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European light heavyweight champion Bradley Rea takes aim at boxing’s ‘fake characters’ ahead of first title defence
At the start of the year, Manchester’s Bradley Rea was hoping the next 12 months would be the best of his career so far.
At first, Rea was set to feature on the undercard of the undisputed light heavyweight title rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh last February. Taking on Constantino Nanga, this appearance would provide a great platform for Rea to become a regular feature on high-profile fight cards.
Instead, disaster struck for Rea with the bout cancelled after Nanga was forced to withdraw through injury.
A second chance presented itself two months later, a European light heavyweight title fight with Daniel Dos Santos was on the horizon and Rea was ready to make up for lost time. Unfortunately for ‘The Sting’, nothing is ever simple, and he was hit with another fight cancellation. This time on the day of the contest with Dos Santos falling ill.
“New Year’s Eve, I thought this was going to be the one where I finally get myself back on track,” Rea told DAZN News in an exclusive interview when reflecting on this period of chaos.
“It looked like things were going to be happening, but unfortunately, it didn’t start that way.
“But I always believed this would be the year things start falling back into place, I had a bit of a rocky start, but I got there in the end.”
Two fight cancellations later, Rea finally got his first fight of 2025. Facing Shakan Pitters for the vacant European light heavyweight title in June, the Manchester man would beat his British foe by unanimous decision.
Rea’s reward for winning his first major title is on Saturday night when he defends his European belt against fellow Mancunian Lyndon Arthur on the undercard of Joshua Buatsi’s clash with Zach Parker exclusively live on DAZN.
With this fight being an all-Manchester affair between two fighters who know each other well from past training camps, it would be expected to be an eventful build-up full of heated verbal exchanges, physical altercations and so on.
Rea however is choosing to just be himself and not rely on creating viral moments to sell his fights.
This phrase is often a cliché used by fighters but for Rea it’s born out of frustration.
Signing with Queensberry earlier this year has finally given him serious promotional backing after watching those who he considers to be less talented get rewarded with big opportunities for creating ‘fake characters and acts’ outside of the ring.
“I never for one second questioned my ability, what I questioned was the sport,” Rea said.
“I wondered whether I was just going to be one of those fighters who were unlucky because they didn’t have any backing, and was swept to the side and forgotten about.
“The way I am, I’m not going to be on social media, I’m not going to be doing interviews giving people stick, I’m not going to be viral kicking off at press conferences. It’s just not me.
“I can fight, just as good, if not better than these lads, and I’m going to do it my way.
“If I went down that route, I would have felt like I was selling out. Boxing is full of fake characters and acts.”
It would not be in Rea’s nature to throw around the names who he believes are the ‘fake characters and acts’ in boxing, it would go against his philosophy.
What came across speaking to the 27-year-old over Zoom was a fighter who is remaining grounded and making the most of every opportunity, and rightly so.
Rea has already experienced plenty of disruption and Saturday’s first fight under the Queensberry banner will in Rea’s eyes be the start of an exciting chapter.
Now is the time for ‘The Sting’ to show why it should have been him being given the opportunities instead of the sell-outs he despises.
Watch Buatsi vs. Parker live on DAZN
Joshua Buatsi vs. Zach Parker is live on DAZN this Saturday night, November 1. Watch the fight and whole card with a DAZN subscription.
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