EKOW ESSUMAN is the proud owner of the Lord Lonsdale belt and added to his successful defences with a British welterweight championship success over Chris Kongo in January.

In doing so, he added the WBC International Silver title to the British, Commonwealth and IBF European titles already held in his name.

He waited more than a year to challenge Chris Jenkins for his British and Commonwealth Welterweight titles, with postponements delaying his chance until July of 2021.

The man nicknamed ‘The Engine’ made no mistake, coming on strong in the middle rounds before the gutsy Welshman was rescued in the eighth round.

He then defended his titles in thrilling fashion, knocking out Danny Ball in the sixth round in October 2021. A left-right combination did the damage and left Ball with a fractured jaw and in agony as he was counted out.

Bigger name British rivals like Conor Benn have shown little interest in facing the division’s danger man.

As an amateur, Ekow was a GB Podium squad member, and has improved with every fight since turning professional almost five years ago.

Crucially he holds genuine confidence that he is going to mix it with the very best and impressed again on the big stage in April 2022 when he fought and beat Darren Tetley at Wembley Stadium on the undercard of the big Fury-Whyte showdown.

Essuman reinforced his position in September 2022 when he won his British title outright by making a third successful defence against mandatory challenger Samuel Antwi in Manchester, via a unanimous decision.