by Shaun Brown

A deal has been reached for Raza Hamza (8-0-1, 4 KOs) to fight Lewis Pettitt (20-2, 9 KOs) for the vacant WBO European featherweight title.

The bout, which could be staged in November, would be 25-year-old Hamza’s first professional title fight after making his debut in February 2015.

For Pettitt this would be his sixth contest featuring a championship having fought for titles at both super bantamweight and featherweight. The 27-year-old Londoner’s record in title fights reads won four, lost two. The most recent was a defeat during a 2015 UK fight of the year contender when Bobby Jenkinson upset the odds stopping Pettitt in the 11th round of an enthralling contest.

Hamza, 25, from Birmingham, is taking a significant step up in class against Pettitt having never fought in anything more than a six-round fight in his nine bouts to date, and is yet to fight anyone with a winning record.

Hamza is scheduled to fight on September 30 in Manchester over the 10-round distance for the first time. His last outing came in April when defeating Rafael Castillo on points over six rounds. June saw Pettitt’s last action in the ring defeating Simas Volosinas over six rounds.

Both Hamza and Pettitt are promoted by Frank Warren.