Wainwright Powering Towards World Title
Like Hobson, Wainwright hails from Sheffield and – since turning pro in 2018 – has notched up 11 wins, with six of those victories coming inside-the-distance. The only blemishes on the 26-year-old’s record came in his second fight against Russian ‘dark horse’ Boris Shikunov, and a late-notice defeat to highly-rated Eithan James in November 2022, in a fight that some had him winning.
Wainwright is next out on April 6th in his home city at the Fightzone Arenawhen he will make the first defence of his Commonwealth Silver Lightweight Title against Essex fighter, Louis Horn, who is unbeaten in five since starting his pro journey in 2021.
Ahead of the night, that will also see popular heavyweight Dave ‘The White Rhino’ Allen return to the ring – Hobson and Fightzone and Fight Academy partner, Steve Crump, are predicting huge things for ‘The Wolf’ as he starts to work his way up the rankings.
Hobson said: “This is a really good fight against Horn. I guarantee you it’s going to be a cracker. Keanen keeps improving; in his last fight he went over to Malta and beat the best over there in his weight – he did a number on him to win this Commonwealth Silver Lightweight Title.
“This is another good test against an unbeaten fighter, and if he comes through in style then it underlines what we think about him. He can box, he’s got power, he’s a southpaw, and he’s somebody who we can take, hopefully, all the way to a world title. That’s the ultimate aim with Keanen.
“He’s served his apprenticeship and we’re starting to move forward with Keanen now on this part of his journey. This is where a fighter like Keanen wants to be, he’s going to start collecting belts, that’s the plan – and with bigger belts comes bigger money. He’s at the level now where the reins are off and it’s about taking on all comers.
“This is the exciting bit. We don’t know how far he can go; we know what we think he can do; we believe in him and the rest is up to him.”
Crump added: “Keanen has been one of my favourite fighters since watching him make his debut when he stopped his opponent in the first round. He’s really entertaining which is so important in the pro game, but he can fight too – and that’s an exciting combination.
“Of course, he has to take care of business on the 6th against an opponent who hasn’t tasted defeat yet, so it’s not an easy fight. But if he comes through it successfully then this year is going to be really big for him.”
