Never in my lifetime have us Brits had it so good in the fight game as we'll have in the next few months with David "Hayemaker" Haye vs. Jean Marc Mormeck, Joe Calzaghe vs. Mikkel Kessler and finally the biggest fight out there for me, Ricky "Hitman" Hatton vs. Floyd "Pretty Boy" Mayweather.
This is my take on how I see these three potential classics panning out.
Haye vs Mormeck in Paris on November 10 is going to explode into life from the first bell, matching World Cruiserweight Champion Mormeck's rugged, bullish style against former European Champ and WBC number one challenger Haye.s explosive KO power.
I don't see Haye changing much about his style here, which may be his downfall, and think he'll go looking for the Hayemaker KO within minutes of this one kicking off.
I personally don't think he'll get the iron chinned Mormeck out of there as soon as he'd like and see a brutal war unfolding early on with Mormeck soaking it up and trying to bully and smother the Londoner's work in the first three rounds.
The thing is, if Haye catches Mormeck flush with that right hand then who knows how he'll take it? I don't think Mormeck will have ever been hit as hard as Haye is going to hit him.
Friday night at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, Frank Maloney Promotions put on a great show headlined by British Bantamweight Champion Ian Napa's title defense against ex-Commonwealth and English Flyweight Champion Lee Haskins.
In round one, southpaw Haskins took centre ring and found his range between taunting Napa and backing him up, Napa was getting caught on the way in every time and a solid left uppercut from Haskins ended the round.
In the second, Haskins started to switch hit and had his hands dangerously low, but landed good lunging hooks. Napa knew that he needed to get inside but good jabbing from Haskins picks Napa off at will but the effort is taking it's toll as the challenger looked worryingly tired towards the end of the round.
Good start in the third from Haskins, but again his hands are way too low and Napa seems to be starting to get success on the inside. It was a messy round, but Haskins banged out two wicked jabs to close an untidy round.
The fourth sees a thumping overhand right from Napa, but the champion still can't get through the jab of Haskins. The fight suddenly turned as Haskins engaged Napa up close and the champion hurt Haskins with a cracking uppercut; it's now a fight in East London!
Napa's fans went wild as the Londoner backed up a tired looking Haskins with two, three and then four vicious uppercuts. More...
Floyd Mayweather Jr and Oscar De La Hoya will climb through the ropes on May 5 for what could be the fight of the century. Whether or not this will be the case come May 6 remains to be seen.
We have the pound for pound king in Mayweather against the seasoned warrior De La Hoya in a super fight that has the world's attention and looks set to break tv viewing figures of old with the fight available in 176 countries around the world.
The hype machine has been in full effect for months now with massive media coverage and HBO’s fantastic 24/7 four part series going behind the scenes in both camps, showing us the huge clash of styles and cultures. More...
Fantastic atmosphere for Frank Maloney promoted bouts and topping the bill was David Haye versus Giacobbe Fragomeni for the European cruiserweight eliminator (WBC Final Eliminator) at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, London.
Round 1
Immediately Fragomeni seizes the centre ring and looks bullish, stalking Haye with a squat stance and high guard. Haye flicks out the jab and lands two thunderous right crosses flush to the Italians nose which he seems to absorb like a sponge, marching Marciano like back toward the defending Champion. Hayes round More...
To say that the UK fight game is in the middle of a re-birth would be an understatement. Add to that the fact that we have two bona fide pound for pound top ten fighters in Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe only helps to cement this fact.
UK fight fans haven’t had it this good in years and it’s set to go from strength to strength with the likes of Olympic Silver Medallist and probably the hottest global prospect Amir Khan and cruiserweight Enzo Maccarinelli set to storm the US via HBO in the new year with HBO stating that they will give Khan the maximum exposure they possibly can stateside.
Amir khan has potentially the biggest appeal of any UK fighter ever to grace the US with his lightning fast hand and footspeed, deadly accuracy and Ali-like ring generalship.
Khan is already one of the most recognizable faces in UK sport, a status helped by his participation in advertising campaigns for both Reebok and Harrods. Add to this the fact that he is a British born Muslim who proudly wears the British flag on his shorts, accounting perhaps 30% of his selling strength in this day and age, and his marketability becomes even more obvious, definitely one to watch in 2007! More...
Saddo Boxing caught up with Ricky Hatton for this exclusive audio interview and itunes boxing podcast where he talks about his future, meeting Floyd Mayweather and his upcoming fight with WBA welterweight champion Luis Collazo in Boston 13th May.
You don’t want to miss this only on Saddoboxing.com … More...
Joe Calzaghe is more than just the hottest fighter in the world today, he's also one of the greatest super middleweights to ever lace up the gloves since the division was formed back in the early 80's. Fresh off a dominant showing against America's top man in the
division, Jeff Lacy, "Super Joe" speaks on many diverse subjects in this exclusive audio podcast interview and leaves no stone unturned in this candid conversation.
Don't miss the opportunity to hear what Calzaghe has to say, straight from the horse's mouth, only on SaddoBoxing!More...
Hells Kitchen At The Goresbrook Leisure Centre in Dagenham, UK.
Matchroom Sport and UK Presents put on a bill headlined by world title prospect Nicky "Cookie" Cook looking to defend his European Featherweight Crown. What transpired was a fierce battle shown live on Sky Sports 1 against the rough and tumble Ukraine fighter Yuri Voronin in front of Cookie's all singing home crowd. The atmosphere as Voronin entered the ring was intimidating to say the least with huge sections of the
crowd turning on him in a traditionally bitter "London Welcome".
Round one: the crowd roar as the bell sounds and Cookie looks sharp as he flies at Voronin with stinging jabs. Cook unleashes some sickening body shots then fires off some excellent jabs that keep Voronin at bay. Voronin is staying low towards the end of the round and looks scared of Cook's power. More...
There was loads of great action on the Cook - Voronin undercard at the Goresbrook Leisure Centre in Dagenham on Friday night, as Matchroom Sport and UK Presents put on a great show. The main support bout was a twelve round clash between WBF Light Middle Champion Joszef "Shatter-Machine" Matlosci of Budapest, Hungary and his challenger Brice Faradji of France. This was the second time that these two rivals had shared the ring with Algerian born
Faradji taking a wide points decision and the WBF belt back in July of last year. Since then Faradji had vacated the title, which had been won been Matlosci in the meantime.
The action begins and a feeling out round is on offer for the first three minutes with little action happening. In the second, Faradji seems arrogant and almost Junior Witter-like as his hand are low and he flicks out the jab with good success. Suddenly...Bang! He catches Matlosci with a crunching uppercut/left hook that has the Hungarian down for the eight count and wincing in pain. Wild hooks from Matlosci start the third and some good exchanges happen. Faradji looks the stronger and lands good left hooks again followed by an awesome overhand right that brings out the Ali-style shuffle from his nimble feet. More...
World Exclusive Interview with European Cruiserweight Champion David Haye, and IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Clinton Woods, who announces that he will fight Roy Jones in Sheffield, England in May!
After David Haye’s stunning forty seven second knockout victory over Alexander Gurov last Friday night on a Fight Academy promoted bill in Bracknell, England, SaddoBoxing's Simon
Shaw managed to grab a few words with the newly minted European Cruiserweight Champion as well as ask IBF Light Heavy Clinton Woods a few questions.
SB: You’ve launched yourself up to number two in the WBA cruiserweight rankings and number five in the WBC after just now crushing Alexander Gurov; that must feel good?
DH: "Something like that, all I know is I’ve certainly jumped up the rankings with that one right hand. That’s exactly what I wanted, a spectacular KO and I got it. I’ve been training hard down in Miami and really pushing myself and it’s paid off." More...
The undercard of Fight Academy's David Haye - Alexander Gurov European Cruiserweight title bout in Bracknell last night was full of cracking contests, headed by a heavyweight bout between Maidenhead's Roman Greenberg and Texas tourist Kendrick Releford. Greenberg, originally from Russia by way of Israel, came into the contest undefeated in twenty bouts while Releford had shared the ring with such accomplished opposition as DaVarryl Williamson, Alexander Dimitrenko, Eliecer Castillo and Robert Hawkins. More...
The main event of the night on Fight Academy's card from Bracknell, England last night was the European Cruiserweight Title bout between Champion Alexander Gurov of the Ukraine and challenger David Haye from the Bermondsey section of London. The first thing noticed about the "Hayemaker" as he climbed through the ropes was his ripped physical appearance and a look of thunder across his face. To say that he was in the zone would be an understatement. More...
Harrison v Williams Exclusive Weigh-In Review and Photos From London's ExCel Arena
A 2pm start was scheduled for the weigh in with Big Audley and his entourage bowling in at around 2.30pm. It was straight down to business as the two headlining fighters hit the scales. Audley looked In great shape at a lean 18 stone 1 (253 lbs) with Danny Williams coming in at a heavier 19 stone 6 (272 lbs). More...
One of Britain's premier world class fighters, Junior Witter, was in action last night defending his European, Commonwealth and British Light Welterweight titles at York Hall in London's East End. The Northern switch hitter was in with Colin Lynes, the underrated IBO titlist from Hornchurch, England. Matchroom Promotions put on the superb card and we cover not only the headlining bout in this ringside report but also the
undercard contests that were left off of our initial report published earlier today.
In the first round between Bradford's Witter and his adversary Lynes, "The Hitter" looks confident early and confuses the defensive and cautious Lynes for much of the round. Witter looks almost arrogant and lands a decent left hook before switching to southpaw. Lynes keeps his guard high and boxes defensive for the remainder of what turns out to be a tame opening round. More...
Matchroom Promotions put on a riveting night of entertainment yesterday at London's historic York Hall, headlined by Junior Witter's British, Commonwealth and European Light Welter title defense against the surging IBO titlist, Colin Lynes. On the undercard there were two particularly smashing performances by a quartet of London based fighters, which we will cover on a round by round basis in this exclusive ringside report, only on www.saddoboxing.com.
London lightweights Dave Stewart and Judex Meemea led off the evening's events. Stewart appeared as the more accomplished fighter and is bossing Meemea from the off. Meemea turns things around toward the end of the first but receives a cut above his right eye. Maybe from a head clash? More...
Sports Network hosted a press conference today to announce the London debut of Olympic hero turned professional sensation Amir Khan, set for December 10th on the undercard of the promoter's highly anticipated heavyweight showdown between ex-British Champion Danny Williams and the highly skilled, undefeated Audley Harrison at the ExCel Centre. While Khan does not have an opponent yet for that date, the sharply skilled lightweight is set to face Walsall's Steve Gethin on
November 5th in Glasgow on the Scott Harrison - Nedel Hussein WBO Featherweight Championship bill.
The conference today took place at Chutney's Restaurant on Brick Lane in the historic East End of London and those in attendance were treated to a superb luncheon courtesy of Sports Network while Amir Khan and his father were generous enough to allow us an exclusive conversation. You can watch the video interview and the full press conference, filmed by Saddoboxing's Eddie Warren and conducted by Simon Shaw, by simply clicking the more link. More...
**Exclusive Boxing Photos - Click for larger image**
Audley Harrison V Danny Williams Boxing Press Conference London 17/10/05
Sports Network held a press conference today to announce the heavyweight fight that British fans have spent years waiting for. 2000 Olympic Gold Medallist Audley Harrison has built an undefeated record but has yet to face what many would consider a truly dangerous opponent. That will change on December 10th at London's ExCel Arena as promoter Frank Warren has pulled off what previously had
appeared to be the impossible and that is arrange a showdown between Harrison and former British Champion and Mike Tyson conqueror Danny Williams. SaddoBoxing was there at London's posh Sofitel St. James Hotel to produce the following exclusive report and photo gallery. More...
