RHIANNON Dixon's opponent on the undercard of Josh Warrington’s IBF world featherweight title defence in Leeds on Saturday night will be Kristine Shergold.

Great Sankey lightweight southpaw Dixon, who is trained by Anthony Crolla and took her pro record to six wins from six on her last outing against Edina Kiss three months ago, will be tackling an experienced campaigner who fought for a title in September in a lower weight division.

Exeter's Shergold, 41, went toe-to-toe with Darlaston's Vicky Wilkinson for the vacant super featherweight commonwealth title in Torquay but the contest finished a majority draw – the first of the personal trainer's 14-fight and 14-year career that also features seven wins and six losses.

That was only Shergold's second fight since winning the WIBF and GBU super featherweight titles in 2018, two bouts after returning from a six-year lay off after having first turned pro in 2008.

Former St Gregory's High School student Dixon, 27, versus Shergold will be the first fight of a busy night at the First Direct Arena that will culminate in Josh Warrington's IBF world title defence against mandatory challenger Luis Alberto Lopez.

The Leeds warrior, who steps through the ropes for the first time since recapturing his IBF crown against Spain's Kiko Martinez in March, feels that he was written off by many following his shock knockout loss to Mexico's Mauricio Lara behind closed doors in February 2021.

"You don’t want to lose," reflected Warrington.

"It’s a division where fighters are constantly coming through and everyone is constantly trying to pull you back down because they want to be in your position. It’s like a game of snakes and ladders. It’s easier to just stay on top.

"It was a bit of a wake-up call was Mauricio Lara – the first one. I let my guard down. I had the Lara defeat and then all of a sudden it was, ‘he’s finished, he’s had his time in the sun’. That’s not the case. It was only a short time in the sun and I feel like I was just getting going."

On the same show, Ebanie Bridges (8-1, 3 KOs) defends her IBF Bantamweight World Title against Shannon O'Connell (23-6-1, 11 KOs) in a spicy all-Australian showdown, Wokingham Middleweight Felix Cash (15-0, 10 KOs) takes on Celso Nevez (9-2-2, 2 KOs) over eight rounds, Liverpool's James Metcalf (23-2, 14 KOs) defends his WBA Continental Title against Brooklyn's Courtney Pennington (16-5-3, 7 KOs), Leeds Super-Bantamweight prospect Koby McNamara (3-0) looks to go 4-0 against Nabil Ahmed (1-10-2).

Also, former World Champion Shannon Courtenay (7-2, 3 KOs) meets Bournemouth's Gemma Ruegg (5-5, 1 KO) over eight rounds at Super-Bantamweight, Heckmondwike Lightweight Cory O'Regan (8-0) fights Shaun Cooper (13-4) over six rounds, Hopey Price (8-0, 3 KOs) aims to go 9-0 against Jonathan Santana (9-3-1, 1 KO) in front of his home crowd, Gateshead talent Calum French (3-0, 1 KO) looks to finish the year in style against Kurt Jackson (3-0).