Adam Azim fight moved to June 16, with Caroline Dubois added to bill | Boxing News

One of Britain’s best young boxing prospects Adam Azim will face Ukrainian Aram Fanyan at London’s historic York Hall on Friday June 16 – exclusively live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Showcase.

Previously scheduled for June 10 – the same day as the Champion’s League Final – the move comes as a result of changes to the programming schedule following the recent relocation of the blockbuster Liam Smith and Chris Eubank Jr event to a new date of July 1.

Caroline Dubois, Azim’s stablemate at McGuigan’s Gym under noted trainer Shane McGuigan, is also taking a step up in opposition and will fight on the same bill, against Yanina del Carmen Lescano.

Twenty-year-old Azim’s seemingly unstoppable rise from highly-decorated amateur to hotly-tipped professional has former world champion Amir Khan predicting he will win his first world championship before 22, the age Khan first became champion.

The unbeaten Azim (8-0, 6 knockouts) steps up another level again for his next opponent as he faces Fanyan (22-1, 4 KOs), who has nearly three times the amount of professional experience and has lost just once in his career.

Dubois (6-0, 5 KOs) will seek to continue her rise to the top of her division against Carmen Lescano (13-2, 4 KOs), who was just one scorecard away from becoming IBO World Lightweight Champion last year, losing her March 2022 title challenge against 2016 Olympic gold medallist Estelle Mossely by way of a split-decision which sparked much debate.

Since then she has made three more defences of the South American Lightweight Championship she won in 2020. Two of those three wins have come by way of knockout, the most recent being a quick finish in her native Argentina last month.

Riding a five-fight streak of KO and TKO wins, the undefeated Dubois is also a proven fight-finisher and an explosive encounter beckons at York Hall next month.

All tickets purchased for the sold-out event on the original date remain valid for the new date.

BOXXER’s promoter and CEO Ben Shalom said in a statement: “With the event already sold out, we’re expecting an incredible atmosphere in York Hall on Friday, June 16, as Adam Azim headlines for the third time in his young professional career.

“His Ukrainian opponent Aram Fanyan is dangerous and experienced – it’s a very tough test for Adam as he continues his remarkable rise.

“Caroline Dubois is taking on an incredible challenge as well. Yanina Lescano nearly became world champion last year, a lot of people felt she won that fight against Estelle Mossely and should be champion now.

“For Caroline to be facing a recent world title contender in just her seventh professional fight speaks volumes about her level and her heart. I’ve always said she’s going to be the future face of women’s boxing and it’s fights like this which will get her there.”

Other treats on the June 16 card include the return to the ring of slick super-middleweight Callum Simpson (11-0, 9 KOs), a hotly-tipped prospect by boxing insiders, and a highly-charged rematch between feuding cruiserweights Viddal Riley (8-0, 5 KOs) and Anees Taj (7-3, 5 KOs).

It’s a literal ‘bad blood’ second tilt: Riley won their February fight by way of doctor’s stoppage due to a cut over Taj’s eyebrow, but neither man was satisfied with the conclusion and they now seek a more definitive end to their feud.

BOXXER’s next event takes place in Bournemouth on Saturday May 27, and will be the biggest boxing event in the history of the South Coast region when Bournemouth’s own Chris Billam-Smith – a stablemate of Azim and Dubois – challenges WBO world cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie at the Vitality Stadium.