{"id":705784,"date":"2026-07-22T19:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/705784\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T19:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:43:11","slug":"ex-school-teacher-had-trials-at-west-ham-and-everton-and-is-now-fighting-on-tyson-fury-undercard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/705784\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-school teacher had trials at West Ham and Everton and is now fighting on Tyson Fury undercard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simon Ibekwe will be itching to prove he is in a class of his own when he battles Daniel Baer as Tyson Fury’s chief undercard this weekend.<\/p>\n

The heavyweight fighter has done his homework in mixing it with Britain’s elite already, having previously been a part of Anthony Joshua’s camp<\/a> for his IBF title defeat to Daniel Dubois.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Simon<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Ibekwe quit teaching to pursue boxing full-timeCredit: instagram<\/p>\n

The former schoolteacher also learnt the ropes as the sparring partner<\/a> of ex-British heavyweight champion Jeamie TKV.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be where Jeamie is,\u201d Ibekwe revealed earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I can get there and that\u2019s why I left teaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved my job and want to go back to working with young people again one day, but I got some sponsors and decided to focus on boxing.\u201d<\/p>\n

read more boxing newsFootballer-turned-boxer on Fury undercard<\/p>\n

Ibekwe (6-0, 3 KOs), who is managed by former British champion Scott Welch<\/a>, turned professional in 2023 following 21 amateur bouts.<\/p>\n

However, his sporting journey started with his feet, not his hands, as a ‘no-nonsense centre half’ who had trials at West Ham and Everton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI drifted into non-league and lost a bit of interest,” he added.<\/p>\n

“I stayed in the gym and had always wanted to box, so I went to a gym in East London where I took a lot of beatings!\u201d<\/p>\n

It was there that Ibekwe, who grew up in Tottenham, met Lawrence Okolie and Dan Azeez before he relocated to Redditch in 2020.<\/p>\n

\"Simon<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Ibekwe was part of AJ’s training camp for his bout with DuboisCredit: instagram\"Simon<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

The emerging heavyweight is seeking a breakout performance in ThailandCredit: instagramDaniel Baer vs Simon Ibekwe<\/p>\n

This will be Ibekwe’s first pro bout overseas as he journeys to Pattaya, Thailand, to serve as the chief undercard act for Fury v Wach<\/a>.<\/p>\n

German Baer boasts a career record of 14 wins, 1 loss, and 1 no-contest, the latter of which came in his last bout in January.<\/p>\n

The entire card won’t be live-streamed<\/a>\u00a0and instead is being filmed for headliner Fury’s Netflix docu-series ‘At Home with the Furys’.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0talkSPORT.com\u00a0will be on hand with all of the latest from Ibekwe against Baer, as well as the rest of fight night in our live blog.<\/p>\n

Listen to talkSPORT through the website<\/a>\u00a0or find us on DAB digital radio through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.<\/p>\n

\"Tyson<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Fury and Wach met for the first time in Thailand as they prepare for their clash – which won’t be available to the TV-watching publicCredit: Seconds Out<\/p>\n

Download and listen to all our live commentaries<\/a>\u00a0via the talkSPORT app.<\/p>\n

For the\u00a0latest odds and bet boosts<\/a>\u00a0for every big event, visit talkSPORT BET.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to the\u00a0talkSPORT YouTube channel<\/a>\u00a0for news, views and analysis plus our regular goals show and for more, follow us on\u00a0talkSPORT Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0talkSPORT on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read More on talkSPORTFury vs Wach: Undercard<\/p>\n

Subject to change<\/p>\n

Tyson Fury vs Mariusz Wach – HeavyweightDaniel Baer vs Simon Ibekwe – HeavyweightMichael Alan Flannery vs TBC – Light-heavyweightLucas Dassios vs TBC – CruiserweightMark Ahondjo vs TBC – HeavyweightArlo Stephens vs TBC – Heavyweight<\/p>\n

Watch Boxing on DAZN<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

*If you click a link in this boxout, we will earn affiliate revenue<\/p>\n

Sign up to DAZN<\/a> to access the definitive subscription for boxing fans.<\/p>\n

Upgrade to DAZN Ultimate<\/a> from just \u00a324.99\/month, guaranteeing access to 185+ fights annually, a minimum of 12 pay-per-views at no extra cost, as well as every Lega Serie A match and other elite football access.<\/p>\n

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Click here to sign up<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Simon Ibekwe will be itching to prove he is in a class of his own when he battles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,234177,234171,234176,234174,234173,234172,234175,101,6901,234170,234169,56,54,55,199329],"class_list":["post-705784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-everton-news","tag-simon-ibekwe","tag-simon-ibekwe-boxing","tag-simon-ibekwe-everton","tag-simon-ibekwe-next-fight","tag-simon-ibekwe-record","tag-simon-ibekwe-west-ham","tag-sports","tag-tyson-fury","tag-tyson-fury-mariusz-wach","tag-tyson-fury-undercard","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-west-ham-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}