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Pauly Upton secures huge Sky Sports fight


Pauly Upton [15(3)-0] has secured a major fight and a major step-up on a Sky Sports bill.

It has been confirmed this afternoon that the Belfast light middleweight, based in London, will take on Matchroom hot prospect Ted Cheeseman [13(8)-0] next month.

The fight will take place on the Luke Watkins v Lawrence Okolie Commonwealth cruiserweight title undercard at the York Hall in London on Wednesday June 6th.

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The eldest of the three Upton brothers has been biding his time for a big fight for the past two years. After defeating Terry Maughan for the Irish light middleweight title in April 2016, Upton has fought just thrice and was stripped of his belt for not making a defence and to allow Craig O’Brien and Jay Byrne contest the title.

After switching trainers from Ricky Hatton in Manchester to Barry Smith in London, 29-year-old Upton has scored a trio of six-round wins, most recently a gritty points win over the game Adam Jones. The undefeated fighter had looked to have moved up to middleweight and had called for bouts with both Conrad Cummings and Luke Keeler but will now return to light middleweight for what is, by far, the biggest fight of his career.

22-year-old Cheeseman has looked sensational in his career thus far. The Matchroom starlet destroyed Matty Ryan – who controversially edged Sonny Upton – for the English title last year and also has solid domestic wins over Tony Dixon, Lloyd Ellet, and Jack Sellers. Most recently, in February, he took a step up to face gatekeeper Carson Jones. Cheeseman dominated this bout and claimed the WBA International rankings title – although this did not secure him a place in the body’s Top 15.

The card in just over three weeks time is headlined by the clash between Swindon-Wexford hardman Watkins and Olympian Okolie and also features a featherweight clash between Commonwealth champ Bellotti and Manchester-Dub Ryan Doyle. Additionally, the undercard will also see appearances for Felix Cash, Sean McGoldrick, and Kazakh phenom Daniyar Yeleussinov.

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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