Ultimate Boxxer III takes place on May 10th, at the O2 Indigo, live on BT Sport. It’s middleweight time and there’s an exciting field of contenders bidding for their share of £50,000… and a brand new golden dressing gown! Let’s get into it – short and snappy style.
It’s Game Time!
Joe Hurn:
Hurn is the second oldest competitor in this tournament at 33 years old and the Clacton-man has been a professional since 2015. Having initially made a flying start with five fights in his opening year – at super welterweight – his career has been stop-start since with just two fights in the last 18 months. The former of those two, against Sonny Whiting, was his first adventure up at middleweight and he secured a fourth round knockout. Six of his ten wins have come via knockout and he’s had one draw, as a professional. In the first round he’ll face Grant Dennis – the most experienced boxer in the bracket.
If he was a board game, he’d be – ‘Shh, don’t wake dad’, fast-paced and explosive action but one wrong move puts you back to square one!
Grant Dennis:
Josh Groombridge:
Sean Phillips:
Groombridge’s opponent in the first round, Sean Phillips enters the tournament having flown completely under the radar. The 22 year old has been developing on the small hall scene of London, taking part on shows promoted by Mo Prior, Mickey Helliet and Andy Ayling, since July 2017. Six fights as a professional have seen him record five victories, being held to a draw by Anthony Fox. Joint tallest in the field, he stands at 6’1” and is a fighter who looks to control the rounds. I’ve seen him twice and he’s always looked comfortably in cruise control but we’ve yet to see how he fares with a fighter throwing back at him. A very talented fighter with potential to upset the odds but perhaps not the right format for him.
Board game – ‘Guess Who?’, felt bad picking this one but Phillips is the least known and, actually, Guess Who is a game that takes time to appreciate the nuances of – much like Phillips!
Derrick Osaze:
Tey Lynn-Jones:
Seen by some as the pre-tournament favourite, Tey has garnered the most recent success in the form of the Southern Area title. An injury forced him to push back a contest with Linus Udofia before he vacated the title earlier this year. The 24 year old bounced back well from the only loss of his career, against Nicky Jenman, and looked more mature in subsequent bouts with a desire not to rush anything. Regressing in rounds may feel odd given his last two were scheduled for ten so it’ll be interesting to see what approach he takes. He’ll fight Osaze in the first round.
Board game – ‘Snakes and Ladders’, rolling the dice and hoping he’ll climb the ladder but there’ll be a lot of slippery snakes to be wary of.
Kaan Hawes:
Kieron Conway: