Matt Maher: Boxing keeps up habit of causing its own issues

Already, this year has seen several unfortunate clashes involving major bouts which, you suspect, with just a little more communication and less naval gazing, could have been resolved and guaranteed everyone a bigger audience.

There’s another a week tomorrow affecting two Midlands boxers from the same gym in two of the biggest fights involving fighters from the region for several years.

In Wolverhampton, Tyler Denny faces Matteo Signani for the European middleweight title while, around 75 miles or so away in Manchester, Liam Davies defends his European super bantamweight crown against unbeaten Italian Vincenzo La Femina.

Denny’s bout will be broadcast live on Sky Sports as part of its deal with Boxxer promotions, while Davies is on TNT Sports, who have a contract with his promoter Frank Warren.

Fans who want to watch both will need to have the remote handy. Of course, that’s on the condition Rowley Regis’ Denny and Telford’s Davies aren’t both in the ring at the same time, which remains a possibility.

Annoying as it is for fans, for their trainers at Wednesbury’s Black Country Boxing gym it has proven one gigantic headache.

Under normal circumstances, coaches Errol Johnson, Paul Mann and Ben Wilkes would be in the corner for both but the scheduling obviously makes that impossible, meaning the team must be split on the night. It is believed a request for one fighter to go on earlier in their respective show, allowing time for travel to the other, fell on deaf ears.

All of which seems a shame, for a night which has the potential to be glorious for Midlands’ boxing.

Having often gone years waiting for one boxer from the region to be in fights of next weekend’s calibre, it feels faintly ridiculous to have a situation where people are having to choose between two.