The featherweight and junior welterweight tournament finals have dates.
Two MTK Global Golden Contract tournament final fights are set for Sept. 30 at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, with the Wednesday card set to air on ESPN+ in the United States.
The featherweight final will see Ryan Walsh (26-2-2, 12 KO) take on Jazza Dickens (29-3, 11 KO), while the junior welterweight final pits Ohara Davies (21-2, 16 KO) against Tyrone McKenna (21-1-1, 6 KO).
Walsh, 34, made the finals with wins over Hairon Socarras and Tyrone McCullagh in October and February. The 29-year-old Dickens has beaten Carlos Ramos and Leigh Wood to earn his spot.
“I’m massively excited. I’m delighted it’s back at York Hall, too,” said Walsh. “That venue is my home and it’s a very familiar stomping ground. I’ve had nothing but success there. I’m expecting a really good fight against Jazza. It can’t be anything but a good fight. I’ll come to win and Jazza will come to win. This date will come nine years to the day that my brother Liam and Paul Appleby had their Fight of the Year at York Hall, so that’s a good omen for fight fans.”
“I’ve been ready for a long time and I can’t wait,” Dickens stated. “This is a once in a lifetime chance, so thank you so much to MTK Global who haven’t played it safe and have honoured their word. The delay has given me more time to prepare myself. Through lockdown I have made changes in my life that have helped me so much. I’ve kept active and healthy and I will take my chance.”
Davies, 28, stopped both Logan Yoon and Jeff Ofori in his first two contests, while the 30-year-old McKenna won a wide decision over Mikey Sakyi in the first round before a highly controversial semifinal win over Mohamed Mimoune.
“I’m really pleased to finally have a fight date,” Davies said. “This fight was meant to happen in June but due to the situation we’re in we’ve had to wait a few more months, so it’s meant I’ve had extra time to focus and study to beat Tyrone McKenna. I didn’t need that extra time though, as I’ve always known what I’ve got to do to go in there and destroy this clown. All this has been is more time until he faces defeat.”
“I’m over the moon to get this confirmed,” said McKenna. “It’s something to focus on and work towards, so thanks to MTK Global for getting ‘The Mighty Celt’ back on everybody’s screens at the end of September.”
The show will have more fights. There has been no word on whether or not the company’s light heavyweight tournament will continue. Its first round action was completed in December, but the semifinal matchups never got to take place. Ricards Bolotniks, Liam Conroy, Hosea Burton, and Serge Michel all won their opening round bouts.
