The bright lights are on for New Zealand's most stacked boxing card in years and Wanganui-born fighter Robert Berridge will be in the thick of it.
Light-heavyweight Berridge (20-1-1, 16 KO) was among the names announced yesterday on the undercard of David Tua's comeback fight against Alexander Ustinov at Hamilton'sClaudelands Arena on August 31.
A New Zealand and Asian belt holder, Berridge will fight Lower Hutt's John Roil (2-2), among a line-up including names like undefeated heavyweight Joseph Parker and Taranaki prospect Sam Rapira.
Discussions about "the Butcher" being on the Tua card have been ongoing since April, during which time Berridge knocked out world-ranked Australian Serge Yannick and lifted the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council title by pummelling Japan's Shintaro Matsumoto.
"It's going to be very interesting after the process he's been through," said Paul Berridge, who helps prepare his cousin with Wanganui training camps.
He said that while not signed fulltime and still being in negotiations with promoters Duco Events, Robert Berridge had agreed to fight under their banner specifically for this card.
While Roil didn't pose a giant threat to the powerful 28-year-old, the chance to showcase his knockout power on a massive pay-per-view show was the best prospect for Berridge, who had been vocal in the past about the lack of mainstream media attention in his home base of Auckland.
"It's in the best interests of having an entertainment factor," said Paul Berridge.
This Tua fight is expected to rival the numbers that watched the Tua v Shane Cameron "Fight of the Century" in October 2009 the biggest pay-per-view event in New Zealand history.
Paul Berridge said his cousin had been due to be seen on that card, but his match got cut due to television time constraints.
"It's a bit ironic he's come back as sort of one of the main events."
Auckland super-middleweight Adrian Taihia (9-1) came out earlier this week stating he was going to get a shot at Berridge's New Zealand Professional Boxing Association belt on the show, but claimed Duco Events kept changing their terms for money and number of rounds.
