Wolverhampton Civic Hall is to play host to the next round of Prizefighter on January 28 - and set to feature at least two popular Midlanders.Matchroom Sports' always-interesting three-round, eight-man format, in which the winner receives £32,000, ventures outside the capital for only the fourth time and lands in the Midlands for the first time, after two in Liverpool and one in Newcastle.
And Midlands Boxing can exclusively reveal that added local interest comes to the catch-weight light-welter and welterweight tournament in the form of West Bromwich's former British welterweight champion Young Mutley [pictured with his Lonsdale Belt] and hard-as-nails Telford 36-year-old Mark Lloyd.
Neither man is a stranger to the Sky Sports-televised show, having both reached the semis in their previous tilt at the crown. Former Midland Area welterweight, International Masters light-middle and British Masters middleweight monarch Lloyd, 15-4 (3), outpointed former IBO 11st boss Steve Conway in the 2008 welterweight event at York Hall before bowing out to ex-European champion Ted Bami [also on points].
Mutley, 29-6 (14), unanimously outscored Welshman Barrie Jones, who'd been heavily-tipped to beat the iron-fisted Black Countryman pre-fight, before losing a controversial semi-final to current British 10st 7lbs boss Colin Lynes in the 2009 light-welterweight Prizefighter at London's Olympia. The 35-year-old had previously been knocked out by Lynes but looked unfortunate not to be given the nod in their nine-minute rematch.
But the West Midlands pair, both trained in Wednesbury by Errol Johnson and coming of defeats earlier this year [Mutley on points to Frankie Gavin; Lloyd on a technical decision to Luciano Abis in Italy], have the chance to go one-step further in their back garden in the New Year.
Although none of the eight men have been named officially, Halifax's Liam Patrick Walsh is also touted to put his unbeaten professional ledger on the line in search of the hearty winner's cheque.
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