Telford's Ryan Whitehead ready to make statement in hunt for title
Telford boxer Ryan Whitehead is planning to complete six rounds and then head to ringside when his rival for supremacy at area level should be decided.
He steps up when BCB Promotions return to the Hangar Events Venue, in Wolverhampton, for a show which will be broadcast live on Fightzone tomorrow.
And Whitehead is looking to come out on top, in style, before settling down to watch the Midlands super middleweight title tussle between Andy Owen and Michael Stephenson.
“I’ve made no secret of it, I want the winner of the Midlands title fight between Andy Owen and Michael Stephenson,” he said. “I’ve told my team that.
“I’ve sparred both of them and let’s just say that one of them impressed me and the other didn’t. I won’t share my prediction, until after the fight – and we are on the same show.
“I’m not here to pad my record out, I don’t think I’ve got the time to hang around. I know that I’m fit enough to put myself into a title situation.
“I feel like I’ve got enough to give and fast recovery is my key thing. It only takes me 30 seconds to recover between rounds.
“Both me and Michael (Stephenson) have boxed my last opponent. Michael knows that he’s a tough man and I’d have to agree with that.
“I thought I had him, in the second round. I hit him, with an overhand right, and he looked hurt, but fair play to him for carrying on.
“Everyone likes to get stoppages, but it’s valuable to get rounds under your belt, as well. That can make a difference, to me, going forward.”
A four-round apprenticeship resulted in three victories from a trio of contests for Whitehead, including a third-round TKO over Steve Davies, in his second outing.
Whitehead, who grew up in Oakengates but now lives in Muxton, debuted way back in February 2020, just before the pandemic took hold.
That came after an amateur career that saw him amass 21 unpaid bouts, with 11 victories, representing the Telford and Donnington Boxing Clubs.
He turned over at the age of 26, outpointing Kearon Thomas by a whitewash verdict, through a 40-36 scoreline. The same result was registered against Genadij Krajevskij in December.
And preparations for his latest bout have been relatively seamless for the engaged father-of-three, who lost both of his great-grandparents in the run-up to his last two fights.
He said: “Training has been really good, it’s been a much better camp this time. In fact, it’s been the best one that I’ve had in a while, because there has been no distractions.
“We’ve had some good for sparring, such as Nathan Heaney (IBO International title holder), Tyler Denny (English champion) and Aaron Bowen (Commonwealth Games gold medallist).
“Those lads are well up the chain, so it’s great for me. I spar with Tyler a lot. Me, him and Liam Davies (British and European champion) tend to be in the gym together, during the day.
“I’m preparing for a longer distance and have been doing six rounds fine, in sparring. My engine is fine. I feel like I could go up to 12 rounds, if I wanted to.”
Tickets for the Hangar bill are available, priced at £40 standard or £75 VIP ringside, directly from the boxers or by visiting myfighttickets.com
