The final pre-fight words have been exchanged ahead of a huge night of free-to-air boxing live from the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Friday night on Channel 5
Nathan Gorman (18-1, 12 KOs) and Josh Kelly (10-1-1, 6 KOs) have both promised statement wins as they return to action as part of a huge night of free-to-air boxing on Friday night at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool live from 9pm on Channel 5.
The IBF International Heavyweight Championship will be the incentive for both fighters, as Gorman (18-1, 12 KOs) faces the Heavyweight king of the Czech Republic, Tomas Salek (17-3, 13 KOs) on Friday June 17. The winner can also claim a one-way ticket to the top 15 of this division, and take this opportunity to make new waves amongst the most dangerous men on the planet.
Nathan Gorman
“I’m feeling great to be honest, one of the best camps I’ve ever had. There’s no excuses, I’ve left no stone unturned for this one. I walk through the press conference doors today and could see my big face everywhere on the backdrops, live on Channel 5, I’m living the dream. An unbelievable feeling really, and I’m just excited for Friday night.”
“I believe this is Nathan Gorman’s time. I can go back 300 or 400 years of fighting heritage within my family. I believe I’m here fighting for a reason, and everyone will be able to see that reason come Friday night.”
“I have had a brief period away from the ring, but I’m only 25 years old and I have a long career ahead of me. It has been 15 months out of the ring, but I’ve spent those 15 months grafting hard, perfecting my boxing skills day in, day out. Like I said before, there’s no excuses. When I walk out of the M&S Bank Arena come Friday, every box has been ticked.”
“To me, boxing is my job and it’s a job that needs doing. I’m calm now, but come fight time I become a different person. I speak for all the fighters here when I say we all have our different routines of how they approach the fight, but I just like to relax with my team up until we hit that arena. It’s game on when we arrive, hands wrapped, and it’s go time.”
“Being Live on Channel 5 is amazing, especially off the back of the previous show pulling in one million viewers. It’s a heavyweight bout, we’re both big punchers representing this card, ideally we want to be bumping them figures up even more! Tomas Salek is a very credible opponent – he’s young, he’s ambitious, and he’s coming off two good wins. He’s here to win, and to win that title to push into the top 15 of the world rankings. If anything happens in the future for the world titles, we could be getting phone calls to step in. That’s how seriously I see this fight for me and for my opponent. I wish it was tonight so we could get it on.”
“Tune in and expect a big win.”
Tomas Salek
“I feel amazing, and I hope you’re all looking forward to this fight. I’m looking forward to fighting for this title.”
“I’m not solely reliant on my punching power. I’ve prepared for all the ways this fight could go, and the focus will be on me performing to my best.”
“This fight will end however it is supposed to end on Friday night.”
Liverpool hosts the return of “Pretty Boy” Josh Kelly (10-1-1, 6 KOs), and the Sunderland man will face the 32-year-old Hungarian Peter Kramer (12-5-3, 8 KOs) in Liverpool on June 17 as Wasserman Boxing presents another huge night of free-to-air terrestrial television action.
Josh Kelly
“I can’t wait to be live on Channel 5 and competing in the city of Liverpool. The arena is somewhere where I’ve boxed before, I know how good the Liverpool crowd are, so I can’t wait to put a performance on and show off my skills.”
“After the disappointing issue with my opponent in London, I just locked in to this one. I just told myself that there’s 5 weeks until the Liverpool card so just keep working hard in the gym, keep sparring, and keep everything ready – that’s exactly what I did. I believe in myself and I believe that I am one of the best, so I just need to prove it on the night and I’m sure I will.”
“Peter is a good, experienced operator. I believe I’m going to be too fit, too strong, too prepared and too fast for him. I’m going to put him in deep water before he even realises.”
“My prediction? A big win, that’s it.”
Peter Kramer
“First of all, I’d like to greet everyone who is here today. I know of Josh Kelly, and I’m very happy to be here in the UK, this is my fifth time fighting here. I’m very appreciative for this opportunity and very aware of the opportunity. I respect that this fight will be against a very prominent opponent that Josh Kelly is, but I’ll be doing everything I can in the ring to win. We’ll see what happens on fight night.”
“Like any fighter, I’ll be relying on my heart first and foremost. I’ve been preparing hard for this, and I’m fit and ready to perform. If I combine my heart, my preparation and my conditioning – I give myself a good chance of taking a big win back to Hungary.”
An action packed undercard features the homecoming for one of Liverpool’s hottest young prospects as Chloe Watson (2-0) steps up in competition to face Fara El Bousairi (4-2, 1 KO) in front of her home fans. This stacked card also features the professional debut of former reality television and MMA star Aaron Chalmers, who will be looking to enter the boxing scene with a bang at the M&S Bank Arena this Friday, June 17.
Chloe Watson
“I feel nerves and excitement coming in to any fight – even more so when it’s going to be in Liverpool. It’s good though. It was mentioned before, what makes Liverpool such a great fighting city? I can say first hand that it is the people. The amount of people that support me and get behind me is the reason I am where I am today. The reason why I’ve pushed to get where I’m going to get to is because of people like my dad and all those who back me. The fighting city of Liverpool pushes me to get to where I want to be.”
“It’s going to be a competitive fight, but it’s what I’m used to. I boxed with Team GB for 3 years, and ever since I was 15 I have been boxing for England. I’m used to competitive fights, they excite me. This is one of them fights, I’m excited and look forward to putting on a good performance.“
“Working with Ricky (Hatton) has been great. I’ve been lucky enough to be alongside him as he goes on this new journey. It’s very inspirational as he did just flick the switch, and you can see from the weight loss that he’s not messing about. He has been in the gym, he has been dieting, he has been training. It’s good to see that winning mentality, it never goes, it’s always with him.”
“It’s definitely inspired me for this camp for sure. Being in his presence, even before him getting back into training, it’s just a great environment to be in and everything is on the up.”
Aaron Chalmers
“I’ve been excited mate. It has been a long time coming. I’ve had a few setbacks with injuries and other things – but now feels like the right time and what better place to start than Liverpool. It’s like Newcastle; they like football, drinking and boxing. So it’s a great place to start.”
“When I went to Adam (Booth) about 22 months ago I started fresh. For the first 6 months I was just jabbing so I’ve got the perfect jab. I’ve spent the time grafting my arse off away from my family and my mrs to chase the dream. It’s been 22 months in the making so come fight night I’ll be excited to go out there and put on a show.”
“Lets take care of Friday first before I start making future plans. It’s going to be a quick two years for me – but I want to try and succeed and do everything I can. Lets get the job done Friday and we can go again.”
Promoter Kalle Sauerland has praised Liverpool in the build up to this fight on more than one occasion. The Head of Global Boxing had expressed his delight at the successes of the London show, and cannot wait to see what this great fighting city has to offer.
Kalle Sauerland
“There’s always a spring in my step coming off the train when I arrive in Liverpool. I’ve got more friends in Liverpool than I have in London, that’s not saying much but it speaks volumes of the people here. It’s a fantastic city to promote in, it’s a fantastic fight town. A true fight town. It’s been a few years since we’ve had a fight here, the last time was with the Boxing Super Series, and now we’re bringing the heavyweights. Headlining this time is Nathan Gorman, with Josh Kelly out to make a statement on his return too.”
“For us at Wasserman Boxing it’s all about the boxing, we’re in Australia next week and we’re looking to push for 25 or 30 events this year. The most fantastic thing was that last show. After all the effort that went into the fights, with some true warrior performances on show, it was truly satisfying to get a message from the Head of Sport from Channel 5 messaging to inform me that we’d cracked the million-viewer figure on the Friday night. That’s what we want to be doing. All the girls and guys have gone through terrific camps, they go through blood, sweat and tears, as well as their fantastic teams and trainers; it’s exceptional. To have that rewarded with, not just a few thousand viewers, but with a million viewers is something very special.”
“Linus and Denzel were not yet household names when they fought in London, but people saw the quality on show and opted to stay tuned and watched the fight. We want to keep attracting new fans of the sport who are not yet opting to watch boxing on other platforms. Airing boxing here in the UK, it’s an opportunity we are grasping with both hands; it’s every promoter’s dream. We’re hoping Saturday night for the fighters to seize their chance and take full advantage of being seen.”
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Heavyweights collide as Nathan Gorman (18-1, 12 KOs) takes on Tomas Salek (17-3, 13 KOs) as part of a huge night of free-to-air boxing on Friday June 17 at the M&S Bank Arena. ‘Pretty Boy’ Josh Kelly (10-1-1, 6 KOs) also features alongside the professional debut of Aaron Chalmers and former Team GB fighter Chloe Watson (2-0) as she continues her undefeated start as a professional under the tutelage of Ricky Hatton, fighting over 6 rounds in the Flyweight division against Fara El Bousairi (5-2, 1 KO). The undefeated Paddy Lacey (2-0) and John Edwardson (2-0) will both be looking for wins in front of their home crowd, with Mason ‘Nutty’ Cartwright (17-3, 7 KOs) and heavyweight’s Hosea Stewart (2-0) and giant ‘Magic’ Matty Harris (2-0, 1 KO) also promising to provide Liverpool with more highlight moments. Promoted by Wasserman Boxing, live on Channel 5, in association with William Hill, Numan and Infinitum Entertainment.
Limited tickets are available via https://www.ticketquarter.co.uk/
