LUKE Blackledge will take on Liam Cameron for the Commonwealth title against Liam Cameron at King George’s Hall in Blackburn on April 4.

Professional boxing will return to Blackburn for a third time in the space of seven months in five weeks’ time and Blackledge will headline the bill after securing a second tilt at the Commonwealth belt.

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The 24-year-old previously took on Rocky Fielding for the Commonwealth super middleweight title at the Manchester Arena on the undercard of Carl Froch’s first bout with George Groves in November 2013, but suffered a first-round knockout defeat.

Blackledge took that fight at short notice and went in as a major underdog, but will feel hopeful that the result will be different this time.

He has 18 wins, two draws and two defeats from his 22 professional fights, while his Sheffield opponent Cameron – nicknamed the Cannonball – has 18 wins and three defeats from 21 bouts.

Blackledge had been targeting another challenge for the Commonwealth title for some time and had been offered the chance to face Isaac Ekpo for the belt in Nigeria.

But the Accrington boxer and Blackburn Rovers fan was reluctant to travel to Africa, and a deal could not be agreed to fight Ekpo in England.

Instead Blackledge will now fight Cameron for the vacant title, and he has pulled out of a scheduled keep-busy fight in Preston this weekend to prepare.

Meanwhile, Morecambe’s Isaac Lowe will also fight Lee Glover for the English featherweight title on the bill, while East Lancashire fighters Adam Machaj, AJ Faizy, Artif Ali and Morgan Jackson are also scheduled to box against as yet unconfirmed opponents.

Jackson is also scheduled to be in action in Preston tomorrow night, along with fellow East Lancashire fighters Faizy and Shakeeb Ali. Blackburn fighter, the unbeaten Kurt Grieve, is due to take on Chris Jenkinson in a welterweight bout on the same bill.