Boxing

MATT THIRLWELL BACK IN THE RING THIS MONTH

5 November 2007

Popular Bermondsey middleweight Matthew Thirlwall is returning to the ring in mid November, as he continues his quest to secure a national title, writes Jon Surtees...

Thirlwall, a former national ABA champion who has a professional record of 16-2, is taking on young northern fighter Lee Noble on the undercard of Darren Barker’s Commonwealth Title clash with Ben Crampton at the York Hall on Wednesday November 14.

The former Fisher champion – lauded as a top prospect when he turned pro in 2002 – is hoping to inject some momentum into his professional career by beginning to get regular fights.

Over the past two years Thirlwall’s appearances have been limited by a series of debilitating injuries to his knees and elbows. He has only fought six times since 2004, recording five comfortable victories and a hard-fought stoppage against the durable Donovan Smillie in January 2006.

His opponent – a prospect from the highly successful Brendan Ingle stable – has a record 7-5 with one knock out. At the time of writing he has lost his last two fights, against east end prospect George Hillyard and unbeaten Barnsley light middleweight Brian Rose. Noble is also due to fight this weekend against young Danish middleweight Thomas Povlsen on the under card of the super fight between Joe Calzaghe and Mikael Kessler.

A series of commanding victories for Thirlwall over the next six months could see him being lined up for a shot at either the British middleweight title held by Birmingham’s Wayne Elcock or the vacant English title.

Good form could also see him get a tilt at the English light-middleweight title held by awkward Sheffield campaigner Andrew Facey. There is also a strong possibility that the British light-middleweight crown, held by Mancunian Jamie Moore could shortly become vacant as he seeks higher honours at European level.

---

Social Bookmarks:
del.icio.us Digg Newsvine Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon
Wikipedia: social bookmarking

---