Lionhearts announce squad for Fighting Roosters World Series of Boxing showdown

The Lionhearts are in crunch time in this season's competition, trailing the French Fighting Roosters 3-2 after last Friday's first leg in Paris, in their bid for the last four.

But they return to Bethnal Green's York Hall on Saturday night knowing a repeat of their 3-2 group-stage victory over the same opponents would keep them in with a chance of reaching next month's semi-finals.

French returns to the ring with two wins to his name already in the lightweight division.

He'll be joined in the ring by Will Cawley, his GB Boxing squad colleague, who is making his World Series of Boxing debut in the flyweight category.

The British pair will also be joined in the team by three overseas selections, Andras Vadasz (welterweight), from Hungary, Alejandro Camacho (light-heavyweight) of Spain and New Zealand's Patrick Mailata (super-heavyweight).

Remarkably all four quarter-final ties are sat as tight as possible at 3-2, with the Uzbek Tigers leading the Cuba Domodores after their first leg.

The Italia Thunder – who the Lionhearts faced in the round-robin group stage – also lead against the Colombia Heroics, with the Astana Arlans Kazakhstan the only team to prevail away from home, leading against the Patriot Boxing Team. Sportsbeat 2017