Presser Day At BOXPARK — Open To The Public, Class Idea
Right then — fight week is properly here. Adam Azim and Steve Claggett meet for the open press conference at BOXPARK Wembley at 1pm today, with doors opening from 12pm. Friday's weigh-in is at the same venue, same format, same time. Both sessions open to the public for free.
Brilliant bit of week-of theatre from Ben Shalom and the BOXXER team. Wembley is Azim country — he grew up nearby in Slough, he sells the OVO Arena out, and getting the local kids and fans in the room for the build-up is proper boxing promotion. The Sky Sports era of locked-down ballroom pressers feels like a long time ago.
Why Claggett Is The Right Test Right Now
Make no mistake — Steve Claggett is a proper banana skin. Eight defeats on a 50-fight record sounds rough on paper, but read the names: O'Shaquie Foster, Jose Pedraza, Maxi Hughes — he has been in with the level. He has never been stopped. He throws punches non-stop for twelve. He is exactly the kind of opponent you only beat by being properly good. There is no walk through Claggett.
The original card had Adam in with Gustavo Lemos in January — both fighters got hurt in camp, the date got moved, Lemos pulled out completely, Claggett stepped in. Class from the Canadian to take the fight short notice. He has had a proper camp in for the May 30 date.
This Is The BBC Two Audition
Let's not beat around the bush — Saturday is the biggest free-to-air British boxing night of the year. BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, 9pm, the kind of audience numbers that put a 23-year-old super lightweight on a different commercial plane. Azim does not need to box brilliantly. He needs to be entertaining. He needs to look the part. He needs to make casual British boxing fans put the date in the diary the next time he fights.
The fight that follows this one is the one that matters — a unification or final eliminator at 140 pounds in the back end of the year. Win this clean Saturday and Adam picks up offers from every promoter in the room.
Prediction Watch
I make it Adam Azim by stoppage between rounds eight and ten. The young Brit is levels above on speed and on power output, but Claggett is durable enough to bank the early rounds while Azim feels him out. From round four onwards the body work starts paying dividends, by round seven the Canadian is breathing through his mouth, and a body shot finally folds him in the eighth or ninth. Brilliant performance, proper announcement on BBC Two, and the queue at 140 pounds starts forming behind Adam's name. The fight starts tonight at BOXPARK.