Josh Kelly and Lewis Ritson announce next fights

LEWIS RITSON defends his British lightweight title against Paul Hyland Jr and Josh Kellychallenges Commonwealth welterweight champion Kris George on a bumper bill at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on June 16, live on Sky Sports.

Ritson is aiming to capture the coveted Lord Lonsdale for keeps in what has been a stunning reign as British ruler, landing the crown in October by stopping Robbie Barrett in the tenth round in Manchester before the Newcastle ace displaying his awesome power with a first round demolition against Joe Murray in February and coming out on top in a two-round shootout with former champion Scotty Cardle at The O2 in March.

Hyland Jr is the mandatory challenger for Ritson’s title and the unbeaten Belfast star will be confident of taking the title home having tasted title glory himself in 2017 landing the IBF European strap at home in June with a first round KO over Adam Dingsdale and then defending it against Dublin’s Stephen Ormond.

Kelly landed his first pro title at Principality Stadium in Cardiff in March, beating former IBF world champion Carlos Molina to claim the WBA International welterweight title in just his sixth pro fight. The Team GB Rio Olympian is one of the hottest properties in world boxing and the Sunderland star now aims to bag his second strap against Australian George, who makes the second defence of the title he landed in November 2016 in his first fight away from Australia.

There’s a stellar card in support of co-headliners as former world champion Stuart Hall challenges former world title challenger Gavin McDonnell for the WBC International super-bantamweight title. Hall has been chasing a rematch with McDonnell’s twin brother Jamie after falling to the Doncaster man in 2011, two years before he landed the IBF World Bantamweight title. There’s added spice to the fight as Darlington’s Hall also looks to gain revenge for gym-mate Gamal Yafai who McDonnell beat in a career-best performance in Sheffield in March to land the title he defends in Newcastle.

Another former world title challenger in Surrey’s Charlie Edwards faces an important clash against South Shields’ Anthony Nelson for the vacant WBA Continental super-flyweight title, while Middlesbrough’s Simon Vallily takes on English Cruiserweight champion Derby’s Arfan Iqbal.

Josh Kelly said, “It’s great to be fighting on a massive bill in the north east. When you are from here, you are fighting from day one, you don’t get the big opportunities that there are elsewhere so it’s great to bring the boxing back. Lewis and I are doing great things and I know the other North East boys on the bill are going to entertain so I can’t wait for a big night and the first of many here. Boxing brings the north east together, I can’t see the crowd being split, the fans are going to get behind us all and big-time boxing hasn’t been up here for a while and I feel now it’s the time to bring it back and the Metro Radio Arena is going to go off on June 16.”

Lewis Ritson said, “It’s been a rollercoaster from the Barrett fight to now, three good performances and hopefully a fourth to come on June 16 in front of my home fans. Paul is unbeaten and he’s definitely my toughest test to date. But I’ll be ready with my great team behind me, he’s confident and so am I, our styles will gel so that should make for a great fight for the fans. I want to go all the way to the top. You need a bit of luck in this game but hopefully I can get past Paul, who is a good fighter and one that I am not looking beyond.”