In the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, amongst the pomp and ceremony of the undisputed heavyweight showdown, there is a York Hall-esque clash, featuring a fighter once described by Turki Alalshikh as his favourite.
Mark Chamberlain (15-0), a 25 year old lightweight from Portsmouth has recently received masses of attention, due to his influential Saudi fan. The sinister southpaw is rightly described as ‘Thunder’, due to his ferocious flurries.
His last bout also took place within the kingdom, on the undercard of Joshua vs Ngannou, where he would demonstrate a masterclass against Merthyr hard-man Gavin Gwynne (17-3-1). It was in this one-sided contest that Chamberlain would beat Gwynne bloody, claiming the vacant WBA Inter-Contenental Lightweight belt in the process.
Now, with the WBC Silver Lightweight belt on the line, Chamberlain will be interested in the prospect of taking to Saudi soil once again, facing WBO Africa Super Featherweight champion Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab (23-1).
Somewhat of an unknown quantity, Wahab mostly fights in Accra, Ghana; considered to be the home of African boxing. Appearing suave and confident in his press statements, and boasting an impressive record, Wahab will be a true danger in the ring.
Wahab has also been represented with a major opportunity, having been derailed from earning the Commonwealth Super Featherweight belt in an eliminator via way of Liam Dillon (13-2-1) in 2022. However, Wahab did go the distance and even got the bout scored a draw on one card.
‘The Wealth Machine’, despite being smaller and giving up certain advantages to Chamberlain, will be threatening, given his 70% knockout ratio. Chamberlain, meanwhile, will be wanting to use his longer-than-average reach for his weight class to his benefit; his ring control will be key to out-manoeuvring Wahab and catching him with a free-flow of punches.
And so, in this fresh and exciting time for boxing, unique and interesting bouts that would previously grace the small-halls can now be exhibited to the eyes of the world; this will not be a bout to miss.
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