Zak Chelli v Callum Simpson - Tale of the Tape

A British title fight, a football stadium and the chance to possibly witness the emergence of a new star in the super middleweight division. What’s not to love?

When Zak Chelli defends his 168lbs strap on August 3 it will be the latest chapter in Britain’s storied history with the 12st weight class. Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Carl Froch, Joe Calzaghe are four of the greatest fighters to ever compete at the weight and all hail from Blighty.

Chelli and Simpson have got a long way to go to get anywhere near that famous quartet. For now it’s all about Saturday at Oakwell Stadium, the home of Barnsley F.C.

So who wins? Let’s look at the Tale of the Tape.

Zak Chelli v Callum Simpson
Tale of the Tape

	Zak Chelli	Callum Simpson
Age	26	27
Height	6ft	6ft 3ins
Reach	72 ins	75 ins
Weight	Super middleweight	Super middleweight
Trainer	Barry O'Connell	Mark Hurley
Record	15-2-1 (7 KOs)	14-0 (10 KOs)
Last fight	W v Jack Cullen (UD) - Jan 2024	W v Dulla Mbabe (KO - R4) - Mar 2024

Zak Chelli
In Profile

Zak Chelli made his intentions clear early on in his career that he would fight anyone. In his fourth fight the Londoner faced Umar Sadiq when both were unbeaten. Chelli got the job done on points over eight rounds and went on to win the Southern Area super middleweight title two fights later before losing his 0 to Welsh prospect Kody Davies in a thriller at York Hall.

Chelli has earned his stripes and has shown that on the two occasions he lost he possesses the mental strength to bounce back and earned useful wins against Germaine Brown to become English champion and then American talent Anthony Sims Jr.

Those seven years as a professional and the experience he gathered through those various tests stood him in good stead to beat Jack Cullen second time around and earn the British and Commonwealth titles.

On August 3, though, he faces his toughest test yet going into the lion’s den at Oakwell Stadium with 7,000 fans treating him like the enemy in the first defence of his titles. If Chelli were to overcome highly touted Callum Simpson it could launch his confidence and career to greater levels.

Strengths:	Weaknesses:
Awkwardness	Loses shape later in fights
Right hand over the top	Question marks over stamina
Jab to the body	Nullifies his own work
Physicality	Power

Callum Simpson
In Profile

There are a lot of unanswered questions over Callum Simpson going into the biggest fight of his career so far. He may be unbeaten in 14 contests but none of the opponents stand out on his record. Unlike Chelli there is no Sadiq, Davies, Cullen or Mark Jeffers where we would have seen Simpson tested.

Coming from the small hall show circuit, however, doesn’t always afford such opportunities. You fight what’s in front of you and if you impress then a reputation can be built.

That's exactly what Simpson has done fighting across Yorkshire and the North West which eventually saw him land his TV debut on the Lawrence Okolie v David Light card in March 2023.

But regardless of opposition Simpson carries an X-Factor quality that comes from a fluid skillset which flows through to the clubbing shots which Simpson uses to finish fights.

Should Simpson do a job on Chelli then the UK may have something special on their hands. He won’t be short of support, that’s for sure. Born and bred in Barnsley, the majority of the 7,000 fans at Oakwell will all sing and cheer for their local star.

Saturday night promises to be something special and if Simpson is what many people believe he is then we will all witness the turning point of what could be a very special career.

Strengths:	Weaknesses:
Power	Untested
Hand speed	Over-eager
Reflexes	Neglects defence during attacks
Punch combinations	Faced poor opposition so far