The Liverpool promoter who is aiming to discover the next Tony Bellew or Callum Smith

Liverpool will take centre stage in the boxing world on Saturday night when Eddie Hearn brings Ben Whittaker to the famous fighting city as he takes on Braian Suarez . 

Originally, the show was intended to be headlined Callum Smith vs. David Morrell, but injury to the former means his quest towards another world title is now on hold as Liverpool bids to find a new world champion following recent losses endured by Nick Ball and Jazza Dickens. 

Just two months after the M&S Bank Arena staged Ball’s shattering setback against Brandon Figueroa, boxing is back in the city’s famous arena, the location of so many memorable battles featuring Tony Bellew, Derry Mathews, and the Smith brothers, and there’s a prominent buzz regarding the local fight scene. 

Stephen Vaughan Jr., a member of Liverpool’s legendary Vaughan family, is fully aware of the talent currently on display in his city, and he has grand plans to capitalise on it and create a new generation of fighters who can achieve similar successes to the aforementioned names. 

'It's lit a fire under me to carry on my father's hard work'

Still only 41, Vaughan Jr. has been promoting for around 15 years following a spell as a footballer that saw him represent Chester City. Vaughan’s father, Stephen Sr., played an instrumental role in keeping Liverpool boxing relevant during the 1990s promoting many shows and after his sad passing last year, Vaughan Jr. is eager to carry on his legacy. 

“It’s lit a fire under me to carry on his hard work,” said Vaughan Jr. during a sitdown with DAZN News . 

“At his funeral, which was such a good turnout, there were so many ex-boxers there and so many boxing people and when I looked around seeing what he meant to these people, I said to myself ‘I’ve got to have a proper go now.’ That has been the catalyst for me to really go at it now.” 

Vaughan Jr’s education in the sport was experienced first-hand as his dad staged several big events in and around the Merseyside area with Paul Lloyd one of his star attractions. The Ellesmere Port fighter featured in several high-profile televised bills and although often entertaining, he wasn’t able to get the job done at the highest level as he suffered harsh losses to both Marco Antonio Barrera and Tim Austin. 

As well as seeing the business side of the sport through his father, Stephen’s uncle Danny Vaughan would go onto become a leading trainer after learning his trade under the tutelage of Georgie Vaughan, the godfather of Merseyside boxing, Stephen Jr’s grandfather and the father of Stephen Sr and Danny. 

“Paul Lloyd was always my favourite when I was growing up and will never forget his fight with Richie Wenton in Chester for the British title. That probably still is the best fight I’ve seen live. Being around that, all the fighters my dad was managing, and the fighters my family were training, it was just good to be around.” 

On May 16, Vaughan Jr. will promote his next show in Liverpool after securing a deal with the city’s BoxPark venue to stage numerous shows a year.

Featuring young talent eager to one day operate on the sport’s biggest stage, Vaughan is well aware that he has numerous capable fighters ready to take the next step and he’s hoping his shows can capture the attention of people as he looks to create new champions and names for his city to get behind. 

One fighter already guided by Vaughan Jr. is British flyweight champion, Brandon Daord, and the talented Birkenhead star could be closing in on a world title shot after being guided to a lofty position by Vaughan Jr.

Building relationships with other senior figures in the sport and calling on the experiences of his family have served Vaughan Jr. well so far and with Daord already proving himself at title level, Vaughan Jr is hopeful there’s more to come. 

“Brandon has been great to work with, and it’ll be good if we can get him in a position to be world champion after featuring on his shows. 

"There’s definitely a market now for shows to focus on things like the British and Commonwealth belts and then to get these fighters onto TV shows and if you look at our shows then there’s no reason why we can’t have TV too. 

“I’ve seen this city's boxing scene have ups and downs in the past. I can remember great names but there are also times when we’ve been crying out for someone. In the past few years, you only have to look at the names who've headlined in the arena like Bellew, the Smith’s, Derry, and David Price.

"It would be good to have a few more and hopefully I can play a part in getting my lads there.” 

Whittaker vs. Suarez only on DAZN 

Watch Ben Whittaker vs. Braian Suarez this Saturday, April 18, only on DAZN subscription. Monthly and annual subscriptions available.

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