Britain’s newest boxing competition draws to a close this Saturday night as Bob Ajisafe meets Travis Dickinson in the 2014 MaxiNutrition Knockout final, live on Channel 5.
The inaugural eight-man light-heavyweight tournament, promoted by Hennessy Sports, began in March and reaches its climax this weekend as Ajisafe from Leeds goes head-to-head with Dickinson from County Durham in a contest which also carries the British Light Heavyweight Championship belt, a title that Ajisafe won earlier in the competition.
Glow, part of the Bluewater events complex in Kent, will be the stage for the first ever MaxiNutrition Knockout final on Saturday, November 8, with the contest having been delayed from its original October date after Ajisafe suffered a lower back injury during training towards the end of September.
The Yorkshire fighter is now fit and ready to fight for the first ever MaxiNutrition Knockout trophy, with this year’s competition having already seen both finalists involved in two fight of the year contenders and the final has the ingredients to produce yet another one.
Ajisafe started his route to the final in a thrilling points win over former European, British and Commonwealth champion Dean Francis back in March and then he stopped Southern Area champion Leon Senior in five rounds at Leeds Town Hall in May.
Dickinson’s first fight in his quest to reach the final saw him knocking down the former European champion Danny McIntosh in the first round and then twice in the third round, before the fight was eventually stopped towards the end of that round.
Then came the rocky style performances from Dickinson and brave Matty Clarkson in what was the pick of the semi finals at Leeds Town Hall.
From the first bell both came out fighting and both put everything on the line and after hitting the canvas 3 times each the referee decided that Clarkson was unable to continue due to a cheek injury and halted the fight in the sixth and Dickinson confirmed his spot in the final.
Commenting on the final, tournament promoter Mick Hennessy said “After the brilliant MaxiNutrititon semi-finals, I’m looking forward to the final just as much as any other boxing fan, this has been a great tournament for British boxing and now we have a worthy final to finish it off.
“In my opinion the semi-final between Dickinson and Clarkson should be fight of the year worldwide not just domestically!”
Watch all the action from the final of the 2014 MaxiNutrition Knockout live and on free-to-air television this Saturday night on Channel 5.
UPDATE: Travis Dickinson has withdrawn from the MaxiNutrition Knockout final two days ahead of his fight against Bob Ajisafe due to a leg injury he picked up in training.
Dickinson will now be replaced by Preston’s Matty Clarkson, who lost to the County Durham fighter in the semi-finals.
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Channel 5 will broadcast live coverage of the inaugural MaxiNutrition Knockout final live from Glow, Bluewater, on Saturday, November 8.
Mark Pougatch presents Channel 5’s two-hour programme from 10.00pm on fight night, which is headlined by the meeting of Bob Ajisafe and Travis Dickinson, plus there will be action from the pick of the undercard fights.
Fight commentary is led by Dave Farrar and former World Super Middleweight champion Richie Woodhall, with respected American boxing broadcaster and Channel 5 boxing regular Al Bernstein also part of the team.
Boxing fans can catch up with the action they may have missed by watching the entire live broadcast shortly afterwards on Demand 5, available on all devices.
Channel 5 has followed the first staging of the MaxiNutrition Knockout all year and has covered Hennessy Sports boxing events since 2011, providing professional boxing’s only current free-to-air TV outlet.
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Saturday 8th November
MaxiNutrition Knockout:
LIVE: 10.00pm-12.00am Channel 5
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