Brad Strand previews next fight with risky opponent Ionut Baluta on March 15

Brad Strand faces tricky visitor Ionut Baluta on March 15

British title contender Brad Strand (12-1, 4KO) looked ahead to this Saturday's clash - March 15 - with Ionut Baluta (16-5-1, 3KO) in his home city of Liverpool, live on TNT Sports.

Strand joins his Everton Red Triangle gym teammates Nick Ball and Andrew Cain on the stacked Queensberry Promotions bill at the M&S Bank Arena.

A former ABA Elite champion, Strand will face the risky Romanian, Baluta, who has a rich history of upsetting his opponents in front of their home crowds.

31-year-old Baluta has bested TJ Doheny, Davey Oliver Joyce and Brad Foster, all from the away corner.

He gave Dennis McCann his hardest fight in 2023, ending on a technical draw after the contest was stopped on a bad cut sustained by the home fighter.

And he was able to knock Strand's teammate Andrew Cain down in the ninth round of their March 2023 clash to edge him on points at the end of the 10-rounds.

28-year-old Strand praised his upcoming opponent, "He's a handful, isn't he. I'm a fighter and these are the fights I want to be in, proper fights, so yeah, I'm looking forward it."

Trained by Paul Stevenson, Strand defends his WBO European super-bantamweight title to the man known as 'Il Capo', who trains in Marbella, Spain.

When asked if his style of breaking opponents down over time will be effective, he responded, "Yeah, maybe, but obviously I showed people in my last fight that I can knock people out as well."

Brad scored a sensational one-punch knockout over former WBC Latino champion Marvin Solano with a well-timed right cross in the sixth round of a scheduled eight. They fought in October 2024 at the same Merseyside venue, formerly known as the Echo Arena, which will be his third successive outing there.

The super-bantamweight stylist then gave a prediction for him and his teammates' fights this weekend, "Yeah, definitely three knockout wins."

Nick Ball defends his WBA world featherweight title to undisputed title contender TJ Doheny in the main event, and Andrew Cain defends his British and Commonwealth bantamweight belts to former world champion Charlie Edwards.