Lewis Ritson’s next stop in his journey to the top of the lightweight division will have him challenge for the vacant European title.
Matchroom Boxing confirmed that Ritson will fight Francesco Patera in the main event of a boxing card held in at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England on October 13.
The announcement comes shortly after it was revealed that Edis Tatli had vacated the title. With the title now vacant, the EBU had sought to put Marvin Petit, next in line to fight for the title, but he opted to not move forward with the fight. As such, the fight between Ritson, the No. 6 ranked lightweight, and Patera, the No. 8 ranked lightweight, will now be for the vacant belt.
Ritson is currently ranked in the top 15 by both the WBA and WBC in their respective rankings at lightweight. The 24-year-old Ritson has held the British lightweight title since stopping Robbie Barrett in the seventh round of their fight in 2017.
As for the rest of the undercard, the card is full of top prospects. WBA International light heavyweight champion Joshua Buatsi will face off against an opponent to be determined later. The other title fight confirmed for the card Glenn Foot fight Robbie Davies Jr. for the Commonwealth and vacant British junior welterweight title.
Other fighters confirmed for the card, according to Boxrec, are Lawrence Okolie, Thomas Patrick Ward and David Allen, who scored a major upset win over Nick Webb in July to win a British heavyweight title eliminator.
