Warren signing binge results in new deals for 6 Queensberry fighters
World titlists Ball, Cacace and Sheeraz, Itauma, Davies, Noakes stay on
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Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren has been busy.
The Hall of Fame British promoter, already with one of the deepest rosters of talent in boxing, announced on Tuesday that he has signed six of his fighters to new promotional agreements, including WBA featherweight titlist Nick Ball and IBF junior lightweight titleholder Anthony Cacace.
Also penning new deals were middleweight contender Hamzah Sheeraz, junior featherweight contender Liam Davies, top heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma and European, British and Commonwealth lightweight champion Sam Noakes
“I am thrilled to secure the futures of (six) such richly talented fighters,” Warren said. “We have worked with nearly all of them right from the beginning or very early in their careers and the faith we have shown in each other has been rewarded by them realizing their potential and justifying the belief we had in them.
“I am certain there are more world champions to come from this group, who are all set for further exciting developments in the coming months.”
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Ball (21-0-1, 12 KOs), 27, of England, outpointed Raymond Ford Jr. to take his world title on June 1 on the “5 vs. 5” card and made his first defense in a Liverpool homecoming bout by knocking out longtime contender Ronny Rios in the 10th round on Oct. 5.
Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs), 35, a southpaw from Northern Ireland, won his world title by eighth-round knockout of Joe Cordina in a major upset in May. Cacace made his first defense by wide unanimous decision over former featherweight titlist Josh Warrington and sent him into retirement on Sept. 21.
Cacace’s signing was announced on the same day that the IBF scheduled a purse bid for his mandatory defense against Eduardo Nunez (28-1, 28 KOs), 27, of Mexico, who earned the title shot in February with an 11th-round knockout of former titlist Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov in a final eliminator on Rakhimov’s turf in Tajikistan.
Cacace-Nunez was ordered on Sept. 25 but with the sides failing to make a deal by the Oct. 24 deadline, the IBF notified all of its registered promoters that a purse bid is scheduled for Nov. 7 at 12 p.m. ET at the IBF offices in Springfield, New Jersey, and via video conference. The sides can still make a deal until 15 minutes before the bids are unsealed. Nunez had agreed to step aside to allow Cacace-Warrington to take place with the promise that he would get the next title shot no later than March 20, 2025.
Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs), 25, of England, has emerged the hottest of all middleweight contenders this year thanks to three impressive wins, a first-round knockout of Liam Williams in February, an 11th-round knockout of then-unbeaten Austin “Ammo” Williams on the “5 vs. 5” card in June, and a second-round destruction of Tyler Denny to win the European title on Sept. 21.
Earlier this month, the WBO ordered unified middleweight titlist Janibek Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) to make his mandatory defense against Sheeraz. Warren and Alimkhanuly promoter Top Rank are in negotiations with a recent purse bid postponed at the request of both camps and re-scheduled for Nov. 4.
Davies (16-0, 8 KOs), 28, of England, the former European and British junior featherweight champion, signed his new deal shortly before he is due to face Shabaz Masoud (13-0, 4 KOs), 28, of England, who looms as Davies’ apparent toughest test, in the main event of the Queensberry card on Saturday in Birmingham, England.
The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs), 19, a British southpaw, has shown tremendous potential. He knocked out faded former heavyweight title challenger Mariusz Wach in the second round in his last fight in July and is scheduled for a significant step up in opposition against Demsey McKean (22-1, 14 KOs), 34, an Australian southpaw. They will meet on Dec. 21 on the undercard of the rematch between unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and former champion Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. McKean is coming off his only loss, a 12th-round knockout to contender Filip Hrgovic in August,
Noakes (15-0, 14 KOs), 27, of England, won the European title in April via unanimous decision over Yvan Mendy and made his first defense by knocking out Gianluca Ceglia in the eighth round on Sept. 6.
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Good move by the fighters