FIGHT PREVIEW: Umar Sadiq vs Zak Chelli

FIGHT PREVIEW: Umar Sadiq vs Zak Chelli

By Jack Davies 

Anthony Yarde headlines the Brentwood Centre on October 20th on a card that features familiar faces such as former world title challenger, Gary Corcoran and slick heavyweight, Nathan Gorman.

The fight that may steal the show is that between Umar Sadiq and Zak Chelli. This bout sees two unbeaten stable-mates put their undefeated records on the line hoping to become Frank Warren’s top prospect at super-middleweight.

Both have had the success of being shown on BT Sports and have shared fights on the same televised cards. For example, both under Queensbury Promotions, they both fought on the same night as BJS v Monroe Jr and secured points wins over durable opponents, respectively.

Making their debuts last year, Sadiq and Chelli’s careers have followed a similar trajectory. They have a total of less than 10 fights between them and all have been routine wins, usually far from the full arenas during the main events. With the UK boxing scene ever-growing, both fighters deserve credit for taking this fight at this early point in their careers. The winner could move onto bigger domestic fights and put himself in good company among Warren’s top prospects, whereas the winner goes back to the drawing board.

Sadiq claims that his greatest advantage going into this fight is his amateur experience, where he boasts 45 fights, 36 of those at elite level. Giving Chelli only a punchers chance, Sadiq’s being 10 years older than Chelli means very little when both have had a professional career of a similar length.

This fight could be decided on whose transitioned better from the amateur game to professional and which one of them wants it more. Regardless, both fighters should be credited for taking this type of fight at this junior stage of their careers. As boxing fans, with what seems like more televised boxing and more boxers than ever, the action of padding records and facing fighters on a similar level is a trend that we all encourage and hope to continue.