MONAGHAN’S UNBEATEN MIDDLEWEIGHT Aaron McKenna will compete in a revamped ‘Prizefighter’ tournament in Japan, beginning on 31 March.

Matchroom Boxing have confirmed the return of the concept which was popularised on Sky Sports between 2008 and 2015 and effectively launched the careers of several Irish and British boxing favourites.

Smithborough native McKenna will this spring compete in an altogether more lucrative version of the eight-man tournament, the winner of which will walk away with a prize of $1 million (€920,000).

The new Prizefighter will be broadcast live on DAZN and will have a longer, staggered format, with three separate nights of title-length fights (four 10-round quarter-finals, two 12-round semi-finals and a 12-round final) due to take place across several months, as opposed to the three-round-fight, one-night setout of its ancestor.

Quarter-finals night will take place on 31 March at the Congress Center in Nagoya, Japan, where the 24-year-old McKenna [18-0, 9KOs] has been drawn to face Puerto Rican-American Jeovanny Estela [14-0, 5 KOs], who is a year his junior.

The other quarter-finals consist of a clash between Northampton’s Kieron Conway [20-3-1, 5KOs] and China’s Ainiwaer Yilixiati [19-1, 14 KOs], an all-Japanese affair between the host nation’s top-ranked middleweight Riku Kunimoto [10-1, 4 KOs] and his nearest challenger Eiki Kani [8-3-3, 4 KOs], and a meeting of France’s undefeated 2016 Olympian Anauel Ngamissengue [13-0, 8 KOs] and wildcard entry Mark Dickinson [6-0, 2KOS] from Durham.

Each of the three fight nights will also see a $100,000 (€92,000) knockout bonus split between the boxers who manage to stop their opponents (or taken home in full should the eventual champion win the final by stoppage).

McKenna, who halted a larger foe in Mickey Ellison at Liverpool’s Echo Arena less than a fortnight ago, will be among the favourites to go all the way and claim the million-dollar prize later in the year.

Matchroom have confirmed that 2024′s middleweight tournament will be the first of three annual Prizefighter events run in conjunction with Japanese outfits Rakuten Ticket and Never Say Never (NSN).

“This is a fantastic way to start our landmark three-year deal in Japan,” said the company’s CEO, Frank Smith.

“Prizefighter was immensely popular with Boxing fans in years gone by and they will love this new inception of the $1 million series.

“With a $100k knockout-prize pot per event, the fighters will be going all-out. It promises to be a thrilling spectacle, filled with tough 50-50 fights, that will capture attention around the world.”