The latest boxing news from Hackney

Hackney-born Sam Maxwell aims to end 2018 on a high with victory at the Manchester Arena on Saturday.

The super lightweight is booked for action on a packed Frank Warren show headlined by Josh Warrington’s defence of his IBF world featherweight title against fellow Brit Carl Frampton, who has previously won world titles in two weight divisions.

Also scheduled to take to the ring this Saturday is the unbeaten former WBO world middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders who faces Hungary’s Zoltan Sera.

Maxwell will one day hope to be a world champion himself and has started the long road to that success with nine wins in his first nine bouts.

But for now, the 30-year-old is happy to be appearing on a card with such talented boxers and hopes he can pick up some tricks from them.

“I’m lucky to have been able to fight on some top cards in the past and there are some great fights on Saturday, so I’m looking forward to it,” said Maxwell.

“Hopefully I get a good early slot on the card so that I can then go and watch some of the other fights!

“By seeing the likes of Frampton, Warrington and Saunders close up, I can see what they do and try to pick up on it.

“It might only be subtle things they do differently, but if I can see it, hopefully I can use that in future.”

Saturday’s bout will be the final fight of what has been a successful 2018 for super lightweight Maxwell.

The 30-year-old has been kept busy throughout the past 12 months, with previous fights having taken place in March, April, June and August.

All of those bouts resulted in wins for the Hackney-born brawler and Maxwell is pleased with how the calendar year has gone on reflection.

“I’m pleased with how the year has gone and I feel I’ve shown good consistency in my fights,” he added.

“If I’m being greedy, I might have wanted a couple more fights and maybe an eight-rounder, but I’m very happy on the whole.

“I feel this year has given me a good platform to kick on from next year when I hope to fight the best British fighters in my division. I believe I’m capable of competing at that level and I want to be involved in some good all-British bouts.”