Boxing: Warren line-up lacks fighting talk

Frank Warren paraded his 13 top young prospects in London yesterday at a conference that was embarrassingly short of atmosphere, despite the best efforts of Europe's leading boxing promoter to bring a degree of excitement to the gathering. The brutal reality is that young fighters aged between 19 and 22 often have very little to say, choosing instead to fight in silence.

Head of Warren's 'baker's dozen', and sitting at his side, was Birmingham's Matthew Macklin, who can speak up for himself but chose yesterday to say very little.

At the top of Warren's scale, in terms of weight, is the undefeated and surprisingly impressive heavyweight John McDermott.

Warren took the opportunity to reiterate a challenge to the BBC's main attraction, Audley Harrison, to fight McDermott. "There was a time when I thought that John against Harrison was a 50-50 fight, but I'm now convinced that John has the edge," said the promoter. "If I had to, I would speak to Sky and see if we can find a way to make the match happen."

McDermott, who is a shy young man with a passion for sculpting, has refused to enter into any form of slanging match with Harrison. He insists Harrison is a good fighter, against whom he would accept the chance to fight if it was there.

Warren also paraded for the first time the Welshman Jamie Arthur, who won the Commonwealth Games gold medal at lightweight in Manchester last summer. Arthur is expected to fight on the under card of Joe Calzaghe's next contest in Wales, but he will make his professional debut in Scotland on 22 March on a bill featuring Scott Harrison and Belfast's Wayne McCullough.

"Jamie impressed me at the Commonwealth Games and, in an ideal world, I would like all of his fights to be in Wales. But the American TV company Showtime will be screening the McCullough and Harrison fight, so I believe that is a perfect night for him to have his first fight," added Warren.