Preview: Pat Brown kicks off his cruiserweight career in Manchester

The former Olympian headlines his first event for his professional debut.

Pat Brown (debut) will take on Argentina’s Federico Javier Grandone (7-4-2, 3 KOs) in the headline slot of his first ever card.

At 25-years-old he wants to make his mark in the division, with the promotional backing of Matchroom he is seen as one of the next marquee names of the company.

The 2024 Olympian is coming into the professional ranks after a close but unsuccessful opening round against Keno Machado.

One thing about the fighter is he loves a ‘ding-dong’.

This intent to sit down on shots and be aggressive is what makes him stand out.

Read my full interview with Pat Brown here:

Over the weekend, the original opponent, Vladimir Reznicek (15-6-2, 6 KOs), was withdrawn from the bout for an unknown reason.

Up steps a new challenger in Grandone who has not fought outside of his native South America and comes into this fight on a four fight losing streak.

For a professional debut this is around the standard that a fighter will face and at least his opponent has a positive record.

Prediction

Pat Brown knockout 3-6

The Argentine has been stopped twice in his four losses so while he may put up some resistance, I imagine the ‘Bomber’ will start to turn up the heat past the second round and get his man out of there.

Elsewhere on the card the English super middleweight title is up for grabs as Reece Farnhill (11-0, 4 KOs) defends against Mark Dickinson (7-1, 2 KOs).

The Burnley champion won the belt in his last contest with a tight split decision over Ryszard Lewicki.

He has had a steady three fight run including two decision wins and a stoppage to his name.

Dickinson has had only one fight since his first round Prizefighter tournament loss to Kazuto Takesako in a six rounder against a journeyman.

But Farnhill is a much tougher test so it will be interesting to see how he fairs over the ten rounds.

A grudge will finally be settled as Cameron Vuong (7-0, 3 KOs) and Jordan Flynn (11-0-1, 1 KO) clash for the vacant WBO European Lightweight title.

These two have been waiting to go at it since April 2024 but both times each fighter has had to withdraw due to an injury.

But it seems this time the two are ready to collide and end the bad blood.

For Vuong this is an opportunity to wipe away his controversial victory over Gavin Gwynne in which many thought the judges unfairly scored to ‘The One’.

Oxford’s Flynn is looking to back up his comments about the North East fighter and prove he is the better man when they square off on Friday.

Local fan favourite William Crolla (7-0, 6 KOs) is back out at super welterweight as he faces Emmanuel Zion (6-3, 3 KOs).

Trained by his brother, former world champion Anthony Crolla, the young fighter has racked up three first round wipe outs in a row as he looks to find a fourth.

Zion though has not been stopped in nine fights yet as a professional so it will be a taller task for this Mancunian wrecking machine.

The card is rounded off by three more bouts including local prospect Conor Tudsbury:

• Six rounds, super middleweight: Taylor Bevan (2-0, 2 KOs) vs Ales Makovec (5-3-1, 3 KOs)

• Six rounds, heavyweight: Conner Tudsbury (1-0, 1 KO) vs Robbie Connor (3-4-2, 0 KOs)

• Welterweight contest: Liam Taylor (27-2-1, 14 KOs) vs TBA

All fights will be streamed live on DAZN at 6pm with the main event ring walks scheduled for 10pm.