At the top of a Boxxer promoted show at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton this Saturday, Adam Azim attempts to win his first big belt, as he faces European super lightweight champion Franck Petitjean.
Sky Sports televise Azim vs Petitjean live in the UK.
Azim (9-0, 6KOs) built quite the early-career reputation for himself following a string of early highlight-reel knockout wins, but a run of six straight wins inside three rounds came to an end in February, where he dropped Santos Reyes in round two on the way to a wide win on the cards.
Azim then looked laboured in another wide points win in his last contest, a ten round near-shoutout against Aram Faniian in Manchester.
He will hope to look spectacular once more this weekend, with Frenchman Petitjean (24-6-3, 6KOs) standing in the Slough man’s way. The 35-year-old has had a long, hard career, but finally picked up the European title after failing in Denmark to do so over a year earlier. Petitjean lost to Enoch Poulsen in Copenhagen in April 2022, but then vacated, and Petitjean took a majority verdict against Samuel Molina in June to snare the belt.
Prediction: This looks a perfect contest for Azim to look his flashy, devastating self, and I favour him to become the new champion with a ruthless stoppage within the first four frames.
Richard Riakporhe (16-0, 12KOs) shakes off the rust in what he hopes will be a 2024 that begins with a world title shot, and the cruiserweight will do well to stop Dylan Bregeon (13-4-1, 3KOs) in their eight rounder, with the Frenchman having only been stopped once, and having been the distance with Chris Billam-Smith, and Isaac Chamberlain.
Another European title clash heads the undercard, and it’s an intriguing one.
Tyler Denny (17-2-3, 0KOs) is finally getting the chances that he deserves after a string of wins in the away corner. After defeating River Wilson-Bent in a rematch in June last year, Denny has snapped the unbeaten runs of Bradley Rea and Brad Pauls, and in his most recent outing, the Rowley Regis native took a split decision against Macaulay McGowan.
He now gets a shot at the European middleweight title against Matteo Signani (32-6-3, 12KOs). The Italian is seasoned, and has won this title three times. He lost the belt to Anderson Prestot on a technical decision after five rounds in June last year, but regained it in an immediate rematch five months later, stopping Prestot in seven.
Prediction: If Denny can keep his superb work-rate up in this one, he has an excellent chance, and on home soil, he can take a close win on the cards.
After a spell as British and Commonwealth champion at super bantamweight, a pair of losses to Jason Cunningham and Ionut Baluta have seen Brad Foster (15-2-2, 5KOs) fall down the pecking order. ‘The Blade’ now campaigns at featherweight, and he may need his experience to take a points win against unbeaten Welshman Rhys Edwards (14-0, 4KOs), a man who is yet to go past six rounds. This one is set for ten.
