Unbeaten Bideford-born boxer, Tommy Langford (14-0) received confirmation of his next fight booked on the bumper bill of boxing on December 19th in Manchester, live on BoxNation TV.
Heading into his 15th fight, the WBO Inter-Continental middleweight champion will defend his maiden title for a second time against a challenger yet to be announced.
The Birmingham-based ace stated, “It’s great to be on the show. It’ll be another defence of my title but I’m hoping to fight for another belt.”
In the main event, it’ll be third time lucky when WBO World middleweight champion Andy Lee (34-2-1) finally puts his world title on the line against rival Billy Joe Saunders (22-0) in the highly-anticipated showdown that has twice been cancelled.
Originally set for September in Limerick, Langford was booked as chief support on the history-making show that will see two travellers fighting for a World title for the first time before the date was scrapped when titleholder, Lee fell ill.
Rescheduled for October 10th, it was then the challenger’s turn to scupper the show, announcing that he had picked up a cut in training.
In the meantime, Langford headlined his own show on October 3rd at the familiar venue of the Wolves Civic, successfully defending his newly-attained WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title over 10 rounds.
Taken past round six for the first time in his career, the 26-year-old defeated Argentinian national champion Christian Fabian Rios (20-7-3) on points by the widest of margins with two judges scoring the contest at 100-90 in the Brit’s favour and the third official ruling at 100-91, live on BoxNation TV.
The result meant that not only is the 160-pounder’s perfect record still intact but also his worthy feat of never conceding a round in over three years and 14 fights in the paid ranks.
A worthy contender, the 32-year-old challenger can still claim to have never been stopped in 30 fights and over seven years as a pro. The South American southpaw once held Matthew Macklin’s conqueror and current WBC International middleweight champion, Jorge Sebastian Heiland to a draw in 2012.
Langford, a six-foot-tall middleweight from Weoley Castle in Birmingham has seen his position elevated to the top five in the British and WBO rankings, nudging him closer to Andy Lee’s WBO World title.
“That’s the ultimate goal to what I’m heading for and it’s realistic that I could be mandatory in 12 months for the WBO Word title, especially if Billy Joe Saunders wins it,” he hoped.
“Titles-wise, I’m not chasing anybody, I’ve got my own path now but it’d be nice to pick up a few belts on the way to that WBO World title.
“I’m a young 26-year-old, not been in any hard fights and never lost a round so I’ve not had any toe-to-toe, grafting wars, so I’m fresh.”
Langford was born in Bideford in North Devon but left the scenic area for Birmingham to train with Frankie Gavin and top trainer Tom Chaney, as a young teenager.
The Hall Green Boxing Club student started the year with a record of 11 wins and two TKO’s, the best scalp on his record coming in the form of a second round stoppage of Brighton southpaw Nicky Jenman.
Fast-forward 10 months and the record stands at 14 wins with four stoppages, an Inter-Continental strap, an impressive top 5 British and world ranking, and the experience of headlining a show.
“It was always the sort of plan at the start of the year to get a 10-round fight in and to pick up a belt, but the fashion in which I’ve done it has been pretty strange for me because I never really had that praise before so to have it now is quite nice,” he humbly stated.
“It means that people are really valuing me and rating me as a contender and that’s what I’ve wanted for a long time,” he continued.
“I’m red hot now and just got to keep the momentum going.”
The main event of the show has all the characteristics to be a fight-of-the-year contender between the two top southpaws.
Hard-hitting Irishman, Lee, one of the world’s most exciting fighters won the title with a dramatic knockout of the previously undefeated Matt Korobov and must now face his mandatory challenger in the slick southpaw, Saunders.
The unconquered Englishman has claimed the records of four unbeaten fighters in a row in his last five fights, including a victory over Chris Eubank Jnr. and now aims to realise his dream by beating Lee to become world champion.
The new WBO World light-middleweight champ Liam Smith (22-0-1) makes his opening defence of the world title as he begins his reign.
The Liverpool ace known as ‘Beefy’ demolished American John Thompson in seven rounds this month to lift the world title with some devastating punching and aims to show that he’s the top man in the 154 lbs division.
An action-packed card will also feature former IBF World bantamweight champion Paul Butler (19-1) as he continues on his comeback towards a second record-breaking world title at a lighter weight class.
The ‘Baby Faced Assassin’, 26-years-old from Chester, is trying to emulate the legendary Bob Fitzsimmons as the first Brit boxer in 100 years to step down a weight to win a second world title.
Welshman Liam Williams (12-0-1), 23-years-old, looks to add the British light-middleweight title to his newly-attained Commonwealth strap against 31-year-old Scot, Kris Carslaw (22-5) who gets his second shot at the title.
Lancashire super-lightweight hot-shot, Jack Catterall (13-0) will also compete in championship title action.
Viewers can watch the show live and exclusive on BoxNation (Sky channel 437/HD 490, Virgin channel 546 and TalkTalk channel 525).
To follow Tommy Langford on Twitter click here @Tommy_Langford1
To buy tickets click here www.tommylangford.co.uk
