Dan Azeez will meet challenger Andre Sterling for the English light heavyweight title on the Golden Contract bill at London's York Hall on March 20th. Azeez (11-0, 7 KOs) shot to prominence last year with an emphatic stoppage win over Charlie Duffield and now defends his national crown against Sterling (10-2, 4 KOs), who was edged out of the Golden Contract tournament at the quarter-final stage. [Sterling has lost two straight].

 

Azeez said: “I like to keep things traditional and winning and defending these titles is a way of proving myself. Andre and I train in the same gym and we’re from the same area so I know a lot about him already. The British title is the logical next step after the English one. If I win that, I’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment because it’s a very prestigious title. Beyond that, there are stages bigger than the British scene and ultimately, that’s the direction I want to be heading in.”

 

Azeez won the title with an assured victory over the previously-undefeated Lawrence Osueke on the undercard of the Golden Contract quarter-finals back in December. That same night, Sterling suffered defeat to Liam Conroy having been previously outpointed by world-ranked Craig Richards.

 

Four light-heavyweights in Conroy, Hosea Burton, Ricards Bolotniks and Serge Michel, battle it out for places in the Golden Contract final on the same night.