Bristol boxer Aaron Sutton hopes to take a step closer to a shot at the English title when he defends his Southern Area middleweight strap at The Galleries on Saturday night.
Sutton (15-0) took a step up in class last time out in November and outpointed former world title challenger Joel Julio over eight rounds, and he hopes to continue building momentum when he takes on Liam Wells (9-2) at Underground At The Galleries.
Sutton will defend his belt for the first time since stopping Danny Shannon in Swindon last summer, seeing off two international opponents since, and promoter and trainer Chris Sanigar is delighted by his charge's progress, confident that bigger things are on the horizon for the Kingswood fighter.
"We won the purse bids to get the fight here in Bristol and it is very difficult to prize a London boy like Liam Wells away from London, but we brought up the money and we backed Aaron Sutton; we’re expecting big things from him," Sanigar told Bristol Live.
"He’s building nicely and if he’s successful here, we’ll be doing our best to get him an English title challenge by the end of the year."
The event features a busy undercard packed with local fighters, including highly-rated prospect Anton Haskins, son of former world champion Lee, and Logan Dorrington, who is looking to make it two wins from two after winning on debut in November.
Lightweight prospect Haskins (6-0) has had a late change of opponent and will now take on experienced journeyman Lee Hallett. Sanigar hopes to see evidence of 'The Joker's' hard work in the gym when he steps into the ring on Saturday.
"We had a pull-out on Thursday so we managed to get him in," Sanigar said. "He’s going to be a tough opponent, he’s been around a lot and it’s about building Anton; I’m hoping to have him in a lot bigger fight next time out."
The Haskins name brings an element of pressure and expectation, but his trainer says he relishes the challenge of following in his father's footsteps.
"He seems to love it and he has the pink hair and the green hair, he’s a crazy man and he puts himself down as ‘The Joker’, but I see a lot of talent in him," Sanigar said.
Tickets, priced £40-60, are still available and can be bought on the door or online, and Sanigar has urged fight fans to get behind Bristol's boxing scene.
"It’s going to be a super night of entertainment," he said. "Tickets are still available so come out and support the fighters."
Full card
- Aaron Sutton vs Liam Wells - Southern Area middleweight title (10x3)
- Pawel August vs Serhi Ksendzov - Super middleweight (6x3)
- Lewis van Poetsch vs Steve Davies - Super middleweight (4x3)
- Anton Haskins vs Lee Hallett - Lightweight (6x3)
- Moses Jolly vs Joel Ducille - Heavyweight (4x3)
- Logan Dorrington vs Tom Akyire - Welterweight (4x3)
- Tom James vs Fonz Alexander - Super lightweight (4x3)
- Connor Gray vs Mewnya Chisanga - Lightweight (6x3)
- James Atkins vs Rustem Fatkhullin - Super lightweight (6x3)
