Dudley back in game with first title fight in decades

The showdown at the Town Hall will be the first time the Lonsdale belt has been on the line in Dudley since Crawford Ashley defeated Roy Skeldon for the light heavyweight title at the same venue in July, 1991.

It is also the first British title fight to take place in the Black Country for nearly five years and, even more remarkably, has been scheduled at little more than a week’s notice.

Birmingham’s Ahmed had been due to meet Quaise Khademi for the fourth time since 2021 and the third straight occasion for the British crown, with the last two encounters having finished in split decision draws. But Khademi was forced to pull out of the contest, scheduled to take place this weekend at London’s York Hall, due to injury with Liverpool fighter Braithwaite stepping in after Ahmed’s management team BCB Promotions approached British Boxing’s Board of Control to seek a replacement.

The rearranged bout was then included on the bill of BCB’s already- scheduled Dudley show.

Tomorrow’s winner will be the first fighter to have held the belt since reigning IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards in 2019.

The latter relinquished the crown after beating Braithwaite via a unanimous points decision in December of that year.

Ahmed believes victory will be a case of justice done after seeing his career hit a Khademi-shaped roadblock. The Midlands man won their first bout for the European crown before the successive draws.

He said: “I’ve beaten him and, in my opinion, won the other two against him, but I didn’t get the decision.

“I should already be the British champion.

“He’s been in the way of me progressing in my career and all credit to Marcel Braithwaite for stepping up and taking on the challenge.

“He will go in there confident, the same as me.

“I’ve been in training since November (for the fight) and, of course, I don’t want to let that fitness go. I’m raring to go.

“To get my hands on the British title would mean the world to me, it’s what every boxer wants to do. I’ll show that I’m capable of achieving that.”

The fight is the first for a British title to take place in the Black Country since Jason Welborn outpointed Tommy Langford at Walsall Town Hall in May 2018, while the show – which also features Tipton super welterweight Liam Gould – is the first boxing event at Dudley Town Hall since 2016.

Council bosses infamously pulled the plug on shows at the venue in 2008 due to concerns over crowd safety and capacity. It would otherwise have been favourite to host that year’s clash for the British middleweight title between Dudley’s Darren McDermott and Wayne Elcock.

Just two boxing shows have taken place at the Town Hall since, with tomorrow night now representing something a far more prestigious return than first expected.

Tickets are still available priced at £40 standard or £75 VIP ringside, either directly from the boxers or by visiting myfighttickets.com