After making good on Spencer Fearon’s prediction that he’d win the most recent Prizefighter, light-middleweight Larry Ekundayo has been rewarded for his outstanding display with a showdown against former British welterweight champion, David Barnes. This terrific match-up headlines “Slicker Than Your Average”, a joint venture between Dave Coldwell’s Coldwell Boxing and Fearon’s Hard Knock Promotions and will take place at Bethnal Green’s York Hall on February 1st. Coldwell is anticipating exciting action from the pair.

“Barnes v Ekundayo is a good old tear up and I’m delighted to be putting on this fight with Spencer because it shows good fights can be made if promoters work together,” buzzed Coldwell. “We’ve had big plans for Barnes for a while and a fight between him and Ronnie Heffron was set for October before David got hurt in a car accident. Ekundayo’s name is causing a bit of a stir in British boxing at the moment due to his Prizefighter performances but facing Barnes over a longer distance is an altogether different proposition.”

Ekundayo’s displays in Prizefighter have deservedly earned him wide plaudits within the boxing community due to the nature of his victories based on the limited experience that he possesses. In Barnes, the London prospect faces a vastly experienced opponent who is a former Lonsdale belt holder at both light-welterweight and 147lbs. Coldwell expects Barnes’ vaster ring knowledge to be a crucial factor in deciding this fight’s outcome.

“Larry is a very good fighter with excellent skills but I just think that this fight is a little too early for him. On his day, Barnes is one hell of a fighter and I firmly believe that he’s close to getting back to the form he showed when he was down at welterweight. Larry is still learning whilst David is an accomplished championship fighter so I’d be crazy not to be confident of getting the win in Larry’s backyard. This fight will be fun while it lasts and it’ll certainly entertain because both have skills in abundance, but when all is said and done, David Barnes will be the winner.”