British Scene Weekend Preview

Matt Chudley previews this Friday's British Bantamweight Title bout between Matt Edmonds and Gary Davies.

Friday April 3 Matt Edmonds vs Gary Davies (SKY) By Matt Chudley This week's Sky Sports Friday fight night offering sees Matthew Edmonds and Gary Davies contest the vacant British Bantamweight Title at the York Hall in Bethnel Green. The title was vacated by Ian Napa when he opted to pursue European aspirations and the co-challengers for the belt must be considered fortunate that they operate in such a shallow division. At present there are only between 10 and 15 British professionals plying their trade in the 118lb division. Traditionally there have always been a small number of fighters competing below the bantamweight limit in the UK and the introduction of a super-flyweight title in 2007 has further diluted the level of competition. The 8-2-1 Davies has only lost when he's moved north of the 122lb division, with the draw and both losses coming against opponents who weighed in as featherweights and super-featherweights. The outcome of the fight may well hinge on his ability to make weight, as he's never fought as low as bantamweight. Edmonds brings a 10-2 record into the fight, with both losses coming when he has stepped up in competition. The second defeat was via 9th round TKO in a gutsy display against the vastly more experienced Jason Booth in a bid for the Commonwealth bantamweight title. The main under-card support comes in the form of local fighter Michael Lomax, who returns to the site of his victorious campaign in the prizefighter welterweight tournament. The 6 foot southpaw had provided many a good fighter with decent sparring but came from nowhere to win his three fights on the night and steal the tourney. He will go against 10-3 Frenchman Yoann Camonin over 8 rounds. Also on the card is 10-0 super-bantamweight prospect Ricky Owen who takes on the 6-4 James Ancliff over 6 rounds and experienced 140lb campaigner Nigel Wright who's opponent Arek Malek, has only 1 win in his past 20 outings. e-mail Matt Chudley