Richard Riakporhe on His Looming British Title Fight [Exclusive]

The British title may be the hardest to keep in boxing. It’s a simple system: the champion faces the No. 1 contender and settles it in the ring. No politics. No shortcuts. It's usually contested away from London’s big football stadiums and in the confines of East London’s gritty York Hall.

British-Nigerian heavyweight Richard Riakporhe knows the system well, having been a former British cruiserweight champion who made his professional debut at York Hall.

Riakporhe, in his third heavyweight fight, will face Jeamie Tshikeva on April 11th inside Tottenham Stadium.

Back in the ring on April 11th for the British Heavyweight Title. 📖

📍Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Live on @netflix

See you there. 🥊 pic.twitter.com/DlYzmgLdM0
— Richard Riakporhe (@R_Riakporhe) March 3, 2026

“You have to fight the next guy in line with the British title system…David Haye was the last guy to go from British cruiserweight to British heavyweight champion,” Riakporhe said.

Haye went on to achieve international acclaim from there. He defeated Jean-Marc Mormeck (an underrated cruiserweight champion) and would hold the WBA and WBC cruiserweight titles. Two years later, Haye moved up to heavyweight and reclaimed a world title, defeating the lightly regarded Nikolai Valuev in 2009 to win the WBA heavyweight championship.

Haye lost that title to Wladimir Klitschko in a July 2011 unification bout that was broadcast in the United States by HBO.

Wladimir Klitschko (left) and challenger David Haye (right) | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

The David Haye era

This brings us to the lesson of David Haye.

David Haye was a master of marketing and self-promotion in an era when boxing in the United Kingdom was less popular than it is now. Riakporhe actually has a marketing degree from Kingston University. Each fight is a marketing campaign in and of itself, or as it is often put more crudely, in this sport, you're often only as good as your last fight.

Riakporhe sat down with KO On SI during his training camp to talk about his upcoming fight. He described JKV, his opponent, as a “good fighter.”

“The next thing I want to accomplish in my career is fighting for a world title,” he said. Though it's unclear which title might be available for him.

An era in the heavyweight division is coming to an end with the expected retirements of fighters such as Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk. Some people say this has been one of the greatest eras in heavyweight boxing history—certainly one of the top five. After the 1970s, which was the best era, how you stack up the 1950s and 1990s is conjecture anyway.

How Riakporhe will fit into the new era is unclear, and there is plenty of great British heavyweight talent. A victory over Jeamie Tshikeva would not make him a world champion overnight, but it would push him another step closer to a place in the heavyweight division’s next era.