Ward And Dickens Clash For British Title

Martin Ward, 26-4-1 (5), gets the chance to avenge his 2015 defeat to James Jazza Dickens on July 27, when the pair clash at the Rainton Meadows Arena for the vacant British Super Bantamweight Title.

The belt was being held by Martin’s brother Tommy, 23-0 (3) – who took the title off Dickens in May 2017 – but he has now vacated to concentrate on securing a world title opportunity, and will face Spanish-based Romanian Ionut Baluta for the IBF European Super Bantamweight Title on the same show.

In his previous reign as champion, Liverpool’s Dickens, 23-3 (8), won a bloody and contentious split-decision verdict over Martin at the Rainton Meadows venue, but promoter Phil Jeffries, believes the outcome will be different this time.

“We’re moving Tommy on,” stated Jeffries, who is working on the upcoming show in association with fellow promoter Dennis Hobson. “Tommy’s not been getting any dates off Frank Warren, so we’re putting this show on ourselves, with Dennis [Hobson].

“To me, Tommy facing Jazza again was a pointless fight, he’s already beaten him once. Tommy is already high in the world ratings, so we want to move him on, and it’s looking good for him if he wins this next fight.

“Martin’s fight with ‘Jazza’ will be exciting. I thought Jazza just beat him last time, but it was a dirty fight; Martin was cut to bits, just like Tommy was cut to bits in his fight with Jazza. Martin will have learned from that first fight though, and I think he will beat him this time.

“This will be a good show, we’ll have a lot of good prospects on the undercard, and it’s really good to be working with Dennis again.”