Never a dull moment.
There’s been a last minute change of opponent for Liverpool’s Callum Smith, who will take to the ring on Saturday night in the second World Boxing Super Series super-middleweight semi-final.
Original opponent Jürgen Brähmer has withdrawn from the fight due to illness but the tournament organisers wasted no time in finding a replacement as they’ve announced that Dutchman Nieky Holzken will now get the chance to fight for a place in the final.
Holzken was already set to clash with Dmitry Chundinov on the event’s undercard but has been moved into the main event, when he will have the opportunity to extend his unbeaten record.
A respected kickboxer, Holzken won the Glory welterweight title in 2015 and has two European Muay Thai championships to his name.
BREAKING: Undefeated @niekyholzken replaces Juergen Braehmer as @CallumSmith23’s semi-final opponent
✏️ Full story: https://t.co/mnI5CmLjFz#SmithHolzken 🏆 #AliTrophy pic.twitter.com/WAJhJspwZd
— World Boxing Super Series (@WBSuperSeries) February 20, 2018
The 34-year-old has come out on top in each of his 13 boxing outings, with 10 of those victories coming by way of knockout but Smith will be heavily favoured to hand Holzken his first defeat in the boxing ring.
Smith has put together a flawless 23-0 professional record and is regarded as one of the best super-middleweights in Britain.
George Groves got his hand raised in the first semi-final on Saturday night, when he outclassed Chris Eubank Jr over 12 rounds in Manchester.
Where @StGeorgeGroves dislocates shoulder. #GrovesVsEubank pic.twitter.com/sdHfb7y62p
— Robert (@REGZY1) February 17, 2018
A dislocated shoulder cast doubt on whether Groves would even make it to the tournament final, which is scheduled for June 2, but he remains confident that he will be fit and firing on all cylinders by then.
“That said, 2 June might still work. We haven’t had that information yet,” Groves told BBC Radio 5 live on Sunday.
“The shoulder feels great after being put back in place. I’m confident that I will be challenging for the Muhammad Ali trophy. This is going to be my trophy – I want it.”
