BoxRec

Craig Kennedy and Matty Askin will meet later this year.

The pair, who have been on a collision course since winning respective eliminator contests, are set to vie for the vacant British cruiserweight title, exclusively live on Channel 5.

The fight will take place on March 11 at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales and, as confirmed in a press conference on Thursday, will feature female fighter Ashley Brace on the undercard.



Kennedy (16-0, 8 KOs) holds the vacant IBF International title at the 200-pound limit and has stopped three of his last six opponents inside eight rounds.

He was last in action in London last November and has had four outings since winning an eliminator against Courtney Fry back in June 2015. Askin (21-3-1, 13 KOs), meanwhile, was most recently in the ring two days before Kennedy.

He won his final eliminator showdown against Tommy McCarthy in Manchester on points, despite flooring the previously unbeaten Ulsterman twice in the fourth round of their fight.

Promoter Blain McGuigan and CEO of promotional company Cyclone Promotions, Barry McGuigan, revealed a stellar undercard for the bill, with the supporting cast being aired exclusively live on Spike TV.

Morgan Jones will feature, while there is a rematch between Conrad Cummings and Ronny Mittag for the latter’s IBF Inter-Continental middleweight title he won against the former last November, and further contests for the card will be revealed in due course.

Nice fight! Look forward to watching it.

I love free boxing of this quality. Apparently Morgan Jones is fighting a fellow prospect, so that's interesting. I've never seen Jones fight but there's a first for everything!

Craig Kennedy very nearly lost last year to that big Belgian!

I'll watch a decent domestic fight for a proper title.

Non of these WBA Intercontinenal platinum toy belts.

Excellent, I'll be attending this. Pretty sure An Audience With Joe Calzaghe is being held in Cardiff on the same night, which is a bit stupid as I imagine lots of boxing fans will already have tickets for that.

Kro wrote:

Ruthless-RKO wrote:He won his final eliminator showdown against Tommy McCarthy in Manchester on points, despite flooring the previously unbeaten Ulsterman twice in the fourth round of their fight.

Sounds about right that.Must say I'm a bit annoyed about the way the fight has been portrayed.Before the fight matty had no chance.oncw he won,McCarthy took the fight too soon,but would beat matty if they was to fight again.Matty was due some credit in that last fight.Just hope he gets it after march 11th.

If Kennedy puts it on askin he will win because a tiger can't change it stripes like in the Mckenzie fight where askin just wanted to hold when the heat got turned up on him.he a decent boxer askin but lacks the substance to make it too the top

nemanja wrote:If Kennedy puts it on askin he will win because a tiger can't change it stripes like in the Mckenzie fight where askin just wanted to hold when the heat got turned up on him.he a decent boxer askin but lacks the substance to make it too the top

The McCarthy fans said the same and look what happened there..

Nice match-up

DAVE2005 wrote:

nemanja wrote:If Kennedy puts it on askin he will win because a tiger can't change it stripes like in the Mckenzie fight where askin just wanted to hold when the heat got turned up on him.he a decent boxer askin but lacks the substance to make it too the top

The McCarthy fans said the same and look what happened there..

Dave you and mike doing a great job with the fighters but trust me when I say that askin whether it be in this fight or another when the heat is turned up and he don't fancy it he will look for a way out

nemanja wrote:

DAVE2005 wrote:

nemanja wrote:If Kennedy puts it on askin he will win because a tiger can't change it stripes like in the Mckenzie fight where askin just wanted to hold when the heat got turned up on him.he a decent boxer askin but lacks the substance to make it too the top

The McCarthy fans said the same and look what happened there..

Dave you and mike doing a great job with the fighters but trust me when I say that askin whether it be in this fight or another when the heat is turned up and he don't fancy it he will look for a way out

Thanks mate,but I know my fighters better than you.

DAVE2005 wrote:

nemanja wrote:

DAVE2005 wrote:

The McCarthy fans said the same and look what happened there..

Dave you and mike doing a great job with the fighters but trust me when I say that askin whether it be in this fight or another when the heat is turned up and he don't fancy it he will look for a way out

Thanks mate,but I know my fighters better than you.

That's true you do know your fighters better than me i would expect that as you train them but sometimes you have to be honest with yourself and not blinded by fighter insecurities because on two occasions askin bottle has gone and will go again when the pressure is on history will tell you this

Well for a kid that "bottles" it,he's about to fight for the British title live on channel 5,after beating two lads who were previously unbeaten and on one occasion were he was a big underdog.have a nice day

DAVE2005 wrote:Well for a kid that "bottles" it,he's about to fight for the British title live on channel 5,after beating two lads who were previously unbeaten and on one occasion were he was a big underdog.have a nice day

I shouldn't say bottle it because anyone who enters the ring has heart instead I should say when the going gets tough he goes missing and although I think he is talented there is something missing within him that will always come back to haunt him I'm afraid

Dorian Darch vs Nick Webb added to this card.
Decent card I reckon.

What a lovely fight.
I am expecting a close but clear Kennedy win but its a fantastic match.
One SMALL issue with the press release.... Craig holds the vacant IBF???? Not vacant then!

I think Askin is capable of European level and I see him winning this via mid round stoppage.
I like Kennedy but the big belgian showed his limitations.

PredatorHayds wrote:I think Askin is capable of European level and I see him winning this via mid round stoppage.
I like Kennedy but the big belgian showed his limitations.

That Belgian fella should be in the mix, showed quality to me. Guessing he hasn't a big promoter or backer to help him.

TheGingerBomber wrote:

PredatorHayds wrote:I think Askin is capable of European level and I see him winning this via mid round stoppage.
I like Kennedy but the big belgian showed his limitations.

That Belgian fella should be in the mix, showed quality to me. Guessing he hasn't a big promoter or backer to help him.

I'm in the opposite camp here mate. The Belgian fella could bang and was huge but he was clumsy as hell. Kennedy shouldn't of been getting caught by him.
He needs a vast improvement to outwork Askin

I don't rate kennedy as a boxer although he is a good athlete, Askin is a much better boxer and should win this if he's fit.

PredatorHayds wrote:

TheGingerBomber wrote:

PredatorHayds wrote:I think Askin is capable of European level and I see him winning this via mid round stoppage.
I like Kennedy but the big belgian showed his limitations.

That Belgian fella should be in the mix, showed quality to me. Guessing he hasn't a big promoter or backer to help him.

I'm in the opposite camp here mate. The Belgian fella could bang and was huge but he was clumsy as hell. Kennedy shouldn't of been getting caught by him.
He needs a vast improvement to outwork Askin

I liked the big Belgian He was fun to watch..

Stuarty30 wrote:

PredatorHayds wrote:

TheGingerBomber wrote:
That Belgian fella should be in the mix, showed quality to me. Guessing he hasn't a big promoter or backer to help him.

I'm in the opposite camp here mate. The Belgian fella could bang and was huge but he was clumsy as hell. Kennedy shouldn't of been getting caught by him.
He needs a vast improvement to outwork Askin

I liked the big Belgian He was fun to watch..

Yeah he was great. What was his name again, Big Joe or something?

Boxerbeetle wrote:

Stuarty30 wrote:

PredatorHayds wrote: I'm in the opposite camp here mate. The Belgian fella could bang and was huge but he was clumsy as hell. Kennedy shouldn't of been getting caught by him.
He needs a vast improvement to outwork Askin

I liked the big Belgian He was fun to watch..

Yeah he was great. What was his name again, Big Joe or something?

Joel 'big Joe' Djeko Get him over again! Him v that big streak of pish Camacho would be fun to watch.

I was about 5 rows back but I'd had a skinful and it was on about 11pm.
For the first two minutes I honestly thought they'd brought Wilder over for Craig as a late minute replacement. Same physique. Big Joe was huge with twigs for legs.

PredatorHayds wrote:I was about 5 rows back but I'd had a skinful and it was on about 11pm.
For the first two minutes I honestly thought they'd brought Wilder over for Craig as a late minute replacement. Same physique. Big Joe was huge with twigs for legs.

Should start a petition 'BRING BACK BIG JOE'

#BBBJ