EUROPEAN super-featherweight champion Martin J. Ward is gunning for a world title. He boxes James Tennyson in a good fight on the Tony Bellew-David Haye May 5 undercard at the O2 in London. Tennyson’s WBA International strap will also be on the line.
“It’s a big show, a big opportunity for two young fighters,” his manager Charlie Sims told Boxing News. The aim now is “to try and get him ranked highly in a governing body”.
Ward has accomplished a lot in his professional career and if he beats Tennyson, a ranking with the WBA will put him on course to challenge their champion, Alberto Machado.
“Great achievement, [winning the] British outright, Commonwealth and European champion. There’s only one way forward for him now and that’s to hopefully get a world title shot,” Sims said. “That’s the route we’re looking to go down. He’s touching it but he just needs another good fight to get him into position.”
Liverpool super-featherweight Stephen Smith, a former world title challenger himself, would make for an exciting fight with Ward. “At some point. I wouldn’t mind doing that fight if it was for something bigger on the line, a world title eliminator or something like that, that would be a good fight,” Sims said.
“But Stephen Smith again is another tough operator that if we were going to go in with him it would be high reward but also high risk at this stage. He’s operated at world level, Martin’s never been at world level yet. We want to get him a shot hopefully first and we’ll see what happens after that. Stephen Smith domestically would be a big fight.”
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