Mini Mike’s a big test for Langford
A SUMMER blockbuster with Billy Joe Saunders could be next in line for Tommy Langford.
But first he has to get past the man they call ‘Mini Mike Tyson’. Langford has never shirked a challenge and the middleweight contender will take on Avtandil Khurtsidze for the interim WBO title in Leicester tonight.
But the big prize will be a July clash with Saunders (below) for the full version of the world title if the Hatfield man’s hopes of a fight with Gennady Golovkin fail to materialise.
Khurtsidze is a small middleweight, but he is rock solid, hence why his team have nicknamed him after former heavyweight destroyer Tyson.
It’s a tough fight so Langford will have to show his very best to get through it on what is a cracking card at Leicester Arena.
Elevates
Light-welterweight Tyrone Nurse has his first fight with me tonight when he takes on Joe Hughes in the latest defence of his British title.
The winner of that clash will face another of my top light-welterweight prospects in Jack Catterall this summer, in what could be a fight that elevates the winner up the WBO rankings and nearer a world title.
That division is red hot on a domestic level, with Josh Taylor and Ohara Davies two names, with other promoters, that my men could also meet one day. There could be an international classic on the card, too, as South African southpaw Zolani Tete takes on Filipino Arthur Villanueva.
Tete has been dubbed “Scouse African” by his Liverpool mates as the city has taken the former super-flyweight world champion under their wings.
Hopefully the home crowd in Leicester also get behind him in this bantamweight cracker.
Then we have two of the most exciting punchers coming up through the ranks.
Light-heavyweight Anthony Yarde has blown away eight of his nine victims inside the distance, so don’t blink or you could miss a big KO.
Heavyweight sensation Daniel Dubois is back out, just two weeks after his professional debut, against former Olympian Blaise Mendouo. ¬ Langford v Khurtsidze is live on BT Sport from 7.30pm and BoxNation from 6.30pm tonight.