from that defeat, he handed Sean McGoldrick his first career defeat in August 2019 with a ten round points win.
He was last in the ring in December last year, stopping another undefeated fighter, Iskander Kharsan, in three rounds in Kazakhstan.
Edwards will be pressurised in the first half of the contest, but should be able to take over in the second half to score a clear points win.
An intriguing fight at ten stone sees Sam Maxwell (13-0, KO11) defend his WBO European Super-Lightweight title against former European champion, Joe Hughes (17-5-1, KO7).
Maxwell was a top amateur, facing the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko amongst others in his vested days.
The Liverpudlian hasn’t quite caught fire as a pro, and nearly lost his unbeaten record in March 2019, down twice and way behind on the cards before pulling out a last minute knockout of Sabri Sediri in Leicester.
He has learned from that experience with two straight wins since, his last a seventh round stoppage of Connor Parker in November of last year.
Hughes has been in and held his own with some top operators, and has only lost in good company. He is 2-3-1 in his last seven fights though, losing his last two.
He lost in a tight points reverse to Robbie Davies Junior in March last year to lose his European strap, and his last fight came nine months later, when Sandor Martin widely outscored him over in Spain in a challenge for his old belt.
The pick here is for the fresher Maxwell to come through on the cards, but Hughes’ engine and punch output should enable him to give Maxwell a decent argument.
Willy Hutchinson (11-0, KO7) is a prospect to keep an eye on, the Scot was due to face faded former Commonwealth champion, Luke Blackledge (26-9-2, KO9) at Light Heavyweight.
However, the latter is rumoured to have failed a routine brain scan so will no longer feature. Hutchinson’s new opponent is to be announced.
David Adelaye (2-0, KO2) continues his education at Heavyweight, while at Lightweight, Sam Noakes (3-0, KO3) looks to extend his knockout streak.
