BEWARE the party pooper. Rylan Charlton has joined the Matchroom bubble in Wembley determined to burst another bubble, when he meets the London-based Albanian phenomenon Florian Marku over 10 rounds at the SSE Arena this Saturday. While the European title clash between defending champion David Avanesyan and Sunderland’s Josh Kelly is the talk of the town, promoter Eddie Hearn has conjured up a chief support bout between two undefeated welterweights you might be advised not to take your eyes off.
Former kickboxing king Marku is desperate to blow away the Norwich man and bury the memory of a disputed draw on his Matchroom debut back in December.
However, Charlton, the ‘Pintsized Powerhouse’ has already upset the Joe Laws bandwagon, clinically dismantling the loveable Geordie with a third-round KO in Peterborough last October. It eradicated that particular crowd-pleaser’s 0 and Rylan is aiming to remove another this Saturday in the shadow of the giant Wembley arch against the equally-popular Marku (7-0-1) who is hardly short on confidence or been low on the volume setting.
“You can say he’s confident,” Charlton told BN. “I’d describe him as cocky at the end of the day.
“I think he needs to simmer down a bit – he seems to call out everyone in the welterweight division.
“He needs to calm down a bit and focus on his boxing.
“He’s talking about being world champion and he’s drawing with Jamie Stewart, who boxed well admittedly.
“For me, it’s been good to box two opponents with big followings because that can only boost my profile and following.
“A win would really get my name out there and people will see what the Pint Size Powerhouse is all about.”
Charlton (6-0-1) certainly shed his unheralded tag after that triumph over Laws at the East of England Arena so how has life changed for the 28-year-old?
“It’s been good, it’s not changed much, I’ve got a bit more social media fame I suppose, “ he said.
“But I’ve continued working and still have my feet on the ground, you can’t get carried away.
“Staying grounded and focused is important. The more professional you keep it the easier it is, I don’t see the point getting into the slagging matches some boxers get involved with.”
Hearn has assembled an undercard of quality rather than quantity with a strong Mexican flavour. Robbie Davies Jnr has boxed only once since his fight of the year contender with Lewis Ritson in 2019 and looks to return to the super-lightweight world rankings by beating in-form Mexican, Gabriel Valenzuela, over 10 rounds. It’s the same distance for Jordan Gill who has Cesar Juarez for company at featherweight while Romford heavyweight, Johnny Fisher, will make his professional debut against Matt Gordon.
