There are fighters who can’t find opponents because they’re not good enough. Then there’s Moses Jolly — who can’t find opponents because they are too scared to face him.
The Neath Sports Centre headline act on Saturday night is 11 fights into his professional career and still unbeaten. He is also, by his manager’s account, increasingly difficult to match — not because he lacks ambition, but because his rivals lack the nerve.
“Finding opponents willing to step in the ring with Moses is a huge challenge in itself,” said Mickey Helliet, the veteran manager who also made Tyson Fury’s first professional fight. “I’ve never heard so many elaborate excuses as to why certain fighters don’t want to even spar him anymore.”
“Repeatedly we’ve made verbal agreements confirming purses, dates and venues only for the opponents to pull out the next day — probably once they’ve had the chance to see videos of him on YouTube,” Helliet added. “With sparring partners it is often the same story once they’ve had an explosive initiation to Moses’ precocious talent.”
Jolly, known by his ring name ‘The Native,’ has been on our radar since 2024 when Helliet was already describing him as boxing’s best kept secret. Since then he has fought live on Sky Sports, broken into the top 20 in the Box-Pro world rankings and declared himself ready to become Wales’s first heavyweight champion. On Saturday, he takes a significant step towards making that happen.
His last fight — in the Cayman Islands — lasted just 32 seconds including the count. The opponent before that pulled out. And the one before that. Jolly has spent as much of his career waiting for fights as having them.
Saturday’s opponent, Middlesbrough’s Will Howe, has done what many others refused to — actually signed the contract. He arrives in Wales with an 8-2 record, strong amateur credentials, and genuine intent. Both of his losses came in close fights away from home. He has never been put on the canvas or stopped.
That last detail, according to Jolly’s camp, is exactly what they are aiming to change on Saturday night.
On the line is the Commonwealth International Heavyweight Title — and with both men being British, the fight is widely viewed in boxing circles as a de facto eliminator for the full British Heavyweight Title. The winner moves into title contention. The loser, in all likelihood, falls out of the picture entirely.
It is a fight with serious stakes — and Pat Barrett, promoter of Black Flash Promotions and a former British and European Lightweight Champion himself, has described it as “the most exciting small-hall heavyweight clash of the year.”
Helliet is focused but knows what the bigger picture holds. “Moses is improving at an astonishing rate and people haven’t seen the best of him yet by a long way,” he said. “I already see Moses pushing on beyond the British title — but it is important that we focus on this next fight first.”
For fight fans across south-west Wales, Saturday represents a rare opportunity — a potential future champion, fighting near his home city, for a meaningful title, at a venue you can actually get to.
The event — billed as the ‘Celtic Collision’ — is already pulling a large and vocal crowd, with local support firmly behind ‘The Native.’ It promises to be a proper night of boxing in the round — the kind that used to fill halls in Neath and Swansea every month.
Tickets are £50 standard and £80 ringside and are expected to sell quickly. Contact Mickey Helliet on 07843 636920 for availability.
Moses Jolly vs Will Howe, Commonwealth International Heavyweight Championship, 10 rounds. Saturday 23 May, Neath Sports Centre. Doors open at 6pm.
