HEAVYWEIGHTS AND HEADLINERS: A MASSIVE SATURDAY NIGHT FOR BRITISH BOXING
British boxing returns to its domestic best this weekend — albeit on one night with two different shows — as Olympic bronze medallist Frazer Clarke looks to become the British heavyweight champion at the first time of asking, whilst Clarke’s Tokyo Olympics teammate and silver medallist Ben Whittaker makes his Matchroom Boxing debut in a tough test against solid opposition.
Two fight nights in one evening is by no means ideal, but with two rock-solid main events, it gives us twice as much to look forward to.
First off to Birmingham, where the charismatic and ridiculously talented Ben Whittaker looks to get his Matchroom Boxing career off to the perfect start against Benjamin Gavazi.
A silver medallist in Tokyo, Whittaker has long been viewed as a future world champion by many on the amateur circuit.
A man who likes to entertain inside and outside of the ring with his flamboyant style, his antics have divided opinion among boxing fans. But one thing he has managed is to get people tuning in to watch his fights — whether for the right or wrong reasons.
Now 8-0 with five stoppages, he has made relatively light work of opposition that was, frankly, a long way below his level.
In his ninth fight, he could only manage a technical draw against Liam Cameron after picking up an injury when both fighters fell out of the ring.
Whittaker, rightly or wrongly, received plenty of criticism off the back of that, so six months later he decided to silence the doubters in a rematch with Cameron — and silence them he did.
A spiteful and serious performance from Whittaker, something fans aren’t accustomed to seeing, saw him run through Cameron with a second-round stoppage.
Statement made.
After teaming up with Matchroom Boxing following that victory, he now looks to take a step closer to cracking the world top 10 when he faces the tough German, Benjamin Gavazi.
A relatively unknown quantity, Gavazi’s 20-fight career so far has been completely different to Whittaker’s in terms of media attention.
He’s picked up 19 wins and one defeat in those 20 fights, with 13 of those wins coming by stoppage — so it’s clear he can whack a bit.
The fact he’s so unknown that only two of his 20 fights appear on YouTube makes this a tougher assignment than it may seem for Whittaker.
We believe Whittaker is a special talent and a future superstar, so he should have more than enough to get past Gavazi comfortably — but he cannot afford to be complacent.
He needs to stick to the fundamentals, stay patient, and avoid recklessness. This is a learning fight and one he’ll take plenty from.
An interesting fact about these two is that between them they average just over four rounds per fight, so with the win market heavily favouring Whittaker, it might be worth looking deeper into the odds to find value.
You can find all the odds for this fight over on our partner Tenex Casino’s website HERE.
If that main event wasn’t enough, the chief support is a rematch of one of the most controversial domestic clashes of 2024: Cameron Vuong vs Gavin Gwynne II.
Just as much a battle of the managers — Sam Jones vs Lee Eaton — these two were involved in a proper back-and-forth almost a year ago to the day.
Many believe Gwynne’s relentless pressure was enough to secure him the decision, but the judges didn’t agree, awarding Vuong a unanimous points win.
Since then, both men have picked up wins, and we expect this to be a similar contest to the first.
With Gwynne, you know what you’re getting: non-stop pressure until the final bell.
With Vuong, it’s clear he has all the tools to be a top pro, but what he lacked in the first fight was experience at this level. He has that now, and having teamed up with Ben Davison, we expect to see an improved performance from him this weekend.
Gwynne is the older man by twelve years, and age could play a factor, but he used that to his advantage in the first fight and will look to do the same again — potentially taking the result out of the judges’ hands this time.
It’ll be all-action from the opening bell. Whether Vuong has developed enough to win more convincingly this time remains to be seen, but it’s certainly one to get excited about.
Also on the undercard are a couple of strong Midlands Area title fights as Aaron Bowen looks to move to 8-0 and pick up his first professional title against Tom Cowling, whilst super-featherweight sensation Ibraheem Sulaimaan faces Nico Ogbeide.
Zelfa Barrett returns against the durable Liam Dillon, and former UFC star 'Meatball' Molly McCann fights as a professional boxer for the second time against Ebonie Cotton. Jamie Moore-trained Alfie Middlemiss is also back in action for the fifth time since his pro debut less than a year ago.
Now over to Derby, where it’s all about the big boys as Frazer Clarke and Jeamie Tshikeva face off for the British heavyweight title.
Two men with similar numbers of fights but contrasting journeys, their paths have led them here to headline the first show of Boxxer’s new partnership with the BBC.
A bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, Clarke was a standout amateur with victories over Guido Vianello, Lenier Pero, Tony Yoka and two-time Olympic gold medallist Bakhodir Jalolov.
His professional career began perfectly with eight straight wins before he was controversially denied British and Commonwealth honours in his ninth fight when he drew with now-WBO world champion Fabio Wardley.
He then suffered the first defeat of his professional career in the rematch but returned to winning ways in April, obliterating Ebenezer Tetteh in one round.
A decent amateur himself, Tshikeva’s professional career has been full of ups and downs.
Undefeated in his first five fights, he suffered a shock defeat to Brazilian Igor Macedo in 2023. He bounced back with three wins before suffering his second stoppage defeat — in controversial circumstances — for the British title against David Adeleye.
After the referee appeared to call for a break, TKV was caught with a huge left hook that sent him crashing to the canvas. He never fully recovered, and following another knockdown the referee waved it off.
A harsh defeat, considering Tshikeva was well up and producing a career-best performance.
On Saturday night he’ll be looking to right those wrongs.
So, how does this fight go?
Style-wise, they are very similar.
Both have solid amateur pedigree and both can certainly whack with either hand.
TKV, despite the loss, will have taken confidence from his showing against Adeleye — but here he’ll likely need a different approach.
Big Fraze has the size advantage and will look to use it by keeping Tshikeva on the end of that long boomerang jab.
Clarke works the body extremely well for such a big man, and TKV must be wary of that. If Clarke is to win, he’ll need to use his vast amateur experience to pick his moments, mix it up inside, and slow Tshikeva’s feet with smart work to the chest and midriff.
If TKV is to win, he must feint his way in — be twitchy, offset Clarke’s jab, find rhythm with his own jab, and show Clarke a style he hasn’t seen before. Not an easy task.
What makes the fight even more exciting is that both men have been hurt badly in their pro careers, so both know they can hurt the other.
There’s real needle between them, and if the game plans go out the window and they let the leather fly, it could be a fight-of-the-year contender.
You rarely see a bad British title fight, especially for a vacant belt — so do not blink if you’re tuning in to this one.
Two fight nights on one night — it’ll likely be a TV-and-laptop job — but either way, we’re in for an exciting night of boxing this Saturday.
Don’t forget to head over to our partners Tenex Casino for the latest odds on both main events. Check them out HERE.