Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce to fight behind closed doors this summer

Queensberry Promotions are pleased to announce full details of the first five shows in what will be a huge Summer of boxing behind-closed-doors on BT Sport.

Fans, already excited for the much-heralded Super-Bantamweight clash between Brad Foster (12-0-2, 5KO’s) and James Beech Jr (12-0, 2KO’s) this Friday night, can now look forward to further nights of high-octane boxing action on Saturday 25th July, Friday 31st July, Thursday 20th August and Saturday 29th August.

Knockout-starved fans can expect to see the in-ring returns of British boxing stars like Joe Joyce, Daniel Dubois, Lyndon Arthur, Archie Sharp, Dennis McCann, Sunny Edwards and many, many more.

Once the dust has settled on this Friday’s huge event under the lights of the BT Sport Studio, fans don’t have to wait long until the return of Queensberry Promotions as Joe Joyce (10-0, 9 KOs) will headline a stacked card on Saturday 25th July.

Show 2 of 5 will be headlined by ‘The Juggernaut’, as he takes on German Heavyweight Michael Wallisch (20-3, 13KO’s) in a ten-round contest.

Wallisch was last seen in September 2019, when he shared the professional ring with Frenchman Tony Yoka, and he will provide a stern test for Joyce as he prepares for a bout with fellow Brit Daniel Dubois on October 24th.

Also on the July 25th card, Dubois’ Peacock pals Denzel Bentley (12-0, 10KO’s) and Louie Lynn (6-0, 5KO’s) will return to action and fellow Peacock prospect Chris Bourke (7-0, 5KO’s) will contest the vacant Southern Area Super-Bantamweight Championship against Ilford’s Ramez Mamood (11-0, 2KO’s).

Rounding out the card will be new signing Ekow Essuman (13-0, 5KO’s), who will make his Queensberry debut in a Welterweight contest against an opponent to be confirmed shortly.

Show 3 of 5 will be held less than a week later, on Friday 31st July, and will be a headlined by a mouthwatering clash for the Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Championship between champ Lyndon Arthur (16-0, 12KO’s) and challenger Dec Spelman (16-3, 8KO’s).

That card will also see Belfast’s Caoimhin Agyarko (6-0, 3KO’s) return to Middleweight action and will also showcase the talents of Liverpool lads Nick Ball (12-0, 6 KO’s), Andrew Cain (5-0, 5KO’s) and Brad Strand (3-0, 1KO).

Following a brief break in the action, to allow BT Sport to show a dizzying array of European football on their channels, Frank Warren will bring boxing back to the BT Sport Studio again on Thursday 20th August.

That show will be headlined by a WBO European Super-Featherweight Title clash between champion Archie Sharp (18-0, 9KO’s) and challenger Jeff Ofori (10-2-1, 3KO’s).

The IBF European Super-Welterweight Championship will also be defended on that show as titleholder Troy Williamson (14-0-1, 11 KO’s) defends against Scotland’s Michael McGurk (12-0, 3KO’s).

Queensberry IBox prospects Dennis McCann (6-0, 4KO’s), Sam Noakes (3-0, 3KO’s) and Henry Turner (2-0) will all return on August 20th, too.

The first run of Frank Warren’s huge Summer boxing series on BT will conclude with the blockbuster return of the hottest prospect in world boxing, Greenwich Heavyweight Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois (14-0, 13 KO’s).

Dubois will take on a proper test in Russian-born Erik Pfeifer (7-0, 5KO’s) on Saturday 29th August, with Daniel’s WBO International Heavyweight title on the line.

Unbeaten Pfeifer is a two-time Olympian, having competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, and he also won Bronze medals at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships.

Croydon’s Sunny Edwards (14-0, 4KO’s) will return on the same card, defending the IBF Super-Flyweight Championship against Thomas Essomba (10-5, 4KO’s).

The undercard that night is stuffed full of mouthwatering domestic battles, as Sam Maxwell (13-0, 11KO’s) defends his WBO European Super-Lightweight Championship against former European Champion Joe Huges (17-5-1, 7KO’s) and Willy Hutchinson (10-0, 6KO’s) returns in Light Heavyweight action against Clitheroe’s Luke Blackledge (26-9-2, 9KO’s).

Featherweight Muhammad Ali (1-0) will make his second professional appearance on the show.

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Frank Warren Quotes

“I’m delighted to be able to give fans more clarity as to what they can expect from the huge Summer of boxing on BT Sport.

“Everyone at Queensberry and BT have worked hard to get these shows up and running and I believe this schedule is second-to-none in the boxing world right now.

“Daniel and Joe returning is obviously huge, headline news and scheduling these fights reflect our growing confidence that Daniel and Joe will be able to finally square off on October 24th. I spoke to both teams and they both said that as it looks like we’re going to finally do this in October, they’d like tune-up fights first. Thankfully, BT liked the idea and here we are.

“Daniel hasn’t boxed since December and Joe will have been out for an over year. These fights will sharpen them up and I’m sure they will deliver knockout performances that will get fans even more excited for October.

"For Erik and Michael it’s a chance to cause huge upsets”

On the rest of the Summer schedule:

“That’s five huge dates locked in now, where Queensberry and BT will set the standard for Boxing in this new era. Fans can sit back and enjoy huge British battles and big, big names all live on BT Sport.

“As the rest of the country gets back to work, so does British boxing and I’m delighted that it’s Queensberry Promotions leading the charge."

“Originally Anthony Cacace was due to fight Lyon Woodstock on our second show, but Anthony has a slight dental issue he needs to take care of. That fight is still signed, it’ll just happen a little later than we anticipated. Fans can still look forward to that fight later this year. The same is true for Lerrone Richards vs Umar Sadiq. That fight is signed, but Lerrone has a personal issue which means we’ll have to come back to it a little later than we’d like.

“But if you look at the fights we’re offering, I don’t think there’s a fan alive who can feel hard done by.

“Lyndon Arthur vs Dec Spelman? What a fight that is. Huge credit to Lyndon for taking the risk and should he come through victorious it makes the fight with Anthony Yarde even bigger.

Chris Bourke vs Ramez Mamood is a fight all fans should be excited for, so too is Archie vs Jeff Ofori, Sam Maxwell against Joe Hughes, Willy Hutchinson against Luke Blackledge. There’s great fights up and down these cards.

This run of shows is a fantastic opportunity for all these talents to step up and make a mark. The eyes of the world are on boxing as it comes out of Lockdown and my challenge to all of these is to take this huge opportunity!