Jeamie TKV will defend his British heavyweight title against Richard Riakporhe in the main event of a March 7 BOXXER card at London’s Royal Albert Hall, sources close to the situation tell Uncrowned.
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TKV (9-2, 5 KOs) won the championship with a split decision over Frazer Clarke in November in Derby. TKV lost to David Adeleye for the British title in the previous fight in controversial circumstances.
In the deciding round, Adeleye and TKV became involved in a clinch and were ordered to break by referee Ron Kearney. Kearney even pushed TKV’s left hand down in an attempt to separate the boxers. Moments later, Adeleye dropped TKV with a left hook to score a knockdown.
Riakporhe (19-1, 15 KOs), a former British cruiserweight champion, unsuccessfully challenged Chris Billam-Smith for the WBO cruiserweight title in June 2024. After that loss, Riakporhe moved up to heavyweight and has won a pair of fights since. Last time out, Riakporhe stopped undefeated Tommy Welch in the second round of the Conor Benn vs. Chris Eubank Jr. 2.
Despite being promoted by the same company, BOXXER, Riakporhe was not TKV’s preferred opponent. TKV and Johnny Fisher were in talks to collide on the same night at London’s Copper Box on a show to be promoted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom. It is understood, however, that while the boxers were happy with the terms of the fight, multiple obstacles prevented it from taking place. The most notable was that while BOXXER agreed to let TKV fight on a Matchroom show, they weren’t happy to do so on a show that would directly compete with theirs.