Telford’s Whitehead has first six rounder

Ryan Whitehead…itching to get a crack at the Midlands title

TELFORD hope 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 at BCB Promotions’ Hangar Events Venue, Wolverhampton, show on on Friday, March 10.

A four-round apprenticeship resulted in three victories from a trio of contests, including a third round TKO over Steve Davies in Ryan’s second outing.

Whitehead, who grew up in the Telford town 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, 40-36. The same result was registered against, Genadij Krajevskij in December.

Whitehead is now extended to a six-rounder, where he is looking to come out on top, in style, before settling down to watch the Midlands super middleweight title tussle.

Andy Owen and Michael Stephenson will go toe-to-toe for the vacant area crown, with Whitehead tight-lipped on who he thinks is the new champion-in-waiting.

Preparations 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.

“I’ve made no secret of it, I want the winner of the Midlands title fight between Andy Owen and Michael Stephenson. 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.”