Ovill McKenzie defends his British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles on Friday night against Matty Askin in the York Hall, London.
McKenzie (23-12-0) looked to be going through a slump in his career with three losses in four fights before winning Prizefighter in 2009 but he used that win to his advantage and has relaunched his career. Since that night he is 6-3 but those defeats came to Tony Bellew (twice) and Enzo Maccarinelli at light heavyweight. McKenzie is 9-1 at cruiserweight and in his last two fights he has beat Tony Conquest for the Commonwealth title and Jon-Lewis Dickinson for the British title and he will be looking to get recognised by boxing's governing bodies by continuing on the winning path.
Askin (17-2-0) comes into this fight on the back of three successive wins since losing to the impressive Krzysztof Glowacki who is the current European champion and due to fight Marco Huck in June for the WBO World cruiserweight title. Askin was stopped in the eleventh round of that fight but has bounced back well with wins over China Clarke, Tayar Mehmed and Menay Edwards to earn a shot at McKenzie's titles. Askin's other defeat came against Jon-Lewis Dickinson who McKenzie beat last time out but that loss was almost three years ago and Askin has improved since then and will give McKenzie a tough test.
The undercard sees various unbeaten fighters looking to extend their winning records with the standouts being Miles Shinkwin (9-0-0) and Tom Baker (10-0-0) who are involved in Southern Area title fights in the light heavyweight and super middleweght divisions respectively. Ryan Burnett (7-0-0), a highly rated bantamweight prospect from Belfast also fights on the undercard and he will be hoping to continue moving up the bantamweight rankings.
In total there are eleven fights scheduled with nine involving unbeaten fighters, one involving a debutant and the main event being for the British and Commonwealth titles so it promises to be an intriguing evening at London's famous York Hall.