Jordan Gill is aiming to make it two big road wins in a row when he takes on Manchester’s Zelfa Barrett in a must-win junior lightweight showdown at the famous AO Arena this Saturday April 13th, live worldwide on DAZN. From Chatteris, England, Gill is a former European and Commonwealth Champion at featherweight. He stunned Irish hero Michael Conlan with a seventh-round stoppage win on away territory at the SSE Arena Belfast in December and immediately called for a world title shot in his post-fight interview.
‘The Thrill’ had been written off by many ahead of his last-chance saloon clash with Conlan, but the 29-year old, who is trained by Barry Smith out of the Ben Davison Performance Centre in Harlow, produced the performance of his career to catapult his name into the title conversation in the 130 pounds division.
“Heading into the Conlan fight in December it was just laughable because everyone tipped him,” said Gill. “I knew how good I am. I knew what I’m capable of. I knew that I had to upset people. I knew I had to have something to prove. I proved people wrong and it was more pleasurable for me to do that. I knew the fight was mine from the first round. I rocked him heavy in the first round, dropped him in the second. From that point you know you have to be patient. Once you hurt someone once you know you’re going to do it again. It’s more about taking your time, tucking up a little bit, letting them burn themselves out and then going to town. That was the plan; it worked a treat.”
Gill came face-to-face with former European junior lightweight champion Barrett earlier this week at Manchester Hall as the pair kicked off fight week proceedings ahead of Saturday’s stacked card that features two world title fights in Ellie Scotney vs. Segolene Lefebvre and Rhiannon Dixon vs. Karen Elizabeth Carabjal.
‘Brown Flash’ has further title aspirations of his own having come up short against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov for the IBF title in Abu Dhabi back in November 2022, but Gill insists that his time is now and another big win this weekend will put him at the front of the line for a shot at gold.
“I feel the best that I’ve ever felt,” said Gill. “I feel so strong. I feel rejuvenated. I’m not killing myself to make weight. I feel happy. I feel prepared; well prepared. I’m looking forward to a fantastic fight. I think it’s going to be mouth-watering; it’s one that everyone is talking about. I’m just dead excited. This is the chapter now where we’re going to make it all count.
“He looks well prepared. He looks ready. He looks like he’s got the bit between his teeth. He looks like he wants to hurt me. We’ve got to go in and do our job. I think there’s no way that this fight isn’t an exciting fight. I think I win this fight by knockout. This is what I’ve worked for; this is what I’ve dreamed of since I’ve been a kid.
“I just like upsetting people and I think I get a kick out of people telling me that I can’t win fights. Everyone expected me to lose the Conlan fight, and going in there and pulling it off – for me that’s exciting and that’s what boxing is all about. It’s all about the good fights and this is a really good fight. I’m ready to go to the well.
“For me, all of the pressure is on Zelfa. Everyone is expecting me to lose this fight. I’m coming to the lion’s den again. Everyone is making me the underdog again. No problem, just put all of that pressure on him and we’ll turn up, do what we need to do and come away victorious.
“To be the best you have to beat the best. So, to have a claim to a World Title you have to go through these fights. Zelfa is a very good fighter, he wants a World Title shot and he’s probably at the front of the queue, so I have to beat him to leapfrog him. That’s why we’re here.”
