OUR BIG SHOW on December 5 is still very much in play with a headliner more than fit for the occasion of marking my 40 years as a licence holder with the British Boxing Board of Control.

A top class domestic dust-up is always top of the charts when it comes to what the fans want to see and we are delivering two of the best in Anthony Yarde vs Lyndon Arthur in a light heavyweight blockbuster.

It is a classic coming together of a self-made pro in Anthony who, as I keep saying, had so little amateur experience, and Lyndon, the well-schooled leading amateur with years of international competition under his belt with Team GB.

It bears comparison with the huge November 28 heavyweight collision between Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce. Daniel had next to nothing in senior amateur experience behind him when he turned pro at the age of 19, whereas Joe was a decorated amateur and an Olympic silver medalist.

Despite the obvious pedigree of Lyndon and Joe, I think you will find that Anthony and Daniel are favoured by the odds makers to win their respective fights.

It does go to show that amateur glory is not the be all and end all when it comes to making it big in the pro ranks.

Obviously it was a little bit of a disappointment that Tyson Fury is ultimately not going to feature on the card, but the most important thing is our originally planned top of the bill will proceed as planned and we look forward to seeing Tyson back in action in the early part of next year.

It is not far off now and it will soon come around.

A stellar undercard for December 5 is all mapped out and we will soon be able to reveal who else will be performing on what is sure to be a memorable night.

DENZEL BENTLEY DEMONSTRATED why he has such a big future in the middleweight division with his spiteful performance against Mark Heffron on Friday night.

The now British champion looked a different fighter from in the original match and appeared much more confident and spiteful than before. He took it up a level and refused to be bullied.

He had a bit of the devil about him and a conviction that the fight would be his for the taking.

It was shaping up to be a real classic and it is such a shame that we didn’t get to see a full 12 rounds – or the fight to play out to a natural conclusion – due to the eye injury inflicted on Mark.

It was impossible for him to carry on with such reduced vision and we can only wonder if there would have been a few more twists and turns in the fight had it not been curtailed.

Mark showed across the two fights that he more than belongs at this level or above and there is absolutely no shame in losing. He is an entertaining fighter who is never in a bad fight and I see no reason why he won’t come back stronger.

Denzel will obviously look to move onwards and upwards and I suspect that Mark will not be far behind him.

I would like to add my congratulations to those sent in the direction of the Peacock Gym on the adding of a second British title to their collection. Martin Bowers runs a superb operation, along with his supporting cast, and I am certain that more titles are firmly in the pipeline.

It is fairly well documented that we ran into problems ahead of the show on Friday following the return of Covid-19 testing results. It was a significant blow to lose three fights off the card, especially with two of them being highly competitive title fights.

There was no quick or easy fix available because, due to the testing regime and the protocols put in place, you can’t simply draft in replacement fights at the last moment. You have to go with what you’ve got and we relied on a number of our younger contingent to step up to the plate with a higher billing and a couple more rounds.

The boys did not disappoint and I was so pleased with the performances of Micky Burke jr, Henry Turner, Caoimhin Agyarko and Tommy Fury.

Micky, who suffered the disappointment of his previous date falling foul of Covid, made the most of his opportunity with an excellent and well deserved first stoppage victory. Henry delivered another hugely mature performance and showed glimpses of why he is going to be a major star in years to come, while Caoimhin was again impressive with an emphatic breaking down of his opponent.

Caoimhin seems to have got that happy knack of picking a time to strike and really go for the jugular. He can be patient and calculating for a number of rounds and then something seems to click. He is another middleweight with a big future.

Tommy moved to 4-0 and is really just learning on the job. He is clearly going to be a big personality in the sport but he has got to learn the ropes and we have got to be patient with him. He showed on Friday that he possesses a telling and hurtful jab, which will hopefully take him a long way in the game.