Callum Johnson returns against Marko Nikolic on September 11

Callum Johnson vs. Marko Nikolic

Copper Box Arena, London, England 11/9/21

Light heavyweight star Callum Johnson makes his return to the ring on the undercard of Sunny Edwards’ first defence of his IBF world flyweight title at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday September 11, live on BT Sport.

Edwards goes in against mandatory challenger and also 16-0 Jayson Mama from the Philippines following his epic seizing of the title from former long-standing champion Moruti Mthalane back in April.

Johnson, 19-1 (14 KOs), made an emphatic return to the Queensberry ranks in April with an explosive destruction of Croatian tough man Emil Markic in the second round. Now the 35-year-old former world title challenger will look to remain on course for a second shot with a convincing performance against the Serbian Marko Nikolic, 27-1 (12 KOs).

Nikolic has previously held the WBC Mediterranean light heavyweight title and, in his last fight, suffered his only defeat in a challenge for the WBC International Silver title.

Also on the card, popular middleweight Denzel Bentley (14-1, 12 KOs) gets back into the fighting fold with a domestic dust-up against experienced campaigner Andrew Robinson (24-5-1, 7 KOs).

Bentley suffered his only reverse last time out when defending his British title against Felix Cash and will be seeking to quickly restore himself into title contention.

Some of the finest young talents in British boxing take their place on the Copper Box card with ferocious lightweight Mark Chamberlain (8-0, 5 KOs) back in action and looking to prove himself as the No.1 young lightweight on the Queensberry books.

In March, Chamberlain, 22, demolished the usually resolute Jordan Ellison inside 90 seconds with a sickening body shot and will now be aiming to continue his trail of destruction.

His stablemate in  Southampton, Ryan Garner (10-0, 6 KOs), is also no stranger to concussive finishes and ‘The Piranha’ will be taking the next step before closing in on the super featherweight title challenges his huge ability warrants.

Multi-titled former amateur star Charles Frankham (3-0, 1 KO) will have his second fight as a Queensberry fighter after a successful introduction at the SSE Arena, Wembley in July at lightweight, with former senior ABA champion Masood Abdulah (1-0) also in action at super featherweight.

Super bantamweight Umar Khan (1-0), Super Featherweight Masood Abdulah (1-0, 1 KO), Cruiserweight Ellis Zorro (9-0, 4 KO’s) and the debut-making welterweight Khalid Ali complete the card.

(Kristian von Sponneck)

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