Sunderland boxer Thomas Essomba to defent Commonwealth flyweighttitle against Motherwell's Iain Butcher

The Sunderland fighter will be challenged by Scotland’s Iain Butcher, who has won 13 of his 15 contests.

Essomba won the belt on the road at Rotherham last October when he took apart the previously unbeaten Waleed Din in Rotherham, the 28-year-old stopping him in the 11th round.

Phil Jeffries, who manages and promotes the former Olympian, announced the match after Essomba chalked up his seventh straight win of his professional career at Houghton on Saturday night.

The exciting Sean Casey-trained boxer outpointed veteran Russian Sergey Tasimov over six one-sided rounds at the Rainton Meadows Arena.

“It looks a belter against Butcher, a real 50-50 fight,” predicted Jeffries.

“Getting fights for Thomas is a thankless task, no-one seems to want to fight him, but this kid from Scotland is game.

“But, in my view, Thomas is the best flyweight out there and I expect him to go all the way to the top.

“I have every confidence he will be keeping the belt in Sunderland and if he does then I’ll be looking to stage a defence at the Summer Rumble at the Stadium of Light in July.”

Butcher will prove a formidable opponent.

The 23-year-old, from Motherwell, is a former British and Commonwealth flyweight title challenger and won the WBO European fly belt in late 2013.

Butcher has just returned to the ring after a 10-month absence by winning in Glasgow last month – ironically with a 60-54 win over Tasimov.

Essomba clinched the same scoreline on the undercard of the Tommy Ward v Robbie Turley British super-bantamweight title eliminator. “Thomas is a class act and this was a very good warm-up,” added Jeffries.