Big-time boxing returns to Ellesmere Port on Saturday night when the new Cheshire Oaks Arena hosts the ‘Nightmare in Ellesmere’ show.
Matty Fagan tops the bill in his first hometown fight with the 27-year-old taking on Adam Kettleborough in an eliminator for the English lightweight title.
Mason ‘Nutty’ Cartwright will also be boxing in front of a home crowd for the first time as he looks to maintain his impressive start in the professional ranks.
The card includes an outing for British super-bantamweight champion James ‘Jazza’ Dickens, Wrexham’s big-hitting lightweight Kerry Evans and Blackpool’s former Commonwealth cruiserweight title challenger Matty ‘The Assassin’ Askin.
Should this weekend’s show prove a success, it is hoped fight nights will become a frequent fixture in Ellesmere Port.
Back in the 1990s, Paul ‘Livewire’ Lloyd put the town on the boxing map when he won the British and Commonwealth bantamweight belts and twice challenged for world titles, losing to Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera on his second attempt.
Paul Butler followed in his footsteps when the 26-year-old from Great Sutton became British and Commonwealth champion at super-flyweight, and he went even further in June 2014 when he won the IBF world bantamweight title.
Ellesmere Port has a thriving amateur scene with Butler, Cartwright and Fagan all products of the Wirral Community Police Boxing Club, which last month produced its first national schoolboy champion.
On Saturday, Fagan will be looking to take a major step forward in his career with victory over Newark’s Kettleborough, who has won eight of his nine contests.
Fagan won his first six bouts in the paid ranks before a surprise defeat to Andrei Podusov, but he got back on track in March with a comfortable points defeat of Dan Carr. Fagan had lined up a rematch with Podusov for this weekend but the Latvian pulled out.
"I think it’s worked out well for me though because now I’ve got Kettleborough and it’s going to be an eliminator so in another two or three fights I could be boxing for a title," said Fagan.
"I think it’s a tougher fight because he’s won eight from nine, he’s got a bit more experience than me and he’s done the rounds; he’s been eight rounds three times."
Cartwright has won his first three fights without dropping a point and the 22-year-old will be looking to continue to gain experience this weekend.
Go to www.longshotssports.com for ticket information.
