THE first professional boxing title match to be held in Jersey in 20 years takes place next Saturday.

Femi ‘Fire’ Fehintola will face challenger Gareth ‘The Gladiator’ Couch in a fight for the English Super Featherweight Championship – and promoter Dennis Hobson said that it promised to be a great evening. ‘It should be a bit special,’ he said. ‘The winner of this goes on to compete for the British title which is a huge event.’

The Grand Gala Dinner will be held at the Hotel de France on Saturday 25 October and funds raised will go towards Jersey NSPCC and Sargent children’s cancer care unit. The weigh-in will be held at Jacksons BMW car showroom at 4 pm on Friday, the day before the bout, and Mr Hobson urged Islanders to take the opportunity to see the ‘tension’ that builds between the two fighters.

‘There is usually a bit of niggle,’ he said. ‘It can be quite an education if you’ve never seen a weigh-in. But these two fighters do have a lot of respect for each other and it will be good to see them go eye to eye.’
Arranging the fight has not been without its problems. Mr Hobson has been trying to organise something like this since he moved to Jersey five years ago and the biggest stumbling block has been providing appropriate medical cover.

• Picture: Femi ‘Fire’ Fehintola