The World Kickboxing Network will return to Northern Ireland on September 12 with the next edition of Billy Murray promotion taking place at Stormont Hotel in Belfast. The event billed as “Knockdown Lockdown” will feature four WKN titles with Johnny “Swift” Smith battling it out in the headliner of the show.
“Swift” Smith is a reigning WKN Intercontinental welterweight champion. He was last in action in October 2019 when he knocked out Shuhei Sone in the second round to successfully defend his strap and earn a shot at a prestigious WKN World Crown. He was scheduled to go up against Yohe Fujioka in a five-round battle with a vacant WKN World welterweight title on the line in June 2020, but the pandemic forced the matchup to be postponed.
Alongside Smith, “Knockdown Lockdown” will see three Prokick Rising Stars – Grace Goody, James Braniff and Jay Snoddon – contesting for WKN titles against the respective opponents. The trio was initially set to compete at A ProKick Spooktacular Event last October and then at KICKmas 2020 in December, but both events also fell off due to pandemic.
Prokick: Knockdown Lockdown celebrates 32 years since former four-weight kickboxing world champion Billy Murray lifted his first professional world title.