Tyrone McKenna gets Golden Contract quarter final date

Tyrone McKenna’s first Golden Contract fight will take place at at London’s York Hall on November 22.
It was this afternoon confirmed the light-welterweight installment of the exciting new contest will play at the Iconic venue in late November.

The featherweight event-opener, which provides Irish interest via Davey Oliver Joyce and Tyrone McCullagh, takes at the same venue on October 4. The 140lb hopefuls will open their campaigns there just seven weeks later and a date for the cruiserweight opener is still to be confirmed.

While McKenna [19(6)-1(0)-1] now knows the where and the when of his first fight in an eight man tournament with a lucrative contract up for grabs, ‘The Mighty Celt’ is still unaware as to the who.

The colourful southpaw will only learn his opponent come fight week when the quarterfinal draw will take place.

Seven 140lbs fighters have already been confirmed for the competition in Ohara Davies, McKenna, Zhankosh Turarov, Akeem Ennis Brown, Mohamed Mimoune, Anthony Yigit and Darren Surtees.

McKenna has highlighted Yigit as the potential threat, but wants to settle his grudge with Ohara Davies en route to tournament victory.

Sky Sports have recently confirmed they will broadcast the series and Sky Sports Head of Boxing Adam Smith said: “We were delighted to add The Golden Contract to our live schedule last week – and the super-lightweights should provide a barnstorming show in Bethnal Green.

“Some of the fighters have already displayed their qualities on Sky Sports shows, but there are also some new faces to look out for! It’s difficult to pick a winner from this really exciting crop and we’ll undoubtedly witness a few upsets, along with plenty of drama.”

Top Rank founder Bob Arum, whose company is rumoured to be the one offering contracts to the winner commented: “The winner of the Golden Contract will establish himself as a force in the super-lightweight division.

“We are excited that the tournament will stream live on ESPN+ – giving these fighters a chance to shine in front of an American audience,” He added before MTK Global President Bob Yalen commented.
“We’re delighted to announce the second date of this event in the quarter-finals for the super-lightweights. So far, the feedback to this format has been excellent and it seems to have caught the imagination not just of the UK domestic scene but the wider boxing world.

“The tournament at 140lbs seems to have a perfect blend of established names, champions, prospects and some international dangermen who are heading for London to try and propel themselves to stardom. We can’t wait.”

Head of Matchroom Boxing Eddie Hearn said: “The 140lb division is red-hot both domestically and internationally and in October, Sky Sports has the best of it.

“The fighters in the Golden Contract have a great chance to gatecrash both these scenes. It’s a great line-up that’ll be full of drama.”

MTK Global Professional Development Coordinator Jamie Conlan added: “It’s going to be another great night at London’s most iconic boxing stronghold. What a group of fighters this is at 140lb – and the exciting thing is there’s still one more to be added to the mix!

“There are so many intriguing possible quarter-final match-ups here and the place will be absolutely rocking on the night as the hopefuls bid to take the first step towards that life-changing Golden Contract.”

News of the final contestant at 140lb plus further fights and fighters on the bill will be published in due course.

The featherweight division of the #GoldenContract takes place on October 4 – also at York Hall – on the same platform.