|
Join Our Busy Boxing Message Board Today
Where the boxing fans have a voice
Boxing Talk | Ask the Trainer | UK Boxing | Off Topic | MMA
Boxing Articles By James Oakley
 | |  | | |
By James Oakley September 12th, 2008 All Boxing Previews
Tonight, September 12, 2008, Barry Hearn's Prizefighter tournament will take off again. In the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England, eight heavyweight hopefuls will battle if out to win 25,000 pounds and become the new heavyweight prizefighter champion, succeeding the first champ, Martin Rogan, who won the initial tournament in April.
Prizefighter's catch line is 'eight heavyweights, seven fights, one winner. Modeled on Cricket's 20:20 series, the first installment of Prizefighter was a hit on Sky Sports television and certainly is expected to be once more.
The winner will have to go through three fights of three rounds each, winning all. The favorite appears to be undefeated Chris Burton. Burton, from Darlington, stands ix feet five inches tall and is 11-0-0 with six knockouts to his name.
He will start against David Ingleby, 5-21-1. Despite being a heavy favorite, if the fights are anything like Prizefighter one, being the best boxer in the tournament may not mean as much as it seems to on paper.
A dark horse in the championships is the veteran Pele Reid. His record of 19-5-0 with 17 knockouts shows he will certainly test the favorite Burton if they are drawn to fight.
Reid has fought names such as Micheal Sprott and most recently, John McDermott. He starts off against Norfolk's Sam Sexton. Sexton has one loss to his name and has previously beaten fellow Prizefighter contestant Luke Simpkin by knockout, so is no pushover.
Simpkin will start against another man with only one loss to his name, Dave Ferguson, who lost to last year's winner Martin Rogan in the semi finals. Ferguson will believe he can go all the way this year after winning his last fight over four rounds. More...
| |  |  |  |
| | | | |
By James Oakley June 17th, 2008 All Ringside Boxing
Last Friday the 13th at the Mountbatten Center in Portsmouth, England produced a night of boxing that will be hard to beat anytime this year in terms of excitement.
Topping the Frank Maloney promoted bill for ʽFriday Fright Nightʼ was Tony ʽOakey Kokeyʼ of Portsmouth and Dean ʽDeanoʼ Francis from Basingstoke. The fight was billed by many as a ticket to a world title shot and with the British and Commonwealth titles at stake, that was no exaggeration.
The home fighter entered, wearing black and grey trunks to his favoured tune of 'Ohh the Oakey Kokeyʼ and with him was the FA Cup as his personal lucky mascot.
The crowd going wild gave him a huge reception and also their own version of the Oakey Kokey, which no doubt would fire him up even more.
His opponent, Dean Francis, entered also in black and grey trunks, looking much the more powerful of the two men, his physical condition certainly one of the finest specimens in boxing today.
The first round, if anything, was deceptive of the fight that was to follow. Neither fighter was particularly dominating, with Francis working behind the jab and Oakey trying to work his way in and go the man from Basingstokeʼs body.
In the second however, Oakey's high work rate and high pressure attacks seemed to already be getting to his man. Cutting and wobbling the Commonwealth Champion, Oakey took the round by a large margin. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley April 17th, 2008 All Boxing Articles
On 7 November, 2002, Clinton Woods was to have his first taste of the water from across the other side of the pond. It wasnʼt good. Dismantled in six rounds by the great Roy Jones Jr, it took the Sheffield man almost six years to go back again. The water was no nicer.
After 12 rounds of uninspiring boxing last weekend from Woods, a unanimous decision loss to Antonio Tarver crushed any hope of a British super fight with Joe Calzaghe this autumn. Woods will be left with a feeling of missed opportunity and wondering if father time has finally got his number at 35 years old.
I had previously said that ʽTarver is a slick southpaw who has more natural talent and should comfortably outbox woods on the night to a 12 round decision.ʼ This was the opinion of many, however with Tarver's lacklustre recent bouts, the bookies and many people couldnʼt split the pair.
Despite Tarver visibly gasping for breath in between the later rounds, it was Woods who found age the defeating factor as he was unable to get into any sort of rhythm and had very little work rate. Some things just donʼt do what they used to do anymore; it appeared that way last weekend for Woods, and to some extent, Tarver.
Where to go after such a defeat?
No chance of a rematch with Tarver, who will use his remaining two or three fights to make as much money as possible. No chance of the super fight with Calzaghe, even if Joe loses to Bernard Hopkins, unless Calzaghe's performance mirrors that of Wood's last night. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley March 19th, 2008 All Boxing Articles
© Tom Casino / Showtime Boxing
What's Next For The Hayemaker?
After a crushing win over his nearest rival in the cruiserweight division, Enzo Maccarinelli, David "The Hayemaker" Haye has two options. He can either stay at cruiserweight, weight drained and in the shadow of boxing's ultimate division, or he can move up to the prestigious heavyweight division and take on the champions in a similar fashion to what Evander Holyfield did.
Haye now has three of the four main cruiserweight belts after having beaten recognized divisional champion Jean Marc Mormeck and Enzo Maccarinelli, the most dangerous and powerful opponents the weight class has to offer. And he's beaten both by knockout. So what should Haye do?
If he were to continue to fight at cruiser, quality opponents would be few, such as former world champ OʼNeil Bell, current IBF titlist Steve Cunningham and Maccarinelli making a very short list.
Haye would likely demolish the aging Bell and Cunningham, having only 11 knockouts in a 22 fight career, would be too green and not powerful enough to offer Haye a real challenge. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley March 1st, 2008 All Boxing Articles
On April 12, 2008, Clinton Woods will go into the lions den when he takes on former undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world, Antonio Tarver. Odds are about even for a fight which is made up of two ageing fighters.
Woods, a veteran, won his world title on a fourth attempt with a fifth round TKO of Rico Hoye, who was recently unmasked by Adrian Diaconu. Tarver, on the other hand, despite being the older man, only came to spotlight in 2003 when he was, in many peoples' mind, robbed against the great Roy Jones.
Since Woods won his world title, he has defended it four times, avenging his defeat against Glen Johnson in his third world title bid. However, the jury is still out on Clinton and this fight should gauge how much the Sheffield man has left in the tank.
The same can be said of Tarver, whoʼs first professional fight was at the age of 29. Now 39, the Florida man surely only has a handful of fights left in him? Or was his loss against Bernard Hopkins and split decision victory two fights ago proof that he is already struggling to adhere to the intense pressure and workload of that of a world championship boxer?
Two common opponents between Woods and Tarver are Roy Jones and Glen Johnson, Woods lost badly against Jones and had a trilogy against Johnson, while Tarver has the upper hand on Jones over three encounters and has a win and a loss against Johnson.
Tarver's famous ʽ I have a questionʼ before his second fight with Jones and the following knockout has meant he is now a massive name in America despite not being a champion of one of the four major sanctioning bodies. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley January 18th, 2008 All Boxing Interviews
 After a spectacular knockout over David Banks with a punch that will be in the top five knockouts of 2008 for sure, Edison "Pantera" Miranda kindly takes some time out to speak to SaddoBoxing again. Miranda now boasts a record of 30 Wins and 2 Losses and as always is working towards world domination in his weight class.
SaddoBoxing: As a child Edison, at what point was it you realized that it was your dream to become a professional boxer?
Edison Miranda: "When I was 12 years old, I had a dream about me boxing. I didn't even know what boxing was. Than the next day, I saw for the first time a fight on TV and I remember it was Mike Tyson. I know it was a message from God and I had to follow this dream."
SB: Considering you have so many achievements in boxing, including being your national boxing champion, being champion of the national games and challenging for a world title, what would you say you were most proud of?
EM: "I am very proud of my knockout of Howard Eastman. He was my hardest fight yet. Before the fight, he had fought some great fighters and they were not able to hurt him. I knew this was my chance to let people know Edison Miranda was for real. I hurt him a few times and finally had him out against the ropes. I was happy to give the fans the stoppage." More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley January 8th, 2008 All Boxing Articles
Five Big Fights To Look Forward To This Year
Our number one heavyweight Matt Skelton will fight for the WBA Championship on 19 January against the undefeated giant conqueror Ruslan Chagaev in Germany. Skelton is most certainly the underdog and some expect him to be made to look silly when he steps into the ring against the current world champion, the "White Tyson". In my opinion, Chagaev is one of the best of a bad bunch and Skelton, who is renowned for making the best out of his limited skills, could well pull off an upset.
Everybody who is anyone knows about the upcoming firefight on 8 March between WBC/WBA Champion David Haye and WBO Champion Enzo Maccarinelli. Haye goes into the fight as a very slight favorite, but this one truly could go either way with both fighters possessing devastating power and questionable chins.
With nothing going on in the Clinton Woods corner, at light heavyweight, it's all down to the rumoured Joe Calzaghe vs. Bernard Hopkins bout coming off. Calzaghe will probably start as the favorite with age being the main factor.
At age 42, "The Executioner", despite coming in at second in my fighter of the year list behind Floyd Mayweather with magnificent wins over Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright, must be reaching retirement age, Calzaghe could be the one to finally make him realize that.
Amir Khan will dominate the lightweight scene here, along with Jonathan Thaxton, if these two get it on. Thaxton has talked the talk, as has Khan, and a fight such as this would prove Khans pedigree. Myself? I think Amir can win if he sticks to his game plan. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley November 3rd, 2007 All Boxing Articles
Will "The Cobra" Be Ready If He Beats Reid?
With 21 wins, 17 by knockout, no losses and constantly calling out Joe Calzaghe, it is no surprise that British Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch is gaining the boxing media attention that so many other boxers could only dream of. On ninth of November, the WBC number 1 challenger will fight former world titlist Robin Reid in what he sees as a stepping stone to a world title fight.
"The Cobra" as Froch is known, impressed during his last outing in the ring beating quality opponent Sergey Tatevosyan in two rounds. Tatevosyan had never previously been knocked out.
Froch's other majorly publicized outing was against Belfast man Brian Magee whom he knocked out in 11 rounds in a fight that was close on the scorecards.
His opponent for November 9, Robin Reid, has a record of 39 wins and 5 losses with 27 wins coming by knockout. The common opponent between the two is Brian Magee, who Reid also beat by a unanimous decision, knocking down Magee no less than four times.
The question many will ask is, if Froch beats Reid, as is widely expected, what will this tell us? Reid was overpowered by Jeff Lacy in eight rounds, the only times in his career he has been knocked down. Lacy then went on to fight Joe Calzaghe, the main man at 168 lb and was totally outclassed. So again the question begs, what does beating the Grim Reaper prove about Froch? More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley September 22nd, 2007 All Boxing Articles
Click for larger image © Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing
It is the most anticipated fight in Britain since Lennox Lewis took on Evander Holyfield and he most anticipated fight in the boxing world since Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya squared off in 1999. The bout billed as "Undefeated", Floyd Mayweather vs. Ricky Hatton, had its first British press conference Thursday at the O2 Arena in London.
In a media only gathering, of which some of the luckier public were eventually allowed into, Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather again traded insults, this time in the O2 Arena's Vue Cinema.
The conference started out with a fight promotion video displayed on the cinema screen, showing clips of both fighters and emphasizing that both fighters had never left the ring as anything other than the winner.
Once this had finished, the show was introduced by the Director of HBO and Oscar De La Hoya himself. Then it was left to the fighters to introduce themselves and their team. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley May 23rd, 2007 All Boxing Articles
No stranger to being knocked down then coming back to win, Sprott injury forces postponement of Matt Skelton Commonwealth title fight
With a record of 30-10 (15), Michael Sprott can now be considered a ring veteran. The man from Reading, England was becoming a gatekeeper to the European and British title belts until his last fight against Audley Harrison, who Sprott soundly knocked out in the third round this past February.
Up until yesterday, the stocky 32 year old was set to face current Commonwealth and former British Champion Matt Skelton in a huge domestic brew up that was set to take place at London's ExCel Arena this Saturday.
A leg injury Sprott suffered during training yesterday has reportedly postponed the bout until at least September. A win against Skelton would be a bigger upset than the Harrison fight and could have propelled Sprott to a world title shot against former opponent, Ruslan Chagaev.
Sprott's early career showed great promise, turning pro in 1996 and winning his first 11 bouts. He knocked out opponents at a ratio near the 50 percent mark, an equation which continues to this day. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley May 22nd, 2007 All Boxing Articles
With Amir Khan and Joe Calzaghe making waves on British television through ITV, many fighters who should perhaps be given the same opportunity are simply not.
Fighters such as Graham Earl, who’s last stunning showdown with Michael Katsidis was broadcast on ITV4, have not been given the exposure the British public needs to make boxing the force it once was back in the days of Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn.
Here is a brief look on the upcoming British boxing scene, one that is surprisingly tasteful and exciting, and one that will hopefully begin to turn the tide to return the sport to it's former glory.
On May 26, former British Heavyweight Champions Matt Skelton and Michael Spott will rematch at the ExCel Arena in London. Skelton won the first meeting and will be a heavy favorite, but Sprott is coming off a devastating KO of Audley Harrison and cannot be discounted. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley May 1st, 2007 All Ringside Boxing
Photo gallery ©David Oakley/SaddoBoxing.com
This past Friday night at Wembley Arena in London on a Frank Maloney promotion, the "Heavyweight Hayemaker" show was set on fire as David Haye in his heavyweight experiment destroyed Poland’s WBC ranked no.12 fighter, Tomasz Bonin. Sky Sports televised the action live in the UK.
It was a night of cheers for the most part, despite the late drop out of Peter Oboh from his defense of the British Light Heavyweight title bout against challenger Tony Oakey.
The card opened with future prospect Akaash Bhatia, who improved his undefeated record to 6-0 by winning a good but by no means spectacular fight against Die Davis over four rounds."“Kash" is one of David Haye’s picks as a talented prospect but will need to improve on his performances if he is to fulfill this prophecy.
Later in the card, impressive light heavyweight prospect Tony Salem comfortably beat his opponent Nick Okoth over four rounds. Salem, a southpaw, showed speed, power and showmanship to win over the crowd while winning over the judges as well, while showing he had a good chin after getting heavily tagged in the fourth. He improves to 4-0. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley April 16th, 2007 All Boxing Articles
As an amateur, Liverpool native Paul Smith captured the imagination of the British public by winning a Silver Medal at light middleweight during the 2002 Commonwealth Games and "The Real Gone Kid" turned pro to considerable fanfare four years ago.
Since that time the Sports Network promoted fighter has found it considerably more difficult to garner attention despite having fought at the MEN Arena in Manchester no less than eight times, but recent developments in his career may change this situation.
In March of this year, Smith, 20-0 (12), recently captured his second belt, the vacant WBU International Middleweight title, via an 8 round TKO over Belgian journeyman, Alexander Polizzi, who had previously gone the distance with such decent European level operators as Mariusz Cendrowski, Antonio Perugino and Dirk Dzemski.
Before the Polizzi clash, Smith was carefully matched against limited domestic opposition and got the job done in all 18 bouts, including a win against an outgunned Dean Walker in October of last year to annex the vacant Central Area Middleweight title. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley January 18th, 2007 All Boxing Articles
As One Undeserving Briton Loses His Honor, Another Deserving One Steps Up
When it was revealed that former world featherweight champion "Prince" Naseem Hamed was to be stripped of his MBE award, the extremely rare action attracted massive attention in the national press. Hamed has not yet commented on the dishonour, however his former trainer Brendan Ingle predicted that it would be a "terrible blow" to both the Prince and his Sheffield community, who were very proud of his award.
Despite much speculation of a return to the ring, Naseem Hamed has now been retired from the fight game for over four years, seemingly to never quite recover from his loss to ring legend Marco Antonio Barrera.
Hamed was stripped of his MBE after being jailed after seriously injuring motorist Anthony Burgin when driving on the wrong side of the road at 90 mph. Hamed served 16 weeks of his 15 month sentence and caused an outrage when he left prison with an entourage, allegedly muttering "Thank God no one died". More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley December 18th, 2006 All Ringside Boxing
Click for larger image © David Oakley / Saddo Boxing
Friday night saw the re-emergence of Howard "The Battersea Bomber" Eastman as a major player in the middleweight division, as the previous king of Europe showed he's still dominant at domestic level, with a twelfth round knockout of friend Richard "The Secret" Williams on a Matchroom promotion at York Hall, Bethnal Green, London.
At the weigh-in on Thursday, Eastman had scaled eleven stone six (160 lb) and while Williams' tipped the beam at eleven stone five and a quarter (159 1/4) lb), it was clear that former triple champion was the much larger man with a three-inch height advantage.
The first round saw Williams trying to work of the jab, but the crafty Eastman was able to push his opponent back, successfully slowing his rival down with effective counterpunching. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley December 10th, 2006 All Boxing Previews
Having a brother as a world champion can be one of two things; a constant hindrance, with the pressure to reach a level that the boxer isn't comfortable with, or in contrast it can be something that relieves the boxer of the pressure to perform and lets him get on with his own fights, and his own ability level.
For Matthew "Magic" Hatton, from the public point at least, having a brother, Ricky Hatton, as a world champion has allowed him to take a back seat and box where he is comfortable. The 5 foot 8 inch welterweight from Manchester has prepared a record of 28 wins with 3 losses and one draw going into his next fight tonight against Vladimir Borovski at the Octagon in Sheffield, England.
"Magic" was disqualified from his last fight, a British title eliminator against Alan Bosworth, after coming off a run of eleven straight victories. He has proved himself fit enough to go the distance in the past with three points victories over ten rounds, along with proving that he does have at least enough power at welterweight by scoring eleven knockouts. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley November 27th, 2006 All Boxing Articles
| Last month Ring Magazine's Light Welterweight Champion, Ricky Hatton, came a hair's breath from signing to face WBC Light Middleweight Champion Oscar De La Hoya at 147 lbs before the "Golden Boy" chose to pull the trigger on the much anticipated showdown with Floyd Mayweather instead. This was confirmed to SaddoBoxing by Hatton's manager, his father Ray Hatton, and we present this look at what could have happened if Ricky and Oscar had actually squared off in the ring. |
Click for larger image
© Jane Warburton
Saddo Boxing
|
If this fight between Hatton and De La Hoya were to happen, there would be no doubt that Oscar would be an extremely hot favorite. Factors of natural skill and power due to being the bigger man would certainly play to the Golden Boy's claim for victory, however, would stamina, heart and the left hook to the body be enough for "The Hitman" to cause a tremendous upset?
The first three rounds would undoubtedly be crucial, more likely for the Hitman than De La Hoya. Similar fighters as Hatton, perhaps not as good quality-wise, but similar nevertheless have learned the lessons of brawling with Oscar. More...
| | | | |
| | | | |
By James Oakley November 9th, 2006 All Boxing Articles
Less than two years ago, Howard "The Battersea Bomber" Eastman was preparing for the fight of his life, one that could turn him into the great fighter he always believed he was. An undisputed middleweight championship crown was within his grasp, with only the legend himself, Bernard Hopkins, standing in the way. Now Eastman is fighting another fight of his life, except this time his reward for winning will be a recovery, as after three straight defeats, another loss could end the 35 year olds career, meaning no third time lucky crack at the title.
Born in Guyana, Eastman's career started off to a blaze, 32 straight wins propelled him to a WBA title shot. 28 of those wins were by knockout and Eastman had beaten noticeable fighters such as Sam Soliman and Robert McCracken and came into the WBA title fight as the European, Commonwealth and British Middleweight Champion.
The WBA title shot itself in 2001 would be Eastman's first fight out of the British isles, and despite knocking the champion, William Joppy, down in the finals seconds of the fight, Howard lost an agonizingly close majority decision at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. More...
| | | | |
Search Saddo Boxing | Boxing News Archives
|
|
