Chris Oliver is backing the feature fight on BBC's first live card in 20 years to go the distance. Get his best bets for Saturday's boxing.
Boxing betting tips: Saturday action
1pt Frazer Clarke vs Jeamie TKV to go the distance at 11/4 (Betfred)
1pt Ben Whittaker to win in rounds 6-10 at 13/5 (William Hill)
For the first time in over 20 years, live professional boxing returns to the BBC on Saturday night.
BBC Two will show Frazer Clarke versus Jeamie TKV (real name Tshikeva) fight in Derby for the vacant British heavyweight title in the first show of a new deal with promotional outfit BOXXER.
Clarke (9-1-1) has all the pedigree here and he is a 1/5 favourite to claim the Lonsdale belt at the third attempt.
The Olympic bronze medallist won his opening eight contests before bumping into Fabio Wardley in his first crack at this belt in March last year, when the pair put on a Fight of the Year contender in their split draw at the O2 Arena in London.
That was a terrific contest, and Clarke would have won if he hadn’t had a point deducted for repeated low blows.
The rematch didn’t get out of the first round as Wardley caught Clarke with a big shot and didn’t let him off the hook to register a brutal stoppage. However, with Wardley going on to beat Justis Huni and Joseph Parker and now being the WBO champion, the form of Clarke’s draw with him reads very well in retrospect.
As does Clarke’s victory over Dave Allen in September 2023. It wasn’t a vintage performance from Clarke, but he forced Allen to retire after six rounds and Allen has subsequently beaten Johnny Fisher, so that was a good win for ‘Big Fraze’.
The 34-year-old returned from his knockout loss to Wardley with a first-round victory of his own, as he stopped Ebenezer Tetteh within two minutes earlier this year. Tetteh had gone seven rounds with Dillian Whyte the time before and it was a good comeback victory.
Clarke has the better wins and is a worthy favourite here, but TKV is better than his record of 8-2 suggests and I expect him to put up a better fight than your regular 9/2 shot.
He has had some bad luck so far. In his first defeat, he was getting on top of Igor Adiel Macedo before a cut over his left eye forced the bout to be stopped, while he had every right to feel very hard done by when challenging David Adeleye for this belt in April this year.
TKV appeared to be winning the fight and was boxing well when it came to a bizarre ending in round six. As the referee twice called break in a clinch, TKV took a step back, but Adeleye nailed him clean with a left hook as they parted. Instead of punishing Adeleye for the foul, the referee began a count over TKV and Adeleye got away with it.
A clearly shaken TKV was dropped again before the fight was waved off and he quickly went from putting in a career-best performance, to being counted out through no fault of his own.
He felt a sense of injustice in that defeat, and I expect him to be bang up for this second chance at claiming the British title.
As you would expect from an Olympian, Clarke has the better fundamentals and is the tidier boxer of the two. He has a good jab when he gets it going and punches with authority. However, he can be a little one-paced and I wouldn’t be rushing in to take the 1/2 about him winning by stoppage here.
Purely on the evidence of the Adeleye fight, TKV is no pushover for Clarke, and this could be a really competitive contest.
TKV had plenty of success with his jab against Adeleye, a shot which is hard to read as he throws it from low down, and he is capable of getting a foothold in the fight by winning the battle of the lead left hands.
BBC viewers may be wanting fireworks but while these are both big men, neither is known for their output and it may not be the spectacle many are hoping for.
With that in mind, the 11/4 about this going the distance is enough to tempt me in. When two big heavyweights get in the ring, anything is possible, but their styles may not gel too well and this could easily be a long, drawn-out affair.
New start for Whittaker
Ironically, on the same night just down the road in Birmingham, BOXXER’s former star pupil BEN WHITTAKER makes his debut for Matchroom against Benjamin Gavazi on DAZN.
Eddie Hearn caused quite a stir when he announced the shock signing of Whittaker and he is promising big things his new acquisition.
A silver medallist as the Tokyo games, Whittaker may not have lived up to expectations so far, but Gavazi has been brought into make him look good and that is reflected in the former’s odds of 1/16.
As big as 14/1, Gavazi has won 19 in a row since losing on his debut, but against limited opposition, and this is a huge step up in class for him.
The German stopped unbeaten compatriot Branimir Malenica in the final session of their 10-rounder last time but fought only four men with winning records before that and is used to boxing on home soil.
He can punch a bit, having stopped 13 of his 19 victims, but he can be a little crude and often squares up when attacking, so he looks tailor-made for Whittaker to shine against.
While things looked good for Whittaker (9-0-1) early on, his performances weren’t matching his showboating, and he quickly drew criticism for being more style than substance.
He was 8-0 when he took on Liam Cameron in Riyadh 13 months ago, but he didn’t look right that night and the fight was very much in the balance when they toppled over the top rope in the sixth round. Whittaker sustained an injury as both men fell out of the ring, and the fight went down as a technical draw.
That caused Whittaker to change things up and he found a new coach in Andy Lee, the former middleweight champion who has made a name for himself as one of the top trainers in the game.
Whittaker looked a different animal in the rematch with Cameron in April, putting in a spiteful performance to stop his man in the second round and silence the critics in the process.
Could Whittaker’s career finally be ready for lift off? He certainly has all the attributes to go a long away at light heavyweight. At 6’3” with a 75” reach and quick hands, he is a very skilful operator and has all the moves in the book. He needs to make the transition from showman to contender, and he has the perfect man in his corner to do so in Lee.
This is 1/3 to not go the distance and, while Gavazi will be tough and game, I don’t see him hearing the final bell in this 10-rounder.
I expect Whittaker to look good against an opponent who will be on the front foot, and the latter can make the favourite look good. It’s slight odds-on that Whittaker ends this in the first five rounds, but he isn’t the biggest puncher and often likes to ‘take a look’ at his opponents early on.
He may have to break his man down gradually and the 13/5 for him to win in the SECOND HALF OF THE FIGHT looks the way to go.
Posted at 14:45 GMT on 28/11/25
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Both of these like to go for the knockout and they carry power, but I expect Marshall to have too much on her return to boxing and the 4/1 about her getting a stoppage looks too big to me.
