Coventry sensation River Wilson-Bent wants to complete the first part of a dream double and parade the English title on the pitch at Coventry City and he got a taste of it last Saturday when he made a half-time pitch appearance during the Bristol City game.
The all action and hard-hitting middleweight faces Tyler Denny for the vacant belt in front of a packed Skydome crowd, live and free on Channel 5 as part of Hennessy’s All-Stars Show on Saturday, November 13.
Wilson-Bent is a huge Coventry City fan and with the side riding high in the Championship and the club back in their own stadium after two spells in exile, he wants to bring boxing and football together, on the back of what will be his first national title.
He was invited to attend the Coventry-Bristol game as a guest of the club to show their support ahead of his English title challenge and watched them win 3-2 on the day. River has also been offered the chance to return and show off his belt – providing he overcomes his tough Midlands rival.
Wilson-Bent said: “This is definitely a 50-50 fight. We were both good amateurs and now we’ve both turned pro, Tyler has a bit more experience than me, but that’s it. I am 100% the better fighter.
“It won’t be easy but when I win the plan will be to get out on the centre of the pitch with that English title, in front of all those Cov fans. That would be thriving. It’s just brilliant exposure.
“There are no two sports that are as close to each other than boxing and football and their supporters, so it would be great to get all the Cov fans behind me. There is no reason I can’t get the whole city behind me.”
The second part of Wilson Bent’s double would bring even more coverage to Coventry, with the Sky Blues literally playing centre stage.
The hard-hitting 27-year-old knows winning the English belt should lead to a crack at the coveted British title, currently held by the unbeaten Felix Cash (14-0, 10 KO’s).
As a teenager he also spent a couple of years working at Coventry City as a chef, before realising it was too hot, so had to get out of the kitchen to focus on his boxing.
But now, with the football club sitting in a play-off position, winning promotion back into the Premier League for the first time since 2001, would make the Coventry Building Society Arena (CBS) the perfect platform to go to work again and cook up a treat for the whole city.
He added: “Imagine fighting at the CSB? I would love that. Imagine packing that out? We’re seeing more and more stadium fights, but at the ground you go to to watch your team play?
“My daughter will always be the number one highlight of my life but boxing there, in front of all those Cov fans, wouldn’t be far behind. I’ve talked before about carrying the British title out there, but to fight out there would be amazing.
“Cov can do their part and go up, of course. But if I can add to that and even just win the British title, it would bring even more communities together. It really would put the whole city on the map.”
Shakan Pitters v Reece Cartwright for the Vacant WBC International Light-Heavyweight Championship headlines the triple-title card that includes a fiery midlands derby between Coventry hot-shot River Wilson-Bent against Rowley Regis rival Tyler Denny for the Vacant English Middleweight Championship. Red hot Irish middleweight sensation Aaron ‘The Silencer’ McKenna will challenge for his first championship title. Aaron’s joins older brother Stevie ‘The Hitman’ McKenna who is lighting up the welterweight division with his dynamic and KO performances and faces Ghanaian hitter Richard Djarbeng over eight rounds. The rest of the Hennessy All Stars team will be out in full force starting with welterweight ace Kaisee Benjamin against Germany Andreas Maier over eight rounds; Birmingham super-middleweight Idris Virgo takes on France’s Gregory Trenel in an eight rounder; Sevenoaks highly talented super-welterweight Michael Hennessy Jr.; undefeated County Donegal middleweight starlet Brett McGinty; unbeaten Brighton heavyweight destroyer Tommy Welch meets Bulgarian Kristian Kirilov over four rounds. Lastly two new additions to the card, Leamington Spa lightweight Danny Quartermaine and Chelmsley Wood lightweight Scott Melvin, both in separate four round contests.
