Locally-trained trio Tony Oakey, Courtney Fry and Steve Spartacus have their eyes on the prize of �25,000 as the light heavyweights go to battle in the latest Prizefighter tournament

By LEN WHALEY

Locally-trained trio Tony Oakey, Courtney Fry and Steve Spartacus have their eyes on the prize of �25,000 at York Hall tomorrow night as the light heavyweights go to battle in the latest Prizefighter tournament.

A sell-out crowd is expected at the Bethnal Green venue for the fifth Prizefighter event staged by Barry Hearn's Matchroom group, which features a blitz of three-round contests and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

The four quarter-finals, both semi-finals and a winner-takes-all final will all take place in three hours, with the last man standing collecting the �25,000 top prize.

Oakey, 33, based at East London's TKO gym, has previously held the British, WBU and Commonwealth titles - but he faces a tough test in his first bout after being paired with Billy Boyle in last week's draw.

Sheffield fighter Boyle is undefeated in 11 fights, with seven of those victories coming by knockout.

His clash with Oakey will be the second fight of the night following an opening bout that features bookies' favourite and former Repton amateur Courtney Fry.

Fry, a former Commonwealth Games gold medallist, faces rank outsider Shon Davies, who, at 22, is the youngest of the eight contestants.

But the four previous Prizefighter competitions have caused no shortage of shocks and dangerous Welsh fighter Davies, who is priced at 25/1, will be aiming to cause a major upset against the experienced Fry.

The night's third clash sees the two remaining undefeated fighters - Darlington's Bob Ajisafe and Liverpool's Carl Dilks - go head to head in another intriguing battle, while the fourth contest sees Oldham veteran Darren Stubbs, 37, take on hard-hitting Steve Spartacus.

Spartacus, a member of East London's TBS promotions group trained by Tony Sims, has gained 11 of his 19 wins by knockout and could make an explosive impact at York Hall.

Either Fry or Davies will meet Oakey or Boyle in the first semi-final with Ajisafe or Dilks meeting Stubbs or Spartacus in the second semi-final.

Tickets for Prizefighter are available from the Matchroom Sport box office on 01277 359 900.