MANCHESTER, England - On the final Saturday before Christmas, thousands of Callum Simpson's fans will make the half hour trip from Barnsley to Leeds’ First Direct Bank Arena.

There, they will see their favourite defend his British, Commonwealth and European super middleweight titles against Troy Williamson in another headline attraction, the second show of Boxxer's new broadcast deal with the BBC.

Those at home that night hoping to catch the traditional Christmas showing of The Snowman cartoon or a festive special of Mrs Brown's Boys may just happen upon one of the loudest - and certainly the most partisan - atmospheres in British boxing while channel hopping.

It is over 20 years since the BBC last televised a major professional boxing show.

That night, another South Yorkshireman in Clinton Woods took apart hyped American challenger Rico Hoye five rounds into their IBF light heavyweight title fight.

It is a long, long time since the BBC broadcast such an event and Simpson’s manager, Kevin Maree, is positive that it won’t take long for bosses to realise they have a potential star on their hands.

"Callum's atmosphere is very unique. As you've seen when we've gone to Oakwell Stadium this summer, they come out. They all support him unbelievably with red and white colours on them," Maree told The Ring.

"It's visually amazing, the noise is unbelievable. They're going to do that in Leeds and it'll be back to when Josh Warrington used to do it. It's going to be absolutely bouncing, an amazing atmosphere and the BBC are going to love it."

Simpson (18-0, 13 KOs) has become a local hero in Barnsley but Maree believes that with the BBC machine behind him, that will quickly scale up.

As well as the fight itself being televised, Simpson can expect to be featured heavily on the broadcasting giant's other shows and news channels.

Simpson is an exciting, aggressive fighter whose style will draw in casual fans but Maree is certain that once people get to know him and hear his story, other doors will inevitably open.

"It won’t be long now before Callum is on Strictly Come Dancing and those other BBC programmes," he said.

"Callum will be on that because everyone falls in love with him. He's a normal, nice guy who gets in the ring and turns into an animal. He comes out of the ring and the grannies love him, the kids love him. Everybody just falls in love with the kid."

It has been a turbulent period for Boxxer but the deal with the BBC offers them a new and exciting start.

Simpson has been one of the promotional company's biggest success stories and his annual summer fight at Barnsley's Oakwell Stadium has quickly developed into a major event on the town's calendar.

In August 2024 - just 17 months after he made his Sky Sports debut - Boxxer listened to Maree's advice and took the gamble of staging Simpson's fight with British and Commonwealth champion Zak Chelli at the famous old stadium.

Every one of the seven thousand tickets made available flew out within hours and around double number that saw him get off the canvas twice to win the vacant European title against unbeaten Italian puncher Ivan Zucco on June 7.

Boxxer have helped Simpson become one of the few British boxers capable of selling out a stadium and he can do it regardless of the opponent or undercard.

"Listen, Boxxer get bad press sometimes - as do lots of promoters - but how can anybody argue with the job that Boxxer have done with us?" Maree said.

"They've brought us to Barnsley twice. We're the British, Commonwealth and European champion. Some people might have had experiences with everything in life. How can we fault that?"

Popularity is one thing but Simpson is also highly ranked by all four sanctioning bodies and - provide he gets past Williamson - will spend next year closing in on a world title shot.

A summer 2026 return to Oakwell has already been penciled in and Maree would love to use Simpson's drawing power to provide the BBC with a major all-British affair.

"In the summer, on the BBC, let's get Hamzah Sheeraz at Oakwell. Why not? Let's do that. It's not going to fill Wembley, but it'll fill Oakwell."