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Boxing

Richard Riakporhe 'absolutely' ready for Arsen Goulamirian title fight at Selhurst Park

Alexander Netherton
Richard Riakporhe 'absolutely' ready for Arsen Goulamirian title fight at Selhurst ParkDAZN
The British cruiserweight is gunning for a fight in South London towards the end of the year.

Richard Riakporhe hopes to set up a title fight at the end of the year to be hosted at Selhurst Park.

The cruiserweight is unbeaten in his first 14 fights with 10 knockouts to his name, with the  most recent win a stoppage of Deion Jumah at Wembley Arena in March.

He hopes to fight again this summer, but no opponent has been confirmed, and then move onto a bigger bout at the end of 2022.

"The plan is to have one more fight in the summer and then move onto the title fight towards the end of the year, there are some good options out there," he said to Sky Sports.

"There are some options and I think fans will be very happy. We have a meeting scheduled, that should be Sunday, that's going to be with Ben Shalom and the team."

One candidate for a fight would be WBA (Super) cruiserweigth belt holder Arsen Goulamirian has emerged as a potential opponent for the 32-year-old Crystal Palace fan. Goulamirian had been expected to fight against Aleksey Egorov in December 2021 but the fight was called off when the Frenchman contracted Covid. That has left him out of action since December 2019. 

"Absolutely (somebody he would be interested in fighting)," confirmed Riakporhe. "It's somebody I believe I could beat in good fashion, apparently he's interested so we can make that happen."

Of a title fight, he said he was aiming: "Latest, early next year, but we're going for the end of this year. We want to do it big at Selhurst Park, that's the dream.

"It wouldn't just mean so much to me but to the fans as well, I get messages every day 'let's get this big one in Selhurst Park', 'when's it going to happen?'. It's going to happen soon, it's just patience.

"I've got the word from Steve [Parish - Crystal Palace chairman], he's keen on this and hosting this event. It's going to be something to remember."

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