Ozzy

By David Field, PA Sport Boxing Correspondent

Francis Ampofo does not have time on his side, especially as a seasoned
battler in the lower-weight divisions.

But Ampofo can at least mentally halt the march of advancing years by
landing the vacant British and Commonwealth bantamweight titles in his
'backyard' of York Hall, Bethnal Green tonight.

Ampofo, 32, faces Bury's Adey Lewis with the added bonus of the British
title after previous owner, Noel Wilders, faxed the Board of Control
yesterday to officially relinquish the domestic championship in order to
concentrate on his newly-won IBO crown.

Not that Ampofo needs any impetus to fight on. He battles on for the
security of his family, particularly is son, who is autistic. It is sad
situation that can only fuel the ambition of the Eastender who came to
London as a youngster from Ghana.

Though a professional for a little over 10 years, Ampofo has had only 24
fights, so there may be more left in the tank than might be expected of a
fighter of his age.

Wilders' decision to step down is obviously as much of a boost to Lewis, who
lost a final eliminator to the outgoing champion in Ipswich last June.

While Ampofo is 5ft1in, Lewis stands only 4ft10in, and the London-fighter
can only once remember looking down on an opponent - WBO champion Baby Jake
Matlala in 1994.

Ampofo lost that world challenge to Matlala, but is very experienced - and
pretty successful amid home competition, having won four and lost three of
his seven previous British title fights, beginning with his cut-eye victory
over Robbie Regan in Cardiff more than nine years ago.

So Ampofo will have the edge in experience in his 10th senior championship
bout, but is giving way seven years to Lewis, also a former holder of the
British flyweight title.

Ampofo said: "I feel very happy to get another opportunity to win the
British title, but I thought I was good enough anyway to get this chance.

"I've been in the picture for nearly 10 years and the fights I've lost have
been mainly my fault for starting off too slowly and losing early points. So
I'm planning to work harder in the opening stages.

"I think the experience is going to make a big difference, and with the
going gets tough I will have my home crowd to lift me. That's so important."