Meet the Ultimate Boxxer 6 heavyweight quarter-finalists
Ultimate Boxxer 6 takes place this Friday night at Manchester’s Planet Ice Arena.
The Ultimate Boxxer competition format always promises an exhilarating night of boxing and the latest version will see eight professional heavyweight fighters put it all on the line to win the Golden Robe in a one-night knockout tournament.
The tournament will start with four quarter finals of three x three minute rounds between some of the UK’s top heavyweights before two semi-finals and the showpiece final fight for the Golden Robe.
Meet the contestants here:
JONATHAN PALATA
Frank Warren-fighter Jonathan ‘God Speed’ Palata (7-0) enters the fray at UB6 with an impressive and unbeaten professional record, following a stellar amateur career which saw him rack up an ABA Novice Championship, London ABA Championship and he also won the prestigious Haringey Box Cup. He fights out of the famous Peacock Gym in Canning Town. Joins with fast hands and big reputation which sees him tipped as one to watch in the competition.
NICK WEBB
The Scott Welch-managed contender Nick ‘Wild’ Webb (13-2) enters UB6 with an impressive professional record. A big name in the heavyweight scene, he has 11 wins coming by way of KO against opponents such as Ferenc Zsalek and fellow UB6 contender, Chris Healey. He has been frustrated by title fights with Daniel Dubois and Nathan Gorman falling through in the past, and will be hoping to put his only defeats to date against Dave Allen and Kamil Sokolowski (who also joins the tournament) firmly behind him.
JAY MCFARLANE
Glasgow hard-man Jay ‘Ghost’ McFarlane arrives on the UB6 scene as the youngest fighter in the tournament at just 21. He spent some time in a Caribbean orphanage as a youngster, and has dived into 14 professional fights already in his career. He fought in NYC at Madison Square Garden against Matt McKinney in March 2018, and dropped to 14 stone 4lbs to fight for the Scottish Cruiserweight title, which he won against Ratu Latianara in June of last year.
KAMIL SOKOLOWSKI
Familiar face and Polish-born Kamil Sokolowski started out as a journeyman.Those defeats came against the likes of Dillian Whyte, Kash Ali and Gary Cornish. Since then, he has change tactics, refocused his efforts, and has improved dramatically under the watchful eye of Gavin Lane at the Barum Boxing Club in Barnstaple. Only Whyte and Nathan Gorman have stopped him in his career and he’s already beaten UB6 contenders Nick Webb and Sean Turner. Tipped as a dangerous darkhorse.
CHRIS HEALEY
Representing Manchester on this heavyweight show is ABC southpaw Chris Healey who has been dogged by injury after winning six of his first seven professional fights, but the 31-year-old is keen to show he’s back to his best after major back surgery, and the loss of his father in 2016. His last two defeats have been against fellow UB6 entrants Mark Bennett and Jonathan Palata.
MARK BENNETT
Former army man Mark ‘Bad News’ Bennett (5-0) toured Afghanistan before a serious injury forced a medical discharge. He then took up boxing as a 27-year-old, and has never looked back. He hasn’t lost a bout at amateur level or amongst the professional ranks and now relative unknown Bennett could come into this as a dark horse having already beaten Ferenc Zsalek and fellow tournament entrant Chris Healey in his professional career.
JOSH SANDLAND
For former professional rugby league player Josh Sandland (4-1-1), Ultimate Boxxer represents another chance to succeed in top-level sport, having played for Huddersfield Giants and Wakefield Wildcats. He triumphed over fellow UB6 competitor Jay McFarlane earlier this year and showed the danger he possesses. His only defeat came to Tom Little two years ago when he had only just joined the professional ranks.
DANNY WHITAKER
Late draft Danny Whitaker (2-0) represents Yorkshire in the event. He has been a big player on the white collar scene before his knockouts impressed his manager enough to convince him to turn professional.
Since then he has had two convincing wins in his start as a professional. He comes in as a late replacement for injured Sean Turner and at this stage would appear very much an outsider.
Undercard
Florian Marku
The undefeated Albanian phenomenon is fighting on the undercard expecting to draw a crowd of his devoted supporters having already sold out the iconic York Hall in London and attracted some 800 fans to the O2 Arena, including footballers Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri and Shkodran Mustafi.