Monster Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois fight features one of a kind undercard fight when Mark Chamberlain and Josh Padley have a trade off

09/18/2024 11:50 AM

Mark Chamberlain and Josh Padley will swap their tools for boxing gloves this weekend in the capital.

Chamberlain and Padley meet in a one-of-a-kind clash at lightweight on the monster Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois bill in front of a 96,000 record crowd at Wembley Stadium live on talkSPORT on 21 September.

Life couldn’t have been any more different for the British challengers, with Chamberlain formerly working full-time as a plasterer, while Padley still plies his trade as an electrician.

For Chamberlain, a favourite of Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh, it has been an incredible journey which saw him give up his manual trade more than a year ago to focus on his squared circle career.

And ‘Thunder’ who now stands at 16-0 as a professional with some high-profile KOs, believes it is the best decision he could possibly have made.

“I wasn’t eating at the right time, I was skipping meals and it just wasn’t ideal,” he told talkSPORT.com.

“It was a tough old job on its own without having boxing to go to in the evening as well. It was just taking it out of me.

“I wasn’t getting home until 8pm or 9pm every night, it was no good so I had to make this move to prioritise my boxing career.”

Chamberlain has now described how the ‘added pressure’ of fighting on these bills, has helped him raise his profile and push him step by step to world level.

“Again, I try not to let the occasion get better of me as it’s so much different to life before,” he continued.

“Turki look a liking to me, and without that I’d not sure I’d be entertained on these big shows.

“It is great for me and my career and it is getting me out there so I can’t thank everyone enough.

“There are some big names, all I have to do is keep winning and keep climbing the rankings and anything can happen in boxing.”

For Padley, life has yet to completely change, but a win over Chamberlain could see him give up his life as a full-time electrician for good.

The undefeated 28-year-old, who holds a record of 14-0, has his own ambitions of moving up the rankings, and could do so by sparking out his rival in front of a record crowd.

But ‘Paddy’ has had to take an extended period from work, and is really hoping it pays off.

“I’d love to be able to commit to boxing full-time,” he told talkSPORT’s Hawksbee & Baker show.

“The bigger the fight the more you need to put into the camps. And that is this one for instance.

“I’ve been training twice a day and I’ve put the tools away for the time being and I want to win.”

Padley has found it equally as hard to Chamberlain to sustain a working balance, given any spare hours go towards training for the squared circle.

After an exhausting period, he faces a big step-up on the grandest of stages, an opportunity that he simply could not turn down.

And the 28-year-old undefeated talent has claimed he has taken leave from his job, to focus on a full camp, which he hopes will see fruits from his labour.

“We got the full 12 weeks notice for this one, so I’ve packed work in for the last eight weeks to become a full-time athlete.

“My boss was already in the queue looking at the press conference when he saw my picture, and he said ‘guess you won’t be coming into work’.

“He said ‘although it doesn’t suit the upcoming projects, we want the best for you’. They were great with it.”

Padley and Chamberlain will open the night in front of many of the 96,000 crowd who are likely to be intrigued by this unlikely scenario.

Boxing means so much to many, but none for so than these two rugged contenders, with the winner set to propel their name into a new spotlight going forward.