At this week’s introductory press conference for Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Liam Williams set for December 2, I sat down to speak with Queensberry chief Frank Warren. Here’s what he said, reflecting on the Zhang-Joyce 2 undercard last month and some return timelines for boxers in his stable going forward…
Warren confirms Yarde will return before Christmas
- Two-time world title challenger Anthony Yarde, who has been open about wanting to fight the Joshua Buatsi vs. Dan Azeez winner in 2024, will return once more before the year ends after a quick return win
- Frank Warren reveals Zach Parker’s manager Neil Marsh said his boxer is open to facing Yarde next – as the career super-middleweight told talkSPORT after his TKO7 win vs. Khalid Graidia last month on same bill
- Queensberry chief wants to do Dennis McCann vs. Ionut Baluta rematch, confirms Willy Hutchinson will return on a card TBA in November and expects more big things for surging super-bantamweight Liam Davies
Read below, for my conversation with Frank Warren in midweek on multiple topics. As for the Sheeraz-Williams coverage, stay tuned in the coming weeks for that…
Editor’s note: Since this interview was conducted on Wednesday, it has been announced Wardley-Adeleye will also be for the British title too…
Mosope: What’s the plan for Anthony Yarde, will he box again before Christmas?
Frank Warren: He will, yes. We had a meeting and spoke about it, we’ll meet again next week and hopefully we’ll agree an opponent before announcing it.
MO: He’s been vocal about wanting to fight the Buatsi-Azeez winner, they box next weekend, how do you see the fight going?
FW: I wanna see the Buatsi-Azeez fight, get it out the way and hopefully we can make some genuine progress on getting that fight together.
MO: In terms of Zach Parker, he said after his return… why not me box Yarde?
Both coming off defeats – now shaken the rust off – he produced a decent outing, where do you see him going next? Float between the weights (168-175lbs) or stay at light-heavy going forward?
FW: I don’t know yet, his manager told me he wanted to make the Yarde fight and it’s obviously something we’ll look at and consider, then make a decision.
He wants big fights, to be involved in them – so does Anthony – there are some great fights to be made with all these guys.
Elsewhere on the undercard
MO: Staying at light-heavy, Nottingham’s rising talent Ezra Taylor… talk to me about his performance in what was a step-up opponent for him too.
FW: I thought he did extremely well, didn’t you? He boxed really well, is coming on leaps and bounds and I really like him, there were some really good performances on that show – he was definitely one.
MO: Speaking of good performances, Pierce O’Leary did well too. What’s the plan for him going forward?
FW: I was hoping he’d fight again on this [Sheeraz-Williams] show but he got a cut eye in that Kane Gardner fight and I don’t think he’ll be ready in time so will probably box again at the end of January or early February.
What about Willy, and some tense cruiserweights?
MO: Willy Hutchinson was supposed to be on the card headlined by Ellis Zorro in the end, at York Hall last Friday. What happened?
FW: He’ll fight next month, we’ll announce that show shortly. No problems there!
MO: In terms of Tommy Fletcher and Aloys Junior, there’s been a bit more tension there between those two cruiserweights – had to be kept separate at media day – how long can you keep them apart before eventually matching them together?
FW: I’d like to keep them apart a little while longer, let the public get to see both of them, build up a bit more… they’re both very good fighters, good punchers too. I’d like them to get more experience and when they do, they’ll fight.
We could do it tomorrow, but they’re not going to get well-paid for that. There will ultimately be a loser and at this stage of their careers, it’s too early to rebuild – but sure, I’d like it to top a bill in future.
Liam Davies, Dennis McCann and Wardley-Adeleye
MO: Liam Davies was telling me how much he wanted a big fight recently, he’s got one in an unbeaten Italian [Vincenzo La Femina — 13-0, 7 KOs] now.. what are your thoughts on his progression and looking ahead to next month?
FW: Yeah, Liam’s done everything we’ve asked of him. A tremendous talent, 14 fights and he’s won all these titles – quite a feat he’s done – in style too, self-belief and in a tough fight next month.
If he comes through on Nov. 18, we’ll be looking to get him involved in a fight catapulting him to the top-3 with the sanctioning bodies at world-level.
MO: Dennis McCann told talkSPORT last month he couldn’t sleep properly in the days and weeks after his majority draw against Ionut Baluta.
Some people have said he shouldn’t go straight into a rematch, others don’t think you’ll make it again, maybe it was a bit too soon… what’s the plan there?
FW: Dennis didn’t cope with the heat, both had to experience that of course, I think the tide was turning in that fight until the cut and that spurred Baluta on … it was a bad cut, the blood was streaming down his forehead into his eyes, that hampered him and I’d like to see it again. He needs to, so yeah something to revisit.
MO: Lastly, can you preview Fabio Wardley (c) vs. David Adeleye on the Fury-Ngannou undercard later this month?
FW: It’s on, going to be a cracking fight. There’s no love lost between them – I don’t know why, but there you go – I’m a bit sad about that but it’s going to be fireworks.
A lot on the line: Commonwealth, European titles and hopefully the British too. You’ve got to believe, we’re working behind-the-scenes to ensure that’s the case.
Sheeraz-Williams card, is as follows
December 2, from London’s Copper Box Arena
Hamzah Sheeraz (c) vs. Liam Williams for WBC Silver middleweight title
Gavin Gwynne vs. Emiliano Marsili for vacant EBU European lightweight title
Sam Noakes vs. TBA for Noakes’ WBC International silver lightweight belt
Raven Chapman vs. TBC for 29-year-old’s WBC Intl featherweight strap
6-0 German prospect Oronzo Birardi will make his UK debut in an eight-rounder at cruiserweight
Sonny Ali at light-welterweight and featherweight Umar Khan also scheduled to be in six-round action
Picture source: Getty Images
Mo and Sports 