Northampton boxer Conway happy as fight fans return for his Wembley showdown

Conway takes on his French opponent in a super welterweight contest as part of the undercard of the heavyweight world title bout between Antony Joshua and Kubrat Pulev, and it has been announced that 1,000 boxing fans will be able to attend.

London has been placed in tier two of the Government’s latest Covid-19 restrictions, and following approval for a crowd being allowed to attend from local authorities, promoters Matchroom Boxing have announced tickets will go on sale for the fight night this Friday.

But it won’t be cheap!

IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion Joshua is a huge draw who hasn’t fought on home soil for more than two years, and tickets to see this defence are priced at £100, £200, £300, £500 and £1,000 (VIP).

They will be available to purchase via AXS (www.axs.com) and StubHub (www.Stubhub.co.uk) on Friday (Dec 4) from 10am.

It will be the first time spectators will be allowed into boxing since March, and Conway, who claimed the WBA Intercontinental super-welterweight title in August with a behind-closed-doors fight with Nav Mansouri, is excited by the prospect.

“It will be great to have fans there,” said Conway, who is finalising his preparations for the big night.

“What we are here to do is put on a show and entertain, so it’s great to have people watching again.”

Strict safety measures and guidelines will be in place at Wembley to prevent the spread of Covid-19, but the managing director of Matchroom Sport, Eddie Hearn, is just delighted to seen fans returning to boxing again.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to see fans returning to our live boxing events,” said Hearn.

“Whilst the team have done an incredible job over the last 10 months, we live and breathe through the energy and atmosphere that a live crowd generates.

“It’s so fitting that they can return for an AJ fight, when through the last few years he has broken all kinds of attendance records in the UK and beyond. This is such a positive move for boxing and all sport.”

It has also been announced that a second Northampton boxer will be fighting on the night.

Super bantamweight Ashley Lane now fights out of Bristol, but he was born in Northampton and began his professional career in his home town.

Lane is set to be first in the ring at Wembley when he takes on Qais Ashfaq from Leeds, who is looking to bounce back after suffering the first defeat of his career at the hands of Marc Leach in October.

Lane, who is now 30, has a professional record of 14 wins, nine defeats and two draws. He won his most recent bout, seeing off Jose Aguilar on points over six rounds in July, 2019.

The event at Wembley is being promoted by Matchroom Boxing in association with Top Rank and Epic Sports and Entertainment, with all of the action being shown live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK.

On top of that, DAZN will be beaming the fight across the USA and to more than 200 countries and territories on its just-launched Global platform.

As well as the main event of Joshua against Pulev, the bill also sees Lawrence Okolie take on Krzysztof Glowacki for the vacant WBO cruiserweight world title and Manchester heavyweight Hughie Fury return to the ring to take on Poland’s Mariusz Wach.

Martin Bakole and Sergey Kuzmin fight for the vacant WBC international heavyweight title, Conway squares up to Cissokho in a 10-round super-welterweight clash, Ramla Ali faces Vanesa Caballero in her second professional fight and Lane gets in the ring with Ashfaq.

Don’t miss next Thursday's Chronicle & Echo for a big pre-fight interview with Kieron Conway.