An intriguing clash is at the head of affairs at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham this Saturday, as Tyler Denny makes a maiden first defence of his European middleweight title against the unbeaten Felix Cash. The card will be televised live on DAZN.
Denny (18-2-3, KO1) has worked his way up the ranks, and has broken out over the last two years. After taking the vacant English belt in a split decision rematch win over River Wilson-Bent in June 2022, he then defended with a clear points win against the unbeaten Bradley Rea , and kicked off 2023 with an assured win on the cards against Brad Pauls. Denny then took a split decision against Macaulay McGowan last May, and rounded off the year with the European title around his waist, scoring the first stoppage win of his career in halting Matteo Signani in Wolverhampton last November.
Conversely, Cash (16-0, KO10) has seen his career stall in recent times, and after stopping Denzel Bentley to add the British title to his Commonwealth belt in April 2021, he has only fought twice more. After a a gruelling points win against Magomed Madiev, where Cash was down twice and deducted a point, he was last seen in a ring in December 2022, taking a win by two points over eight rounds against Celso Neves. Personal problems and a change in trainer from Tony Sims to Adam Booth have explained his long absence.
Prediction: It will be interesting to see the changed made by Cash under Adam Booth, and a resurgent Denny will be a decent test for him. I think after overcoming early resistance, Cash can take over, and come through handily on points.
The talented Lewis Crocker (19-0, KO11) appears on the undercard, and ‘The Croc’ has a decent test over ten rounds against Conah Walker (13-2-1, KO5). Walker upset Cyrus Pattinson via a dominant eighth round retirement win last August, but I feel Crocker can get the job done with a clear points win in this one.
A solid looking clash comes at super flyweight, where Emma Dolan (6-0, KO1) defends her commonwealth title for a second time, and looks to add the vacant British crown against Shannon Ryan (7-0, KO0). Dolan won her title last March, and defended with a wide points win against Nicola Hopewell seven months later, while Ryan went ten rounds for the first time in her last contest, a close win on the cards against Jasmina Zapotoczna in February. This could be a close one, but I lean towards Ryan coming through via tight decision.
Cameron Vuong (4-0, KO3) bides his time ahead of a proposed grudge match against Jordan Flynn, and the lightweight may go the full ten rounds for the first time before defeating former Southern Area champion Jeff Ofori (13-7-2, KO4).
Aqib Fiaz (12-1, KO1) returns after suffering a first loss in a bid for the Commonwealth title in his last outing, and the super featherweight should bank an eight round win on the scorecards against the tough Kane Baker (19-11-2, KO1). The pair met in 2020, where Fiaz won by two points over the same distance.
In six rounders, at flyweight, Hamza Uddin (1-0, KO1) can take a points win against Giulio Commerso (4-1, KO1), and at lightweight, Ibraheem Sulaimaan (3-0, KO2) can do the same against Columbia’s Jesus Gonzalez (3-1, KO0). Muhammad Mustafa Ali (4-0, KO1) should also win over the distance in his super bantamweight meeting with Kelvin Madjid (2-1, KO0).
