According to the latest BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) championship circulars, domestic middleweights Nick Blackwell and John Ryder could be about to clash for the prestigious British middleweight title.

Former champion Billy Joe Saunders recently vacated the championship and now Blackwell and Ryder, both of whom fully deserve their shot, are due to contest the title in the coming months.

Purse bids for the Blackwell-Ryder fight are set for Wednesday, April 8 and the bout must take place before the end of July 2015.

Blackwell, 24, is a new acquisition for Hennessy Sports and is considered one of the most dangerous and widely avoided middleweights in Europe. The aggressive, high-octane pressure-fighter has won 16 of 20 professional contests and has cut his teeth the hard way, battling a host of world-class fighters in the formative stages of his professional career. Now keen to move into title contention, Blackwell is coming off good wins against the likes of Nathan King, Terry Carruthers and Max Maxwell.

Ryder, meanwhile, is a hard-nosed southpaw with solid fundamentals and a good feel for inside fighting. He is two years older than Blackwell at 26, and last time out scored the best win of his career, stopping Billi Facundo Godoy in the tenth round of a WBO intercontinental title fight. Now 20-1 (12 KOs), Ryder’s sole professional loss came at the hands of former British champion Saunders in 2013.

Rest assured, should Blackwell and Ryder meet in the ring before the end of July, nobody will be going home disappointed, least of all the fans. Swarmer against swarmer, it promises to be a 2015 ‘Fight of the Year’ contender.