Explosive Tomi ‘TNT’ Tatham is looking to bomb out Scunthorpe’s wily Jody Meikle when the pair clash at the Blackpool Winter Gardens on Friday June 7.
The duo meet on the undercard of Mark Evans’ Welsh super-featherweight title clash with Chuck Jones, and unbeaten Tomi, who has KO’d every opponent to date, is sure joker Meikle won’t be clowning once he feels his power.
“It will be nice to get some rounds in and get more ring experience,” said the exciting light-heavyweight, who will be having his fourth fight. “We’ve had a bit of craic over Twitter and he seems a nice enough guy. He openly admits he’s the biggest clown of all the journeymen, but I’m just going to try to keep my head and focus.
“I don’t go out there looking for the stoppage, if it happens it happens. I think he’ll muck about but when I land a solid shot he’ll think ‘I need to stop messing about’ and it’ll turn into a good bout because I don’t think he’s a holder. He’s only been stopped twice in 40 fights so he’s obviously got a chin of granite, but I’ll work the body shots and if I do get the stoppage it’ll be a real statement.”
Lancaster’s Tomi is always in fantastic shape and has really impressed with his hard-hitting performances; none more so than when he spectacularly KO’d Derbyshire’s Elvis Dube at the Winter Gardens last December. The former slaughterhouse worker became only the third man to stop durable Dube in his five-year, 23-fight career and was paid a top compliment afterwards.
“He told me he’d never been stopped like that before in his life, and I thought it was really good of him to say that,” explained Tatham, who won 20 of 25 amateur bouts. “I’ve been blessed with a good physique from an early age, and I’ve got natural strength and lots of power. I got caught with a few silly shots in that fight, and got a slap from my trainer during rounds. In the third though we both threw the same shot and it was a really good finish.”
Tomi cannot wait to make his return to Blackpool. The 24-year-old will be appearing alongside some of his stable mates on the packed card and believes fight-fans will be in for a great night of boxing. If his career goes as planned then the explosive puncher, with dynamite in his fists, is hoping he will headline at a big venue like this in the future as he shakes up the domestic light-heavy division.
“This will be a mint show. It’s always a good atmosphere at the Winter Gardens and I like the walk out [to the ring]. It’s not super far for people to travel to and I should have about 150 fans there. There are also some really good fighters on too like Isaac Lowe, Rick Skelton, and Scott Moonan.
“I just want to constantly keep learning, and I’m always in the gym. I think when I’ve had another 10 fights I’ll be up there, and then we’ll see how it goes. I’d love to get to British title level though and then see where we go.”
VIP Promotions presents Mark Evans and Chuck Jones fighting for the Welsh super-featherweight title on June 7 at the Blackpool Winter Gardens.
The show’s packed undercard will feature fighters from across the North West including Middleton’s Liam Taylor and Matthew Ryan; Southport’s Scott Moonan; Chorley’s Jack Catterall; Morecambe puncher Isaac Lowe; Mancunian-American Adrian Gonzales; Cumbria’s Rick Skelton; hard-hitting Tomi Tatham from Lancaster; Ellesmere Port’s Matty Fagan, and debutants Gary Ormrod from St Helens, Leigh’s Ashley Peyton, and Preston’s Reece Fowler.
Tickets, priced at £30 (General) and £50 (Ringside), are available from all boxers or at www.vipbe.co.uk
Keep updated on VIP Promotions’ news by visiting www.vipboxing.com or follow on Twitter @vipboxing and Facebook. Currently, you can also watch free fights at www.vipboxing.tv
