Small Hall Spotlight: BBC Wales welcomes pro boxing back with stacked Welsh championship show

Joshua John (left) fights Mark McKeown for the Celtic featherweight belt

The LC in the Maritime Quarter of Swansea may not be a notable boxing venue, but the show it hosts on Saturday has special significance.

Yet this one is to be shown live on BBC2 Wales and BBC iPlayer, ending the national broadcaster's 17-year absence from the sport.

BBC Wales head of content commissioning, Nick Andrews explains the long-awaited return of pro boxing to BBC TV screens.

"It's a sport that resonates with us," he says. "And as such we are really excited to be able to bring three Welsh title fights free to air on a Saturday night. It's also great to broadcast live from Swansea, a city with a fine boxing tradition."

Older boxing fans will, of course, recall the BBC's regular ringside presence throughout the 20th Century.

From iconic occasions such as the 'Rumble in the Jungle', contested between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974, to the careers of British legends Henry Cooper, Barry McGuigan and Frank Bruno, the BBC was formerly a stalwart of the sport.

• Alvarez to face Golovkin in trilogy fight
• Fight Talk: Buatsi v Richards was a love-in

By the turn of the millennium, the media landscape had begun to shift, however, and boxing moved largely on to subscription and ultimately pay-per-view television.

Opportunities to watch the sport for free became rare, contributing to the growing impression that it had become a niche interest.

The BBC's last televised action featured Sheffield's Clinton Woods winning the IBF world light-heavyweight championship in 2005.

"Boxing had a much more mainstream audience in the old days," says Chris Sanigar, a former fighter turned manager and promoter who now runs Sanigar Events, which is putting on the Swansea show.

"And the BBC was a big part of that. When people went to put their TV on in the evenings, they always started with the BBC. It was like the go-to outlet for everything, so some of those really big nights of the past were like national events."

"I think it's so important for the sport that the BBC is getting involved in boxing again. I'm sure it will bring extra viewers to us, because even now not everybody has subscription TV, do they?"

"We're hoping very much that this will be an ongoing thing, and the start of a new era of boxing on the BBC," the 66-year-old continues.

"We understand they want to dip their toe in the water first and test the temperature, so to speak, but we're very confident that our three title fights will live up to expectations and this will be the beginning of something special."

Top of the Swansea card will see two bouts with unbeaten fighters facing off, as Risca's Jake Tinklin (7-0) takes on Cardiff's Lloyd Germain (5-0) for the Welsh welterweight championship, while Joshua John (4-0) from Port Talbot goes up against Scotsman Mark McKeown (6-0) for the Celtic featherweight belt.

Both Germain and John are trained by top coach Tony Borg at the famous St Joseph's Gym in Newport, where Borg previously worked with former IBF featherweight world champion Lee Selby, among others.

The vacant Welsh middleweight strap will also be contested between Morgan Jones (14-2) from Aberdare and Gerome Warburton (9-1-1) from Colwyn Bay, along with an undercard of up-and-coming Welsh talent.

Morgan Jones takes on Gerome Warburton in a battle for the Welsh middleweight belt

Continuing the theme, the evening's presentation and commentary team will be stacked with legendary Welsh boxing figures such as former world cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli, Olympic gold medallist Lauren Price and star trainer and ex-pro Gary Lockett.

"Of course, it's such a huge night for Welsh sport," Sanigar says.

"We've had some shows on S4C, which were very successful but all of us at Sanigar Promotions are so excited at getting to showcase this event on the BBC platform. It's absolutely mega for everyone involved."

• 'I love being a professional loser' - meet 151-fight journeyman Lewis van Poetsch
• Skills don't pay bills - tickets do in the world of small show boxing

"But as well as the Welsh angle, I want to stress that this is huge news for British boxing in general. This night has come along at such a great time because the whole small hall scene has really struggled for the last couple of years. The coronavirus pandemic, with all the lockdowns, hit us so hard.

"People at the top end of the sport were able to more or less carry on as normal, but at small hall level, it's all about ticket sales and of course, all that suddenly stopped, which was so hard for everybody.

"The managers, the promoters, the trainers, we've all had a tough time, but it's been worst for the boxers.

"Some fighters even packed it in altogether. So, for the scene to make the comeback it has, and now for the BBC to come back in, it's just a massive boost for all of us."