Terry Flanagan and Martin Gethin will clash for the Vacant British Lightweight Championship at the Phones 4 U Arena in Manchester on Saturday, July 26.
The addition of the potential domestic thriller adds to an already quality packed card headlined by Dereck Chisora’s heavyweight showdown with bitter rival Tyson Fury, also featuring British stars Billy Joe Saunders, Liam Smith, Jack Catterall and Nathan Brough all in action.
The British title was vacated by Derry Mathews, who defeated former title holder Gethin in May in Liverpool, after he picked up an ear injury and was unable to meet his commitment to face Flanagan on the show.
Walsall hero Gethin is thrilled to be fighting for his old title again and has promised to regain it by inflicting the first loss on Flanagan’s record.
“I’m really looking forward to it. To get back in the ring so soon after the close points loss to Mathews with the opportunity to win back my British title and become a two-time champion is fantastic. I’ve kept myself fit and in shape and thankfully it paid off when I got the call to fight Flanagan,” Said Gethin.
“Flanagan’s a good boxer, he’s a busy fighter, but he hasn’t been tested yet. I’m his first big test, lets see how he handles it and what he’s made of,”
“That is my belt, I thought I won the fight with Derry, it was close fight, but I had the workrate and for the last four rounds Mathews was holding. He didn’t deserve to win because you’re meant to tear title from the champion and he didn’t do that. But that’s happened and it’s in the past and now I can get my belt back by beating Flanagan.”
Manchester star Flanagan is undefeated in 24 fights and has been tipped as a future world champion, but says he can cope with the biggest test of his career so far.
“My time has come, I can’t wait,” stormed Flanagan.
“I’ve seen Gethin plenty of times, I really don’t need to keep watching and studying him as he boxes the same each time and even if he did pull a surprise and change his style against me for this fight I’ll still deal with him,”
“He’s a good strong domestic fighter, I need to get past him to show what I can do and what I can go on and achieve. There’s nothing I’ve seen from him that I can’t handle or makes me wary of him, in fact, this will be about if he can keep me off him,”
“By knockout or points, the British title is leaving with me.”
