TIME TO SHINE LEE SELBY

TIME TO SHINE LEE SELBY

By Reece Woolcock

‘Lightning’ Lee Selby (26-1-0, 9 KOs), some may say in terms of boxing ability, he is the best in Britain. Yet for some reason the slick Welsh star has struggled to draw the big names and big fights he has wanted since his IBF World Title win in May 2015 in a technical decision win over Evgeny Gradovich.

Selby has made 5 defences of the IBF crown, most recently in December against the then unbeaten Mexican Eduardo Ramirez. The unanimous decision win capped off a tough year which saw Selby, fight through his emotions just four days after his mother’s passing in July. Just a few weeks later the Welshman was dealt another low with the passing of his grandad.

But this upcoming weekend on May 19th, Lee Selby has the chance to put his name back in the mix amongst a stacked featherweight division, both domestically and globally, with a win over fellow Brit Josh Warrington at the home of Leeds United Elland Road.

Under the promotion of Frank Warren it leads to the potential clash with former two-weight world champion Carl Frampton (25-1, 14 KOs) and future domestic bouts with Scott Quigg and Kid Galahad.

On the world scene across the multiple boxing organisations, the other world champions include WBC champion Gary Russell Jr (28-1, 17 KOs), WBA Super champion Leo Santa Cruz (34-1-1, 19 KOs) and the WBO champion Oscar Valdez (24-0, 19 KOs).

If the big names and big fights are what you crave, you won’t find many divisions hotter than the featherweight ranks.

On May 19th either Selby or Warrington will move forward and put himself in line for some very big fights indeed.