NEWLY-CROWNED British cruiserweight champion Viddal Riley has expressed his interest in a potential domestic dustup with Aloys Junior while, in equal measure, targeting a slot on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn’s expected rematch.
The 27-year-old produced a clinical performance to claim his Lonsdale Belt in April, dismantling Tokyo Olympian Cheavon Clarke en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Previous wins over the likes of Mikael Lawal and Nathan Quarless, too, have only enhanced his credentials on the domestic scene at 200lbs.
For his next assignment, meanwhile, Riley, 13-0 (7 KOs), has highlighted hard-hitting prospect Junior, 10-1 (9 KOs), as a possible opponent, not wishing to shy away from the vocal puncher.
Junior comes off a punishing third-round stoppage victory over David Jamieson and, in doing so, not only claimed the vacant Commonwealth title but, more importantly, became the mandatory challenger for Riley’s British strap.
Sure enough, the 22-year-old then called out the Londoner shortly after his emphatic finish, insisting that he is ready for the sizable jump in levels.
In response, Riley has not only welcomed the challenge but also suggested that their possible matchup could feature on the undercard of Eubank-Benn 2.
While an announcement is yet to emerge, a rematch clause in their original contract would indicate that Eubank and Benn are gearing towards a second encounter this September.
And with Riley’s victory over Clarke appearing on the undercard of their first fight – at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London – the slick technician believes that he and Junior could make for another intriguing feature later this year.
“Despite [Junior] having the Commonwealth title, he’s my mandatory [challenger],” Riley said on talkSPORT.
“I have an obligation to fight him. A responsibility of being a champion is to eliminate challengers.
“He’s earned the right to fight me; I’m more than willing to fight him and, if it can happen next, then let’s make it happen next.
“I think it’s a perfect fight to be [on the undercard of] an alleged rematch between Eubank and Benn. That would be a nice card to have a British and Commonwealth [title feature].”
