Cooper (11-1, 4 KOs), born about 70 miles south of Derby’s Vaillant Live Arena, has gone the more traditional route, having signed with Queensberry Promotions as a 3-0 prospect in early 2021.

He has since won area and English titles before this challenge for the Lord Lonsdale belt in the midlands, where he has steadily built up his fanbase.

But Ursu (14-0, 6 KOs), who puts his Commonwealth title on the line this weekend, has done it all a very long way from home given he swapped Chisinau, Moldova, for the deepest, darkest south west of England in order to launch his boxing career in 2019.

Now one of Plymouth’s adopted sons, Ursu (14-0, 6 KOs) has not put a foot wrong during his ascent through the small hall circuit. Saturday night’s main event represents his biggest fight to date and his chance to take a huge step toward the world scene at 147 pounds.

Cooper suffered the first defeat of his career in July 2024, when he was stopped in the 10th round of his clash with Ekow Essuman in Birmingham. After 10 months out of the ring, he bounced back with a decision victory against Chris Kongo in May in what was his most recent outing.

With three 12-rounders in the past 14 months, Ursu has been the busier of the two. He is also in fine form, having won all three with two inside the distance against a trio of opponents with a combined record of 44-3-2.

The picks are in from The Ring’s Mike Coppinger and Max Kellerman. Think you can beat them? Predict winners for prizes.

Owen Cooper: “I like taking these tough fights. I like being the underdog. because it gives you something to aim for. It gives you that extra bit of push. We could take easier fights, but I don’t feel like you end up getting the best version of yourself then because, subconsciously, you might start taking little shortcuts because you think, ‘I'll be alright. I'm meant to beat this person.’”

Constantin Ursu: “He’s a basic fighter. Nothing too good. Strong hands, little speed, so nothing excellent. He’s just a good boxer. Nothing special. It’s my point of view and many, many people think the same, so I’m just being real, and I say he can’t do nothing to win this fight.”

Owen Cooper has been widely priced as a 2/1 (+200) underdog with away fighter Ursu the 1/2 (-200) favorite in Derby. The draw is a reasonably short 18/1 (+1800), which reflects how close this one is expected to be.

The pick of the undercard comes at junior welterweight, where Sunderland’s Luke McCormack (4-0, 3 KOs), the twin brother of Pat, will take part in his first 10-rounder. After managing just four fights in nearly two years as a professional, he will face Lancashire’s ‘Sugar’ Kane Gardner (18-5, 7 KOs) in the toughest test of his career to date.

Vaillant Live Arena, Derby, England.

The whole show will be streamed live on DAZN, starting at 2 p.m. ET/7 p.m. GMT.