Dalton Smith (right) in action against Kaisee Benjamin in the BBBofC British Super Light bout at the AO Arena, Manchester. Issue date: Saturday November 12, 2022. (Photo by Ian Hodgson/PA Images via Getty Images)
Dalton Smith will make the second defense of his British junior welterweight title against Billy Allington on the undercard of Leigh Wood’s highly anticipated WBA featherweight title showdown with Mexico’s Mauricio Lara at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham on Saturday February 18, live worldwide on DAZN (excluding Australia and New Zealand).
The Sheffield star (13-0, 10 KOs) recently put pen to paper on a new multi-fight promotional deal with Eddie Hearn following a stellar 2022 that saw the 25-year-old remain undefeated, and ‘Thunder’ is set to kick off an even busier year against Surrey’s former English Champion Allington (10-1-4) as he looks to win the prestigious British belt outright before moving onto the European scene.
Irish lightweight Gary Cully (15-0, 9 KOs), who also recently extended his promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing, returns to the scene of his impressive stoppage triumph over former world titlist Miguel Vazquez in March last year to take on the USA’s Wilfredo Flores (10-0-1, 5 KOs) ahead of what promises to be a huge year for the ‘The Diva’.
Cruiserweight Cheavon Clarke (4-0, 4 KOs) has ended all four of his fights inside the distance since turning pro last February, including a brutal second round stoppage win over Jose Gregorio Ulrich last time out caused by a perfectly timed uppercut, and the former Team GB Olympian steps up next month in an eliminator for the English cruiserweight title against Dec Spelman (19-6, 9 KOs).
Former European junior featherweight Champion Gamal Yafai (19-2, 11 KOs) returned to winning ways by stopping Sean Cairns in four rounds last June after losing his EBU title to Jason Cunningham in May 2021, and the 31-year-old from Birmingham begins 2023 with a ten-rounder against Argentina’s Diego Alberto Ruiz (23-6-1, 12 KOs) as he aims to get back to title action later in the year.
Kieron Conway (18-3-1, 4 KOs) meets Portugal’s Jorge Silva (21-7, 12 KOs) over eight rounds at super middleweight following his points loss to Austin Williams on the Canelo vs. Golovkin 3 undercard last September, super welterweight talent Junaid Bostan (4-0, 4 KOs) fights for the third time under the Matchroom banner after inking a deal with Eddie Hearn last September and popular junior lightweight Nico Leivars (3-0-1) squares off against Spain’s Alberto Motos (2-0) over six rounds.
A press release by Matchroom Boxing was used in this article.
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