Ed Harrison vs Adam Azim Sky Sports MTK

Highly-rated Azim faces Harrison on the massive show on Wednesday 2 December at Production Park Studios in Wakefield – live on Sky Sports in association with MTK Global, and on ESPN+ in association with Top Rank.

As an amateur, Slough hero Azim won 10 National Titles, One European Championship and a European silver medal, whilst also managing the superb achievement of winning every national title from Schoolboys to Youths, and being ranked the number one ranked Youth Amateur in the world at welterweight.

The 18-year-old now faces a tough test in his debut against Harrison, who in his last bout defeated 4-0 opponent Mohammad Bilal Ali, along with earning a win over 5-0 Liam Gaynor earlier this year too.

Azim said: “I am very excited for this fight. 2020 has been a funny year and finally I will get the chance to showcase my skills.

“I’m looking forward to making my debut live on Sky Sports and ESPN+ under MTK Global. What a platform to make my debut. It has been my dream to one day box on Sky Sports, and I won’t disappoint.

“I am going to bring the best Adam Azim. There are many people that will be seeing me for the first time, so it’s time to show the world what I am about.

“I saw Ed Harrison beat Mohammed Bilal Ali in September and I did say to myself that I would love to make my debut against him. This is a chance to take on an opponent who will be on a high from his last victory and he will come into this fight confident.

“When he gets into the ring with me he will realise what he’s got himself into. I will come in with my A-game, and I am coming for everything.”

Promoter Lee Eaton added: “We’re thrilled to have Adam Azim’s long-awaited professional debut on our huge Golden Contract show next month. There are some high hopes for Adam, along with his brother Hassan, so we’re extremely excited to see what Adam is capable of.

“He’s already been making waves over the last few months by sparring the likes of Luke Campbell, and he faces a tough test on his debut against Ed Harrison. I’m confident he’s going to make a big impact.

“It’s the latest addition to the massive card taking place live on Sky Sports and ESPN+ next month, and it’s certain to be a must-see event.”

Elsewhere on next month’s card, Jazza Dickens takes on Ryan Walsh in the Golden Contract featherweight final, Ricards Bolotniks faces Serge Michel in the light-heavyweight final, Danny Dignum meets Gino Kanters, and Daniel Egbunike meets Harlem Eubank.

Ed after the fight said "I would like to thanks Joe Gallagher and the lads down there for the sparring that prepared me for this fight. Callum Thompson, Paul Butler, Crolla and everyone else down there have been double helpful for this camp.

Adam is an extremely good boxer and has exceptional speed. My plan was to get him tired and then I could start to time his speed. It was a very slow paced fight though because he was happy to counter punch and I was looking to take it into the late rounds to start working.

Due to the slow pace though, Adam never got tired. I thought he might tire mentally but he stayed switched on all fight. Usually new boxers tire mentally after 3 or 4 rounds as their so used to fighting for 3 rounds.

I've been very lucky this year to have 7 fights in my 1st year boxing while in a pandemic. I would like to give a massive thanks to Kieran Farrell, Walkston Candy and Gary Metcalf who have sponsored me for this fight. Kieran Has also organised all these opportunites for us and taken care of everything a manager should behind the secences. He has had to deal with many problems and people trying to take adavantage with weight and opponent changes etc.

My 1st fight in Aberdeen Scotland was the hardest fight I've ever had against Mark Mckeown. I though I was going to die in that fight. I then fought a tall opponent in 6ft 1 Matt Fitzimons then fought Ismail Khan who had fast hands.

Those fights prepared me for my 1st 6 rounder against Liam Gaynor which I won. Then the whole country locked down and all sport was cancelled. I was then given the opportunity to fight Andrew Cain on BT behind closed doors. We we where at the holiday inn Stratford city centre hotel and there was no one on the streets and none of the shops in the supermarket or town were open. It was like a ghost town.

I then got given the opportunity to fight Bilal Ali on the Anthony Yarde undercard where we got the win as a 14/1 under dogs. All them fights gave me the experience to deal with a 10 time national champion who is naturally a much bigger guy than me. Adam has just done a camp with Luke Campbell, preparing him to fight Ryan Garcia so he was very sharp.

Next year we are looking to take it up a notch. I don't want as many fights but I would like to fight more established opponents and take on bigger challenges. I think I'm ready to test myself against people who are getting ready for titles now. I've told Kieran I want some international fights, even if it's only Ireland. Many countries are still locked down but hopefully we can get a few international trips in next year".