LEWIS Howells bids to again build steam under his career with a ring return on Saturday night.
And the Stratford-based Welshman returns in an intriguing contest. He faces Sam Littlechild, a cruiser/light-heavyweight who gained a reputation for big hitting in the amateur ranks.
This will be Sam’s long awaited pro debut – and fans can expect fireworks.
Howells, who has lost two of five, is a rugged, tough customer who has mixed in good class on major TV shows.
The fight at Birmingham’s Holiday Inn is a four round clash of outstanding amateurs. Howells, aged 28, was a Welsh international who gained national honours.
Littlechild, a product of Kingstanding’s mighty 2nd City gym, scored a string of stoppage wins.
In 2023, his final year as an amateur, Sam stopped five opponents. In that season’s
Haringey Cup, staged at Alexandra Palace, Irishman Kyle Roch was demolished with a body shot that echoed around the arena. In all, the KO king won 21 of 25 contests.
He won the development championships – and three of the five opponents he faced in that tournament failed to make it to the final bell.
The 26-year-old actually announced his intention to “turn over” in June, 2023, but a medical issue, now resolved, stalled his plans. They were further pushed back when
Littlechild moved from Tamworth to Dunfermline.
For Howells, an immensely likeable individual, it is a return to arms following his first stoppage loss. In January, red-hot prospect Sam Hickey stopped him in one round with body shots.
Up until that disaster, Howells showed promise in peeling off three straight wins against good calibre opposition. And he fought creditably to give Welsh rival Kyran Jones, now unbeaten in 12, a hard distance fight at Cardiff International Arena.
But a stop-start career blighted by injury has seen Howells struggle to gain momentum in professional boxing. His application has also been questioned in some quarters.
There have been changes since the quick loss to Hickey, a former superb Scottish amateur.
He and Leamington trainer Derek Fitzpatrick have amicably ended their working relationship.
In a world of egos and bravado, Howells is disarmingly honest.
Following one points win against an unbeaten lad, he told me: “It was terrible, I don’t think I’ve ever performed that badly. I felt embarrassed. If they’d scored it a draw, I wouldn’t have argued.”
Of his ticket-selling prowess, he shrugged: “I’ve not done too well. That’s because the shows are here and my mates find it difficult to travel from Wales.”
That means he has to take dangerous opponents such as Littlechild. He can’t be picky.
In February, Littlechild told me fans can expect the dramatic. He said: “Expect excitement. It’s been a long time coming. I want to take this (career) as far as I can.
Sometimes things aren’t plain sailing and smooth, but I believe in my ability.”
Things have been far from smooth for Sam. It took a battery of test and a specialist’s input before he was given the all-clear to box.
“There were times when it could’ve been so easy to walk away,” he admitted, “but you can’t get out of something you have put so much time in and love so much.”
This one has the hallmarks of a small hall thriller – and those present at the Holiday Inn should brace themselves for the explosion.
