Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire!
Fight anyone, fight anywhere boxer Jordan Ellison is going from taking on an ex-British champion to facing a former Olympian.
The Hartlepool get-stuck-in merchant, beaten on points by Robbie Barrett at the weekend, will fight Ireland boxing hero, David Joyce, this Saturday in Belfast.
This eight rounder will feature on the undercard of Carl Frampton’s WBO interim featherweight title fight with Nonito Donaire at the SSE Arena, live on Channel 5.
Ellison is not a man to duck any challenge and this is some challenge
Joyce, who represented Ireland at Rio 2016, has won all six of his outings since leaving the amateur ranks behind, five of the victories coming inside the distance.
Gus Robinson Developments head coach, Peter Cope, said: “It’s a hard fight, but you know Jordan, he’ll give it a go.
“He’s just done eight good rounds with an ex-British champion and now he’s fighting an Irish Olympian in Ireland.
“Jordan is never fazed by an opponent’s reputation so he’ll go there looking for an upset.”
Ellison, fresh from two belting wins on the road, started well at Doncaster Dome against Barrett.
But he could not get the better of the Yorkshire southpaw, who was boxing for the first time since losing his British lightweight title to Lewis Ritson last October.
Referee Jamie Kirkpatrick scored two rounds to the Seaham boxer but awarded the decision 78-74 to Robbie.
“I thought the ref had it about right with that score,” added Cope. “Jordan won a couple of the middle rounds and I thought ‘we’ve got a chance here’.
“But he wasn’t able to push on.”
Words: Roy Kelly
