IT’S certainly been a long time coming but West Raintonโs Tommy Ward finally gets his first shot at the British super-bantamweight title this weekend when he opposes elder brother Martinโs conqueror, James โJazzaโ Dickens.
Tommy, 22, made his debut nearly five years ago and, having recently signed for Frank Warren, has been pushed onto the next level and, with twenty wins and two stoppages to his name, heโs ready for the big time.
That debut, the first for four appearances in five years on promoter Phil Jeffriesโ Summer Rumble at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland, gave supporters a glimpse of what was to come. A few months later he stopped local rival David Lake at the O2 Academy on Steve Wraithโs maiden outing โ Ward was only 18.
โIโm really glad that Iโve signed with someone like Frank Warren and it can only mean big things for me and my career,โ began Tommy. โIโm looking forward to seeing what the future holds and Iโm in there to do a job; I keep doing that and Frank will no doubt put the big names in front of me and bring big shows back to the region.โ
The past twenty-four months alone has seen challenges from fighters such as Isaac Owusu, Everth Briceno, Robbie Turley and Norbert Kalucza, dismissed in style.
โEvery opponent Iโve had has been different and they all lead to the big ones, like this against Jazza,โ he continued.
โStyles make fights and this is no different, weโre both good fighters, really good fighters, so itโll be a great fight to see.
โThe same with the other, local lads, on the undercard; Iโm sure that Josh [Leather] will win his title fight, and youโve also got his brother Kalam, and Joe [Maphosa] fighting โ thatโs fantastic for the region.โ
Dickens is a tough opponent for Ward but the skills have been honed rather well and he is as talented, and in-the-ring, silky smooth as they come. With two losses in twenty-four, one of the losses coming against Guillermo Rigondeuax, Dickens, the current British champion, will bring his A-Game.
Against Rigondeaux, Dickens found himself retiring after just three minutes of the second round due to a broken jaw following sustained pressure from the world champion โ both fighters will be looking to use this fight to catapult themselves into the global mix.
โHis [Dickensโ] fight with Marty was a cracking fight so I know what heโs like and what he can bring.
โItโs just another fight that I have to win and Iโll go out there to beat him and take his ranking. My brother, Kid Galahad and Rigondeaux are the only big names heโs faced, the rest are about the same Iโve faced so, on Saturday, itโs just me, him, and the referee in the ring.โ
Dickens claimed the title in Martin Wardโs back yard following a barnstormer of a contest in November 2015, Tommy will look for a little payback come Saturday night in Leeds.
โYes, I suppose thereโs a bit of revenge attached to it but I wonโt think about that, Iโve got a job to do myself and that is winning the British title.โ