Boxxer: Adam Azim Headlines In London

Boxxer: Adam Azim Headlines In London

By Matt Elliott

Adam Azim returns to action on Saturday night as he faces the unbeaten Nicaraguan Santos Reyes at the OVO Wembley Arena in London, with the main card broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Arena from 8pm.  

The super-lightweight from Slough, who is considered to be one of the best young talents to emerge from the UK in recent years, will face an unbeaten opponent for the first time in his short career, as he looks to extend his record to 8-0 and continue his devasting knockout record, with none of his last four fights going beyond the second round. Reyes (12-0) is, on paper at least, a step up in quality for Azim, having won all of his fights to date, only three of which have ended inside the distance. This is his first foray outside of his home country though and against someone with the speed and explosive power that Azim possesses, you would be hard-pushed to make a case for him walking out with his unbeaten record still intact.  

Azim has made no secret of his desire to eclipse the record of his friend, and boxing inspiration, Amir Khan, by becoming a world champion before reaching the age of twenty-two, the point in life at which Khan defeated Andriy Kotelnik to win the WBA super-lightweight title back in 2009. Whilst a world title shot is not imminent, victory over Reyes will surely push Azim closer to some big domestic clashes, which could include a potential fight with the current Commonwealth champion Sam Maxwell.

In the chief support of the evening, there is an intriguing clash between Zak Chelli (12-1-1) and Anthony Sims Jr (23-1) in the super-middleweight division. English champion Chelli is certainly not afraid to take on a challenge. He was due to face Lerrone Richards in late November, only for the fight to be called off at late notice and he now faces another tough fight against the experienced Sims. Both fighters are on a good run; Chelli has five victories in a row since the 2020 draw with Jack Cullen, whilst Sims Jr comes into the fight on the back of three wins and holds a good knockout record, with twenty of his victories taking place inside the distance.

Brad Pauls (16-0) puts his unbeaten record on the line as he faces Tyler Denny (15-2-3) for the English middleweight championship. Pauls comes into the fight with a perfect record but Denny is the champion and he cannot be underestimated. He had a good defence last time out against Bradley Rea and experience could count in what should prove to be a tight contest.

The current stable of trainer Shane McGuigan, which includes Azim, is certainly an exciting one and another fighter featured on this weekend’s card is Caroline Dubois (5-0) who takes on Feriche Mashaury (10-7). It took just sixty seconds for Dubois to get the TKO victory in her last fight and you would not bet against a similar outcome here. The difficulty for Ben Shalom is to match her effectively and it will surely not be long before she is hunting down titles.

Elsewhere on the card Viddal Riley (7-0) looks to continue his momentum against Anees Taj (7-2) and Hassan Azim (5-0), the older brother of Adam, faces Abdallah Luanja (15-9-2). The only heavyweight clash sees unbeaten Jeamie Tshikeva (3-0) face Harry Armstrong (5-0-1), whilst Jordan Reynolds (4-0) takes on Mohamed Cherif Benchadi (4-20-2) in the super-middleweight division. The remaining contest pits Alireza Ghadiri (6-0) against Hector Avila Lozano (1-1).