Sky Sports will broadcast his fight against Todd Tompkins (4-0) from the Bournemouth International Centre.
Hickey (4-0, 1 KO) has only had four fights since turning professional under the Boxxer banner back in October 2024 but it doesn’t take long to realise that the 26-year-old middleweight from Dundee is different to most prospects.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medalist isn’t interested in padding his record. Hickey wants moving quickly but deliberately and his deal with Zuffa should suit him perfectly.
“You see prospects that fight seven times a year and stuff I don’t think I’ve ever really wanted to be out seven times in the year. I’d rather be getting four or five good fights. I’ve never even had that, but now I’m going to get that,” the Scotsman told The Ring.
“But I feel like while I’ve only had four fights, I’m at the stage of where a guy who’s had ten fights is.”
Hickey has shown glimpses of his talent during his four professional fights but there is a definite sense that there is much, much more to come.
Against Aljaz Venko in December, Hickey dropped the Slovenian in the first and fourth rounds but rather than pushing for a finish to make his record look glossier, he clearly decided to take his time, practice the things he had been working on with his trainer, Rob McCracken, and got six invaluable rounds under his belt.
As he gets more regular dates to work towards and more dangerous opposition to prepare for, rounds will become less important and one of the best kept secrets in British boxing will be able to show a natural ruthless streak.
“Since I’ve been training under Rob, it’s been a work in progress,” Hickey said.
“I’ve been starting off at the bottom and trying to get better. I think it’s all come together but I’m never going to be the finished article. There’s always going to be things to work on.”
Training with the no-nonsense McCracken in Sheffield suits Hickey down to the ground.
The English Institute of Sport was Hickey’s base for his successful international amateur career and he saw no reason to change it after hanging up his vest.
He still gets to share the ring with razor sharp, top class amateurs but he is also learning how to pace himself and lull hardened professionals into traps.
As time goes on, Hickey will add different dimensions to his game and work out different ways to make himself effective and he has been able to do it without getting bogged down in trying to change his style.
He has taken confidence from the realisation that he doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel.
“I’m learning a bit more about the pro sparring but what I’ve noticed is that the things that got me good in the amateurs are going to get me places in the pros as well — my feet, my speed — and that is going to do me well as a pro. I’m not going to lose that. I feel like some professional fighters turn pro and they lose that side of it so I’m definitely going in the right direction,” he said.
“This promotional deal that we’ve got, hopefully in the next three years, four years I’m going to look back on this signing and it’s going to be the best decision I’ve ever made.”
The Gerbasi Corner honors longtime Ring Magazine and boxing contributor Tom Gerbasi, who passed away suddenly on Sept. 15, 2025. A 2024 Nat Fleischer Award winner for excellence in boxing journalism, Gerbasi took particular joy in telling the stories of up-and-coming and unheralded prospects in the sport.
