Can you ‘Dig’ it – Alfredo Meli gets’s shot at recent Cumming defeater

Alfredo Meli [17(5)-0-1] finally gets the big fight he craves when he challenges former Conrad Cummings victor Danny Dignum [12(6)-0] for the WBO European middleweight ranking title on 7th March in the Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, England.

Meli’s last outing was on the Feile card last August and the Belfast mechanic impressed in a win over unbeaten German prospect Araik Marutjan in a crowd-pleasing fight.

However, the Mac Man has not fought since and there was some questioning whether or not he was going to get the chance to build on a career best performance against a European and World Championship medal winner.

There was a sense of déjà vu as West Belfast native has been calling for a big fight since his split-decision draw with Cummings back in late 2015.

Unfortunately, we never saw a repeat of a Fight of the Year contender that brought the fans in the Waterfront Hall to their feet for the majority of the BBBofC Celtic middleweight title clash.

However, seven months after his impressive Feile display the full time car mechanic does get the chance to over take some competition and progress his career further.

A win for Meli over the likable English fighter would see him move up in the rankings and take a big leap toward a British title or shot possibly some form of WBO eliminator.

Dignum, whose behaviour before and after his Cumming win earned him the respect of Irish fight fans is ranked #12 in the organisation and the busy southpaw will certainly have his sights set on that ranking.

Luke Keeler used the WBO European ranking title to work his way into a massive world title fight with Demetrius Andrade and Meli will be aware of the opportunity at stake.

A win would leave the unassuming Meli a couple of good performances against high ranked fighters away from something big.

Dignum, despite only having 6 KO wins has shown his power to Belfast fans already, stopping Cummings in November and the Essex native is developing a reputation as one to watch.

However, the same could be said of Meli’s last foe Marutjan and fight anyone, anywhere, anytime merchant Meli managed to break his duck egg.