Essex boxer Liam Desmond 3-0-0 has had his next opponent confirmed as Dan Blackwell 6(1)-40(1)-0 as he looks to extend unbeaten run at the Civic Hall in Grays on March 14th on a Carl Greaves Promotions show with the bout scheduled at four three-minute rounds at middleweight.
Opponent Dan Blackwell, younger brother to former English middleweight champ Nicky Blackwell, bids for the vacant British Masters Bronze super-middleweight title first on February 21st at Bank’s Stadium, Walsall against unbeaten Lennox Clarke 6(3)-0-0. The fight is dependent upon the Board’s decision to allow Blackwell to fight over six rounds for the first time.
Blackwell has four years experience as a pro and double the amount of wins as Desmond. Despite the large number of losses, the 21-year-old has enjoyed wins over Southern Area challenger Darryl Still 12-6-0 and shared the ring with prospects Anthony Ogogo 7(4)-0-0 and Tommy Langford 11(2)-0-0.
Of his forthcoming foe, Desmond commented, “Don’t know much about him to be honest, I know he’s my age and I’ve seen him box before. I’ll stick to my game plan and I’m well confident I’ll beat him. I don’t really like looking at opponents too much otherwise you can start overthinking it, its different styles anyway that wins fights.”
Desmond will be marking his first year as pro on March 14th after three straight wins during 2014 scalping Liam Griffiths 3-49(2)-1 on his debut on March 15th with a shut-out points victory, defeating tough journeyman Dee Mitchell 10(2)-73(2)-2 in July and his latest win came in the form of Kieron Gray 7(1)-38(5)-1 in November as he just edged a points decision at 39-38 – all at the familiar venue of Civic Hall in Grays, Essex.
Desmond remarked on his current progress, “Yeah I’m well happy with it, I just want to learn really. I’m still a baby in the sports so there’s no point in having too many fights just yet. I want to learn for the first couple of years so I’m not looking to have loads of fights.
“I’ll start the year with a win then look to fight a couple of months after. I’m going away for two weeks straight after the fight but then I’ll be straight back in the gym training hard and strengthening up. Both Carl (Greaves) and Kev (Lilley) will be straight on it organising the next fight.”
The young prospect trains with respected coach Kevin Lilley at the Fight Farm Gym in Basildon, Essex alongside teammates Darrel Church 2-0-0, Vinzenz Kuech 5(1)-0-0, Joe Jackson 0-0-0, Paul Hilz 1-0-0, Mickey Steeds 13(4)-6(1)1-1.
At just 21-years-old, Liam can already boast over a decade of experience in boxing taking to the ring for the first time at only 11-years-old. The young prospect began boxing aged eight for Newham ABC in Stratford and then went on to box for West Ham ABC under the guidance of legendary boxing coach Mickey May.
The rest of the action on the night features unbeaten southpaw Johnny Coyle 8(2)-0-0 in an eight round welterweight contest.
Another unbeaten southpaw Vinzenz Kuech 5(1)-0-0 also enters in to an eight round contest at welterweight.
Teammate Darrel Church 2-0-0 is looking to extend his unbeaten run to three in three after collecting two points wins since joining the paid ranks in July this year against opponents Curtis Gargano 0-1-1 and debutant Haider Sadiq four months later in November.
Brett Saggs looks forward to a busy campaign with this scheduled four round welterweight fight his second of the year as he is booked to fight at the Camden Centre on February 7th on a Helraiser promotions show. The 23-year-old will be looking to come out of this fight with his fifth straight win.
Trainer-come-boxer Frank Greaves 0-1-0 will be seeking his first win after losing on his debut to former Southern Area welterweight champion Gavin Tait 14(4)-10(1)-0 in November last year.
Debutant light-heavyweight boxer, Joe Jackson Brown from Banbury, Oxfordshire is a product of the hugely successful Queensbury Boxing League run by former English welterweight champion, Ross Minter. The 22-year-old, also coached by Kevin Lilly, embarks upon his professional debut over four rounds against an opponent yet to be named.
The show features an array of local talent and promises to be a sold-out event, Desmond’s own support has been building since joining the paid ranks in March last year, “I’m having a few people asking me now so I’m getting a lot better fan base now off the back of my performances. It seems people are hearing about me now,” concluded Desmond.
Tickets to the show are priced at £35 for standard and £50 for ringside and available from Team Desmond on 07518 183875
To follow Liam Desmond on Twitter click here @liam_desmond
Darrel would like to thank his sponsors Sealtite Sealants and Karis May Darling Foundation and PR Manager Tim Rickson
