While all eyes will be on Anthony Joshua at Wembley on Saturday evening there will be quite a few from East Yorkshire looking forward to the undercard first.
Hull’s Luke Campbell faces the biggest test of his career as he fights Colombia’s Darleys Pérez for the chance to challenge the WBA lightweight belt holder Jorge Linares.
Since bursting onto the scene in 2012 by winning Gold in the London Olympics, Campbell has forged a steady path to stardom in the lightweight division but it has not all been plain sailing and he has had his critics. He has been accused of being inconsistent and has often had to win fights the hard way.
When he fought French boxer Yvan Mendy in London in December 2015 Campbell was floored for the first time in his professional career in a ragged defensive display as Mendy received a split decision win from the judges. It was the wake-up call he clearly needed.
After a three-month lay-off, Campbell started a comeback trail in March 2016 with a comprehensive victory over Gary Sykes for the vacant Commonwealth lightweight title. He went on to win a tough fight against the experienced Dominican fighter, Argenis Mendez in which Campbell proved he could last the distance and had the guile to overcome an early knockdown.
His two most recent fights have been even more impressive with early stoppages of Derry Matthews and Jairo Lopez in the fourth and second rounds respectively.
Darleys Pérez will have learnt a lot since his defeat by Manchester’ s Anthony Crolla and will be eager to show Campbell that he wants the fight against Linares just as much as he does.
Pérez is very experienced and has a record of 37 fights with only two defeats (a points decision against Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2013 and the knockout by Crolla). While he was probably fortunate to earn a draw against Crolla in July 2015, he is a more than decent fighter and has 33 knockouts to his name. Campbell will believe he has what it takes to beat Pérez but he cannot afford a single moment of complacency like he did in previous fights against Mendy (his only defeat) and Argenis Mendez.
Campbell, who was also a finalist on ITV’s hit show Dancing on Ice in 2013, will be looking to use his power to try and effect Pérez early on in the fight, but it will be far from easy to get close to the man from San Pedro de Urabá, who will be keen to avenge his defeat to Crolla on British soil. Now 27 and in his prime Campbell will look to have his skates on this Saturday to prove he has what it takes to be one of the very best.