AFTER winning the Commonwealth and European titles, Sam Noakes now wants to take his career one step further.
The 27-year-old will defend his EBU Lightweight title against Gianluca Ceglia tomorrow night (Friday, September 6) at York Hall. Noakes won his second major title by beating Yvan Mendy in April and by the end of 2024, Noakes wants to challenge for a world title, specifically the WBO version currently held by Denys Berinchyk.
“That’s the fight I want. I’d love to have that fight at the end of the year,” Noakes told Queensberry’s Dev Sahni.
Berinchyk, a former European champion, got his belt back against Mendy in December 2022 on the Tyson Fury-Derek Chisora 3 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Ukrainian won the cards fairly easily (117-112, 116-112 twice) before missing out on the title. Mendy lost to Noakes by a much wider margin (120-108 on all three cards) and the Maidstone fighter knows he has done better.
“I won absolutely and he lost a couple of rounds – he only won by three or four points, right? I think that fight was the most logical and if that fight was given to me, I would grab it with both hands to win the world title without a doubt.”
Berinchyk won his first world title by causing a bit of a shock when he defeated Mexican boxer Emanuel Navarrete on points in May. Noakes is currently ranked fifth with the WBO but more importantly, he and Berinchyk both operate under the Queensberry Promotions banner, giving the fight a realistic chance of happening.
