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The seven men standing between Big Sexy and Ultimate Boxxer success

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Sean Turner will be looking to kick start his career and put behind him a turbulent two years with victory in Ultimate Boxxer this December.

‘Big Sexy’ was last week confirmed as one of the competitors for the Prizefighter styled tournament that is developing a reputation for fast tracking fight careers.

The Dubliner will compete in the Ultimate Boxxer 6, a heavyweight installment of the competition which plays out in Manchester on December 13.

The heavyweight will be looking to emulate Ultimate Boxxer 5 winner Stephen Donnell by the Golden Robe and picking up the £16,000 winners cheque live on BT just before Christmas.

To do that the Shankill man will have to finish on top of a pile of seven solid heavyweights and win against the strongest line-up assembled for the tournament.

The eight competing Nick Webb, Mark Bennett, Jonathan Palata, Josh Sandland, Jay McFarlane, Kamil Sokolowski, Chris Healey and of course Sean Turner.

The Scott Welch-managed contender Nick ‘Wild’ Webb (13-2) is possibly the best known of the eight considering he fought Dave Allen live on Sky.

He enters UB6 with an impressive professional record, with 11 wins coming by way of KO against opponents such as Ferenc Zsalek and 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 Sokolowski (who also joins the tournament) firmly behind him.

Former army man Mark ‘Bad News’ Bennett (5-0) toured Afghanistan before a serious injury culminated in a medical discharge. He took up boxing as a 27-year-old, and has never looked back. He hasn’t lost a bout in either the unlicensed scene or amongst the professional ranks.

Bennett, who is relatively unknown could come into this as a dark horse having already beaten Ferenc Zsalek and ABA finalist Chris Healey in his professional career.

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.

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 Jay McFarlane earlier this year and showed he was dangerous. His only defeat came to Tom Little two years ago when he had just joined the professional ranks.

Glasgow hard man Jay ‘Ghost’ McFarlane (10-4) 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 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.

Underrated Polish-born Kamil Sokolowski (7-15-2), who was beaten by both Turner and Con Sheehan, won only two of his first 13 fights, with defeats coming against the likes of Dillian Whyte, Kash Ali and Gary Cornish. Starting out as a journeymen, he has since 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. Tipped as a dangerous darkhorse.

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Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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