Magnificent 7 Back In Brum

By Frank Warren

THE MAGNIFICENT 7 Ride Again on Saturday in the direction of Birmingham, scene of the original production back in 2010.

We are back at the original setting too, the Resorts World Arena - which was known as Birmingham NEC back then - and I believe we are in for an equally or even more memorable night this time around.

When we revived the Magnificent 7 concept towards the end of last year in Manchester, the show was again a resounding success and it is becoming something of a popular brand that we fully intend to push forward with.

Like at the AO Arena, the nominated headliner - although all of them could have done the job - is Nathan Heaney defending the British title he won in such an emotional fashion to conclude that epic November night.

The Prince of the Potteries puts his treasure on the line for a first time against the English champion Brad Pauls, the big-punching Cornishman, who is known as the Newquay Bomb.

It is a really tough fight and, were Nathan not now getting the widespread recognition for his exploits against Denzel Bentley, many people would have strongly fancied Brad going into the fight.

Nathan has his ultimate incentive to prevail on Saturday because, if he comes through, plans are in place to showcase him at his beloved Stoke City FC in the summer. So, in football-speak, he simply cannot take his eyes off the ball.

A show of this magnitude would not be complete without a dash of world title action and this will be delivered in the super bantamweight division where Liam Davies will challenge for the IBO world championship against the holder Erik Robles Ayala.

The Mexican made a name for himself over here by winning the vacant title against Lee McGregor and I don’t believe his good luck will strike twice against our big success story in Liam, who I am convinced is on the brink of even bigger things in this sport.

Sticking at super bantamweight, we’ve got an absolute domestic cracker for the WBO Intercontinental and European belts between Dennis McCann and Brad Strand, two top class unbeaten contenders.

Dennis has enjoyed all the fanfare and acclaim since turning pro, while Brad has quietly gone about his business at the renowned Everton Red Triangle Gym in Liverpool alongside his teammates Nick Ball and Andrew Cain.

Now he can step into the spotlight and we will see if he can seize his moment in the same way Nick has done over the last year or two. Dennis, now based in Liverpool himself, is super confident that he will be the one heading home with the bounty, so we will all just sit back and watch it all unfold. It should make for compelling viewing.

At welterweight we’ve got another domestic barnstormer in the offing between two unbeaten youngsters when Eithan James and Owen Cooper collide with the English and WBO European titles at stake. This fight could well be the hidden gem of the night.

At super lightweight, the formidable Dubliner Pierce O’Leary will make a third defence of his WBC International title against the also unbeaten Belgian Hovhannes Martirosyan, plus our super middleweight king Zach Parker taking on former world champion Tyron Zeuge. We’ve also got light heavyweight Ezra Taylor fighting for his maiden professional title, the Commonwealth Silver championship, against the Ghanaian southpaw Prince Oko Narty.

Saving the biggest til last, The Juggernaut, Joe Joyce is back in business in Birmingham against Kash Ali and having him back in the heavyweight fold is such an exciting prospect for us all.

We want to get Joe right back in the mix with all the heavyweight activity currently playing out and he deserves to be a part of it.