THERE is a seven-fight undercard in the build-up to Callum Simpson’s fight but it will not feature any of the other professional boxers from Barnsley.
Simpson had hoped that Cory Sagar, the grandson of Jon Sagar who was Callum’s coach at amateur club Barnsley Star, would be on the bill but it has not worked out.
Callum told the Chronicle: “Unfortunately that hasn’t happened. Red Johnson is from Sheffield but boxed at my old club in Barnsley.
“It would have been good to have other Barnsley lads on the show. I tried to get Cory Sagar on the card but it’s not been made possible.
“I am sure I will headline at Oakwell and other places again so I want local Barnsley lads and girls on the undercard. I want to build the local area.
“I don’t want the journey to be just about me, I want to take my local community with me too.”
Asked about the lack of other Barnsley boxers, promoter Ben Shalom told the Chronicle: “Callum’s fanbase is so big that he’s covering the whole town. A lot of the Barnsley fighters and their fans are coming anyway.
“He’s putting Barnsley on the map and hopefully he can be an inspiration to fighters from Barnsley who sometimes get overlooked.
“Hopefully they see him as a shining example on June 7 and can be back on big nights at Oakwell in the future.
“Callum has had to fight to get here, he wasn’t coming out of the Olympics or from one of the big cities.
“He had ten or 11 small hall fights and built himself up.”
Highly-rated super lightweight Adam Azim was added to the bill this week.
He is unbeaten in 13 fights and takes on Mexican Eliot Chavez.
Mark Jeffers, from Chorley, is also on the undercard and has suggested he wants to outperform fellow super-middleweight Simpson and set up a future Yorkshire v Lancashire fight between the two unbeaten stars.
Shalom said: “It’s the two best super middleweights in the country fighting on the same night.
“Callum is the star at the moment and the one selling out stadiums. Mark is extremely talented.
“Callum has put himself on a pedestal, he’s at the top and he’ll have talented fighters calling him out.
“Mark Jeffers against Simpson is a fight British boxing fans are calling for.
“There are dance partners in the UK that create massive fights.”
Jeffers fights American Sean Hemphill who ventures out of the States for the first time and has won 18 of his 20 fights.
Welsh featherweight Rhys Edwards takes on Sheffield-based Cameroonian Olympian Thomas Essomba. There is a middleweight clash between Scotsman Sam Hickey – the 2022 Commonwealth games gold medal winner – and Harley Hodgetts from Portsmouth.
Unbeaten light-heavyweight Red Johnson – who trained at Barnsley ABC like Callum but is from Sheffield – comes up against Harley Collison.
Unbeaten lightweight Frankie Stringer, from Liverpool, faces journeyman Kane Baker from Birmingham.
Ellis Price, from Leeds, takes on namesake Jake Price from Hereford.
Mauro Silva, an unbeaten middleweight from Portugal, is due to fight Omir Rodriguez from Panama.
