Eddie Hearn has revealed three fights with world title ramifications which he plans to bring to the UK in the near future.
Eddie Hearn has revealed his plans for some of his biggest named fighters in the United Kingdom.
Matchroom Boxing got their 2026 underway with a spectacular away win for Sheffield-born Dalton Smith on January 10, as he defeated Subriel Matias to become WBC super-lightweight world champion in New York.
Hearn’s first event of what he has tipped to be an extremely successful year for his promotion is this Saturday in Las Vegas as double Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz challenges for the IBF lightweight world title against Raymond Muratalla in just his seventh pro contest.
Matchroom have formally announced their first two UK cards.
New signing Josh Kelly is making the big step up to challenge Bakhram Murtazaliev in Newcastle for the IBF super-welterweight world title.
Also, in Nottingham, Leigh Wood rematches rival Josh Warrington in front of his home fans.
In a recent interview with iFL TV, promoter Eddie Hearn has declared three fights with world title ramifications that he is planning to stage on UK soil, beginning with a WBO interim defence for Callum Smith (31-2, 22 KOs), who is poised to fight Cuba’s David Morrell (12-1, 9 KOs).
Hearn has stated “I would like to do Callum Smith vs David Morrell in Liverpool”
With purse bids set for next week, Hearn declared “Hopefully we win the bid, or me and Luis DeCubas can do a deal before”.
In addition to this, Hearn’s newest world champion Dalton Smith (19-0, 14 KOs) is set for a world title homecoming to Sheffield, with mandatory challenger Alberto Puello (24-1, 10 KOs) set to make the trip over to South Yorkshire in the hopes of bringing Smith’s reign to an early end.
IBF welterweight world champion Lewis Crocker (22-0, 11 KOs) is also set for a first defence of his title, after defeating Paddy Donovan for the vacant belt in front of his home city of Belfast, with purse bids for a showdown with Australia’s Liam Paro (27-1, 16 KOs) set for February 3.
Hearn told IFL TV that he “wants that fight in April, in Belfast”.
“I think it’s a great fight, Liam’s a brilliant fighter, but its a fight I think does really well in Belfast” said Hearn.
With a big year promised, these fights will provide excellent entertainment to British boxing lovers and reassure fight fans that domestic shows still remain a key focus for Matchroom Boxing, despite the allure of the Saudi shows.
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