PROMOTER Frank Warren is planning on revitalising professional boxing on Merseyside by staging more and more world class shows at the ECHO Arena. The Queensberry Fight Network boss admits he will use Manchester’s recent dominance of the professional ring in the UK as a blueprint for Liverpool, starting this weekend. Warren, Europe’s leading promoter, makes his ECHO Arena debut on Friday night with the mouth-watering derby day British title clash between champion Tony Quigley and challenger Paul Smith. But he’s predicting many more glorious nights to come now Liverpool has a world class sports venue to complement it’s rich homegrown talent. Speaking to the ECHO, Warren said: “I’m delighted to finally be in Liverpool staging a show of this size at the new ECHO Arena. “I was one of those guys in the early days that got Manchester going again and we got a real good thing going there and it has been of great benefit to Manchester boxing. That probably had a bit of a knock on effect for things here in Liverpool. “But now you look at Liverpool, at the quality of the youngsters coming through like Tony Bellew, the Smith family, Joe Selkirk and David Price and it’s obvious that there is great talent here. “The grass roots amateur stars are really coming through now and so now is the time to stage regular big shows and that’s what I am here to do.” He added: “We can use the success of Manchester as a blueprint, for sure. “Over the years we’ve done this kind of boxing revival in London and Birmingham and I’ve always believed that Liverpool has been a really untapped source for champions. “The difference now is that the city has a world class facility to do it. “I’m expecting a big crowd on the night, it’s a Friday night and the start of the weekend and we’re bringing up some very talented young stars from outside of the city to feature on the card also.” Olympic gold medallist James Degale and Frankie Gavin both feature on the undercard, while top class Swindon prospect Jamie Cox is also in action. Warren added: “Fight fans can see that this is a quality card, packed with talent, while the main event is a real fight so I’m sure they will be out in force for our first arena show in Liverpool.” | 
Article
