Lewis Crocker faces Louis Greene for the vacant WBO European Welterweight title at the Production Park Studios in Wakefield on Wednesday.
Crocker, (11-0, 6 KOs) who challenges for his first professional title was a solid amateur and won seven all-Ireland titles as a junior before deciding to turn professional in March 2017.
The Belfast native has made gradual steps up in recent times, and his last fight saw his biggest test to date, and he passed with flying colours in an eight round points win against former British title challenger, John Thain, back in February.
Greene (12-1, 7 KOs) will provide a stern test for Crocker, 23, who is scheduled for ten rounds for the first time in his career.
‘The Medway Mauler’ is a former Southern Area champion, and no stranger to going this distance, having completed ten rounds twice in his professional career thus far.
The 28-year-old claimed the Southern Area belt by a single point in September 2017 in an impressive win over Freddy Kiwitt at York Hall.
Greene defended once before challenging the talented Larry Ekundayo for the IBF European strap in December 2018, and was widely defeated on the scorecards in his only defeat.
He has bounced back with three straight wins, including an impressive second round stoppage on the road in Poland against the then 18-0 Lukasz Wierzbicki.
He last appeared in November 2019 at York Hall, a fifth round win over Berman Sanchez who retired due to a cut.
Crocker has promised a big performance, telling Belfast Live: “I’ve always wanted to fight for a title, and you can definitely guarantee that there will be fireworks on August 26th.
“Louis Greene is a solid opponent, has fought at a higher level than me, and is ranked higher than me, so I’m expecting my toughest fight to date”.
Greene told MTK Global “Crocker’s team will be extremely confident, and they’ll see me as the underdog, but even when I fought the likes of Kiwitt, Gilespie and Wierzbicki, I was expected to come unstuck in those fights and I won”
Prediction: Crocker looks a talent, but this will be a stiff test for him against Greene, who has some decent wins on his slate. I think Crocker can take the early rounds, but Greene will still be in the argument down the stretch. The tentative pick is for the Irishman to take a tight points victory.
The undercard is headed by the return of talented British and Commonwealth Bantamweight champion, Lee McGregor.
The Edinburgh man’s belts are not on the line, as he takes on Londoner Ryan Walker (11-1, 2 KOs) at Super Bantamweight over ten.
McGregor (8-0, 6 KOs) had a career best win in his last outing, as he defeated Scottish rival Kash Farooq via a tight and controversial split decision in November 2019.
The 23-year-old is being fast tracked for big things, and will look to shake off rust and put on a dominant display against Walker, who has only been defeated once, inside a round in a November 2018 challenge for the English title against Michael Ramabeletsa.
He has won three straight since, picking up the Southern Area belt last time out in a points win against Piotr Mirga.
Prediction: McGregor can stop Walker around halfway here.
There is a superb looking ten rounder at Welterweight, which doubles as a British title eliminator.
Darren Tetley (20-0, 9 KOs) meets Liam Taylor (21-1-1, 10 KOs) for the right to a crack at British and Commonwealth champion Chris Jenkins.
Taylor will consider himself unfortunate to not be the champion right now, as he had Jenkins down in the second round of their meeting in Birmingham in November last year, but was cruelly robbed, with Jenkins badly cut and the fight declared a technical draw after four rounds.
Unbeaten Bradford man, Tetley’s career has stalled slightly since a WBO European title win in 2018, but the Bradford man is unbeaten in twenty.
Prediction: The pick is for Taylor to dictate, and he can halt Tetley in the later stages.
Unbeaten Irish Super-Lightweight Gary Cully (10-0, 5 KOs) takes on the experienced Welshman, Craig Woodruff (10-5, 4 KOs) over eight.
Fearghus Quinn makes his debut in a six rounder at Middleweight against Robbie Chapman (6-3) and there’s a debut for Belfast’s James McGivern against Jamie Quinn (7-102-2) at Lightweight.
