Rival British super middleweight contenders Callum Smith (17-0, 12ko) and Rocky Fielding (21-0, 12ko) are set to meet in a dust up to divide their home city, when the two unbeaten locals two go toe to toe at the Echo Arena, Liverpool on November 7th, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
The fight will be for the vacant British 168lb strap and will also serve as an”official WBC eliminator,” with #2 Smith’s lightly regarded WBC international silver title also on the line against the #12 rated Fielding.
Smith, the youngest of the fighting family of brothers, is seeking to emulate Paul, Stephen and Liam, (who have all previously held the Lonsdale belt at their respective weights), when he steps in to face Fielding – who in many estimates will enter the fight a slight underdog.
Last time out Smith was made to struggle and had to overcome sustained pressure from France’s Christopher Rebrasse in a fight that represented a career best win for the highly touted 25 year old, though it led many to believe he may not be as far down the road in terms of being the ‘finished article’ as people thought.
Fielding, who launched his career off the back of winning the Prizefighter tournament back in 2011, beat American Brian Vera on the same night as Smith’s Rebrasse win, destroying the far smaller man inside two rounds, thus setting up November’s all-Liverpool showdown.
“This is one of the biggest domestic fights of the year and such a fascinating fight,” said promoter Eddie Hearn at today’s announcement.
“Neither fighter would back down or out of this fight and now fight fans get an absolute cracker. It is 21-0 vs. 17-0 and both fighters are ranked highly across all world governing bodies.
“There is going to be some atmosphere at a packed Echo Arena on November 7 but the big question is – who’s fooling who?, he added.
Twitter @Undilutedpoison