A FIRST title as a professional will be on offer for Kurt Walker at the Ulster Hall on March 30 when he takes on England's James Beech Jnr for the vacant WBA Continental Europe featherweight title.

Walker tops the bill on the Conlan Boxing promotion at the same venue where he improved to 10-0 last month with a points win over Drawing Martinez.

His reward is a crack at a first title belt that will see him take a big step forward on his journey should he get the better of Beech whose record stands at 16-5.

The Walsall native has twice come up short in British and Commonwealth title fights and indeed, four of his five reverses have had title belts on the line.

Walker will be confident he can add to the visitor's woes and a victory would see him in a good place to push on for the rest of the year.

Chief support is a BBBoC Celtic middleweight showdown between South Armagh's Fearghus Quinn and the fellow-unbeaten Aston Brown.

The Belleeks man has already picked up the BUI Celtic title in 2022, but like Walker, has the opportunity to kick on against the Englishman who is facing a major step-up on his visit to Belfast.

An all-Ulster derby has also been confirmed as North Belfast's Owen O'Neill tangles with Cavan's Dominic Donegan at light-middleweight.

O'Neill has already raced to 12-0 as a pro, but saw a proposed Irish welterweight title fight against Declan Geraghty in October fall apart as he was 10lbs over the weight limit.

He is back next month up at light-middleweight where he previously won the BUI Celtic title and faces Donegan who is seeking to get back in the winning column after his record slipped to 9-6-1 with defeat to CJ Wood at Girdwood in October. 

A notable addition to the March 30 card is the return of Steven Ward who has been out of the ring for over two years when losing on away soil to Kamshybek Kunkabayev.

Ward put up a decent showing against the Kazakh star that ended in defeat on a technical decision after an accidental clash opened a gash that saw the fight halted.

The Monkstown man had hoed to be back in action long before now, but has had to wait for his opportunity and finally will get the chance next month on a card that also includes Armagh's James Freeman, Dublin's Glenn Cyrne and JP O'Meara.