Tyler Denny is hoping to put an 18-month-long “nightmare” behind him when on Saturday he challenges George Liddard for the British and Commonwealth middleweight titles.
They fight at London’s Copper Box Arena in the main event of a contest that represents the promising Liddard’s biggest test, and potentially Denny’s last chance of reviving his career.
When he fought Hamzah Sheeraz in September 2024, Denny was the defending European champion and one of Britain’s most in-form fighters, having defeated, among others, Liddard’s former gym-mate Felix Cash, Brad Pauls, Brad Rea, and River Wilson-Bent.
Defeat that night instead left him struggling for a fight. It took Liddard’s emergence and Matchroom’s attempts to further the 23-year-old’s profile for Denny to be rescued from what felt to him like the abyss; he had become another to represent collateral as a consequence of Boxxer’s separation from Sky Sports.
“With the whole thing with Boxxer and Sky, it’s been a nightmare,” he told BoxingScene. “I couldn’t get an answer out of them as to when I was fighting, so in the end it come to fighting on a small-hall show, just to keep active. I’m glad it did now – that was December [in victory over Grant Dennis]. Otherwise it would have been a year – April ‘till March, basically – since I’d had a fight.
“It’s been really frustrating. It’s sponsorships and stuff. ‘What am I sponsoring you for – you’re not fighting?’ You lose out on certain things like that as well. But I’ve been in the gym all the time, and I feel like I’m getting me rewards now, for being disciplined throughout a frustrating year.
“I thought I’d get another opportunity at least. I fought Elvis Ahorgah [in victory in May 2025], and that was a bit of a nothing fight, and I wanted a better fight then. But you can’t take nothing personal in boxing. Otherwise it’d eat you alive. It was tough. It was tough. I’ve still got a lot to offer. Obviously I was gutted losing to Sheeraz, but it’s not embarrassing losing to someone at that level – he’ll be world champion soon in the super-middleweight division. But it’s keeping on it.
“Keep fighting. Keep training. It’s hard when you’ve not got a date, or even a potential date. I was just getting blanked, really, so that was the toughest part. If they’d said ‘Maybe you’ve got a fight date in September’ or something, it’d at least give you a bit of hope. But when you’ve got no hope – that’s…
2026-03-18 10:00:00
‘Something to offer’: Tyler Denny knows the gravity of beating George Liddard
