Mark Jeffers wants to use victory on Saturday over Sean Hemphill to secure a future fight with Callum Simpson.
The super middleweights fight at Barnsley Football Club’s Oakwell Stadium in Barnsley, England on the undercard of the popular Simpson’s contest with Italy’s Ivan Zucco for the vacant European title.
Simpson, who remains the British champion and defended the Commonwealth title in his past fight against the Ghanaian Elvis Ahorgah, had previously spoken of his desire to earn a British title permanently by successfully defending it three times, but his being matched for that of the EBU suggests that his promoters Boxxer and broadcaster Sky Sports are potentially seeking higher-profile nights.
In Simpson’s hometown of Barnsley, where he is so proven a seller of tickets that he is fighting in a soccer stadium for the second time in only his 18th fight, Jeffers – from nearby Chorley, Lancashire – would likely represent a more popular opponent than Zucco, but Jeffers is confronting New Orleans’ 29-year-old Hemphill instead.
The circumstances present Jeffers with the opportunity – in front of Simpson’s supporters – to impress and demand that he fight Simpson next, and also, as he recognizes, to build on the considerable history that already exists in British boxing at 168lbs.
Boxxer and Sky Sports may yet also need to be convinced similarly, but for them to be so Jeffers is aware that he will have to deliver his most significant statement of his 21 professional fights.
“That’s the biggest fight in Britain – not just at super middleweight, but I think in a lot of divisions,” the 27 year old told BoxingScene at a time when Tyson Fury’s retirement is preventing him from being matched with Anthony Joshua. “A lot of people are starting to clock on now: ‘This is a great fight.’ Top two in Britain, and it’s a fight I’ve been calling for for the last 18 months.
“It’s not just a good fight – it’s a big rivalry. I’m from Lancashire; he’s from Yorkshire; that’s always been known to be a big rivalry, not just in boxing but in cricket [too]. I just want to give the fans the best fights out there – Callum Simpson’s the best fight and I want to make it a good’un.
“It’s definitely one that’s in the pipeline – the demand’s going to be too big for it. People are clocking on now – this is the fight in Britain at super middleweight, and I’ve always said if Callum Simpson wants to get to world level, he’s got to get past me, and I don’t think he’s world level, so there’s no way he’s getting past me.
“He’s an exciting fighter, but he’s not world level. Boxing-wise, he makes too many mistakes – over and over – and I believe somebody like me, who can box and move and can bang a bit is not just gonna beat him, but can have an easy night’s work with him.
“I’ve spoken to him a few times. We’ve always got on well enough, but he’s the one who keeps getting all these opportunities when I know I’m a better fighter than him. I get it with the business side – he sells a lot of tickets – but I’ve got to think of my own career. I’ve got my own family. Get that fight made, get him beat, and you’ll see how good I am on the world level. After the [Zak] Chelli fight he said, ‘The Jeffers fight – we’ll make that, obviously he deserves his opportunity’, which obviously I do. I beat Chelli; I beat everyone who’s been put in front of me. He’s not really mentioned my name since; it’s been Liam Cameron; Ben Whittaker; people sometimes not even in his own weight.
“He’s probably been advised that it’s not a great fight for him to take against me. He’s selling a lot of tickets; he’s making people a lot of money; he gets beat off me, that soon stops, and that is what would happen.
“It puts pressure on again [if I make a statement against Hemphill]. ‘Why’s he not fighting Jeffers? That’s the fight we want to see.’ It just builds it up again; puts pressure on even more. Even with the British Boxing Board [of Control] saying, ‘Jeffers is the man now’. My full focus is on Sean Hemphill, but I get boxing at the same time – the higher up you go, the more it gets to where, ‘You win this fight, there’s a carrot dangling’. Get a good win, look good, and call for that fight again.
“How many good [British] super middleweights has there been? There’s been loads through the years. It probably has been a little quieter recently – for maybe the last three years. Even the level below probably isn’t what it were. George Groves; Callum Smith; there’s probably five, six, seven of them [previously] at world level, and it probably isn’t that at the minute. Put a good show on, me and Callum, and it gets people talking about the super middleweights again.
“Froch-Groves – Groves used to be one of me favourites – and I remember watching the first fight live. That was unbelievable, the way he dropped [Froch] in the first, and obviously there was controversy with the stoppage. That was a good one.
“It would sell out an arena, me versus Simpson.”
Little over a year has passed since Hemphill was outpointed over eight rounds by Cuba’s William Scull, so recently so unambitious a loser against the Mexican great Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Hemphill’s previous defeat came via knockout, in January 2023 against the then-undefeated David Stevens, who himself has since recorded losses against Joeshon Jones and Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan.
“He was a good amateur,” Jeffers said. “He’s got a good jab to the body. He’s more of a boxer-mover type of a fighter, than going to hold his feet. It’s up to me to cut him down, slow him down, and take him out.
“He makes the same mistakes he does every fight. He drops that left hand and, unfortunately [for him], that’s my best shot – back hand over the top – so I see that ending badly for him.
“Mick and Dave [Jennings, my trainers] do the analysis on him, give me the game plan, and I go out there and execute it. I very rarely watch [much of opponents]. What I’ve found is you can almost start thinking they’re too good at times – you watch ‘em and watch ‘em and you think, ‘He’s really good’, but in hindsight, they’re nowhere near as good as you can make out in your head. So I leave it to Mick and Dave – they can work out what he does well; what he doesn’t do well. I’ll listen to the game plan, and it’s worked for the last 20 times so I don’t think it’s gonna change anytime soon.
“I wouldn’t mind a few boos [from Simpson’s supporters]. You might get a few, but a lot of the Simpson fans, if they’re boxing fans as well – I went to Simpson’s fight with Steed Woodall, and they were coming up to me and speaking sense saying they want to see the fight. ‘It’s the best fight.’ They all understand it. You get a few idiots, which you get anywhere, but as far as they’re concerned, they want to see Simpson tested against the best, and they know I’m the best in Britain at the minute.
“‘You deserve your chance – you’re the best fight for him.’ It’s all fun – if they booed me, I wouldn’t mind it.”