THE turn of the year has brought Bradford boxer Amin Jahanzeb some long overdue positivity, with his next bout being confirmed for March.

It’s been a frustrating time of late for the super featherweight fighter- a time in which he’s seen two opponents pull out of his scheduled English title fight.

First it was Andre Grant, who was in line to take on Jahanzeb on October 17, but a “rib injury” prevented Grant from taking part in the showcase bout. Jahanzeb (11-1) was then pencilled in to fight Reece Bellotti (15-5) at York Hall, Bethnal Green, on Saturday, October 29, but the latter was ruled out after fracturing a cheekbone in training.

However, the Bradford star has temporarily moved on from chasing an English title shot and he is now scheduled to fight Angolan boxer, Pedro Manuel Gomes (10-3-0), at York Hall, Bethnal Green, March 10, 2023.

It has been a long time coming for Jahanzeb, who last fought in July, 2022, but he is delighted to finally get a fight off the ground.

Speaking to the T&A, he said: “Yes, it was a frustrating period for me towards the back end of last year as I had them two fights cancelled. A lot of work was put into both of them training camps, so I allowed myself to have a break over the Christmas period; it was definitely well deserved.

“There are a lot of people who say they want to be fighters but when it comes to taking a hard fight, they want to take the easier bout and route. I’ve decided to move on from taking an English title fight because people at that level just don’t want to fight. I’m past caring about collecting a title, it was only a goal of mine to collect one on the way up to being great. Instead of crying and complaining about the past few months, we’ve decided as a team to take the step up to fight international opponents, starting in March.

“I’ve signed up with Let’s GO Management and Lee Eaton, who is now my new manager, and he’s said that they want me out fighting a minimum of three times in 2023. He’s delivered already with the first bout in March against Gomes, so I’m delighted to be starting the year in this way, I’m really looking forward to getting back in the ring. Gomes is 10-3-0, he’s had tough fights against other international opponents and I’ve heard that he had a very strong amateur career. So, lets see what he brings but I know that I’ll be ready.”

If Gomes was to pull out of the March bout, it would be the third consecutive opponent that has done so prior to fighting Jahanzeb, however the Bradford star has full faith in his African opposition this time around.

He said: “I don’t have any doubts about the March fight. These foreign opponents aren’t scared of anyone because naturally they aren’t as clued up on the English fighters compared to what we Brits are on each other. Foreign opponents fight for a living, some of them come from extremely tough backgrounds and that makes them warriors. They will never miss an opportunity to fight.

"All the featherweights and super featherweights in the UK are well aware of who I am and my reputation, but these foreign opponents aren’t, so my reputation means nothing to them.

" I’m looking forward to getting another fight under my belt, so bring it on.”