BOXXER heads to Poland next month for its second international event of 2023, presenting a world title fight and a stacked card of elite championship boxing on Saturday, April 22, in association with Knockout Promotions.
Fresh from a successful event in Paris last weekend, where Dan Azeez captured the EBU light-heavyweight title and Lauren Price extended her unbeaten professional record, another huge trip to the continent is in the reckoning.
Caroline Dubois leads the star-studded travelling party to Rzeszów, along with brand new BOXXER signing Martin Bakole and fellow heavyweight Jeamie TKV – with Alen Babic headlining, live and exclusively in the UK & Republic of Ireland on Sky Sports, when he faces Lukasz Rozanski for the vacant WBC World Bridgerweight title.
Trained by Shane McGuigan, rising superstar Dubois (6-0, 5 KOs) blasted her way through Feriche Mashaury at the OVO Wembley Arena in February to make another emphatic stride in her burgeoning career.
Mashaury has fought the likes of Chantelle Cameron and Terri Harper and took recently crowned British Boxer of the Year Natasha Jonas the distance in 2019.
But former Team GB hero Dubois, 22, made light work of her Tanzania rival and dispatched her inside two destructive rounds. An opponent for April 22 will be named in due course.
The ‘Next King of Scotland’ Martin Bakole (18-1-0, 13 KOs) will make his highly-anticipated BOXXER debut when he takes on unbeaten Ukrainian, Ihor Shevadzutskyi (10-0, 8 KOs) in a battle of the behemoths.
Bakole signed a long-term deal with BOXXER back in February. And the Ayrshire-based heavyweight, who is ranked highly by the WBA, will be out to make a major statement when he collides with a man nicknamed ‘the Hulk’, who has wins over Kevin Johnson and Kamil Sokolowski on his CV.
Standing at a menacing 6ft 6in, Bakole hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he was born a prince to the son of the ruler of the Kananga province. His brother is former WBC World Cruiserweight king, Ilunga Makabu.
His record is as impressive as his stature, having won 18 professional fights including his last in May 2022 when he celebrated a majority decision victory over Tony Yoka in the Rio 2016 Olympic champion’s homeland in Paris, France.
Bakole’s only defeat was in 2018 to American heavyweight Michael Hunter. But he has responded with seven successive wins since – five of which were knockouts, including triumphs against Kevin Johnson and Mariusz Wach.
Another impressive heavyweight on the fight card in Rzeszów is Jeamie TKV (4-0, 2 KOs).
The undefeated Londoner has made a great impression with BOXXER, enjoying four wins – including his breathtaking points victory over Harry Armstrong last month.
The 29-year-old has been training in Texas and can now look forward to his first fight outside of his capital city when he travels to Poland next month.
Completing the line-up will be a hotly-contested main event which sees the popular Croatian knockout artist, Alen ‘The Savage’ Babic (11-0, 10 KOs) battle Poland’s own Lukasz Rozanski (14-0, 13 KOS) for the vacant WBC World Bridgerweight Championship.
BOXXER CEO & Founder, Ben Shalom said: “Another significant European adventure awaits. Paris was an incredible success and we believe that this fight night in Poland will be hugely impactful in the world of boxing.
“Caroline Dubois has proved unstoppable and this will be a brilliant test for her overseas. Jeamie TKV has lit up our screens with some hugely impressive heavyweight performances and you will not want to blink when the ‘Next King of Scotland’ Martin Bakole stands toe-to-toe with the ‘Ukrainian Hulk’, Ihor Shevadzutskyi in chief support.
“Topped by a huge world title fight with Alan Babic, we are looking forward to another showcase for our world class roster on the global stage with Sky Sports.”
This event is presented in association with official partners Everlast, WOW HYDRATE and Village Hotels.
