Boxing News

© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

It was a typical English summer evening on Friday; rain, rain and more rain! But it didn’t dampen the spirit of fans enjoying an evening of boxing at Wolverhampton Civic Hall in the West Midlands.

PJ Rowson and Errol Johnson of First Team Promotions hosted a fight card which would see action from five bouts.

Rob Doody (Tipton) v Jason Nesbitt (Birmingham)
6 Round Light Welterweight Contest

There was good support for Doody, who used long-reaching left and rights to the head of Nesbitt.
At the end of round four, he lands two shots after being told to break. The second shot landed cleanly and he’s given a stern warning by referee Rob Chalmers. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

There was some great support action at the Seaburn Centre in Sunderland, England on the Frank Maloney promotion headlined by Lee Haskins' British super flyweight title defense against Ross Burkinshaw on Friday.

On the undercard, local man Trevor Crewe faced Bulgarian-born Danny Dontchev in a four round welterweight contest. Enjoying big crowd support, Crewe gets straight to work and Dontchev is down inside the opening minute of the first round from a left-right to the head.

Moments later, Crewe lands an uppercut which sees Dontchev's legs wobble. He lands on the canvas but from a bundling over and was not counted.

With just over a minute of the first round remaining, Crewe lands a number of left and right shots which starts with a left hook to the face and finished with a right - bang on the nose of Dontchev - who's head flops backwards and he falls to the canvas. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Last night at the Seaburn Centre in Sunderland, England, Frank Maloney hosted a fight night headlined by Bristol-man Lee Haskins’ first defence of the British super flyweight title against active duty British Army soldier Ross Burkinshaw of Sheffield.

Ross ‘The Boss’ enters the ring to a fanfare of bugles from fellow soldiers. Former IBF light heavyweight titlist Clinton Woods follows Burkinshaw into the ring with British belt held aloft.

The champion Haskins enters the ring looking as confident as ever, his belt held aloft by Jamie Sanigar, brother of Chris Sanigar, Haskins' trainer, co-promoter and manager. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Yesterday afternoon at the Tower Ballroom in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, PJ Rowson and Errol Johnson of First Team Promotions hosted a six bout fight card.

The Tower Ballroom is a great venue located next to scenic Edgbaston Reservoir.

The six-contest bill, which originally was scheduled for ten contests, kicked off with an exhibition bout between welterweights Andrew ‘Paddy’ Patterson and Jason Nesbitt of Birmingham, after which the professional bouts began. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Tuesday Night at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, England, Frank Maloney hosted a fight night headlined by Nottingham boxer Jason Booth's defence of the British Super Bantamweight title against Rocky Dean of Thetford.

Both men keep busy as they start this 12 round contest, but their heads come together frequently and by the end of the first round, Booth has already sustained a cut to the forehead.

Dean has a better second round and the crowds cheer ‘Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!’ Sky Sports Statistics reveal that during the second round alone - Booth threw 112 punches with an 18% success rate, as opposed to Dean's 66 punches that had a better success rate of 22%.

Round four sees Booth land a sickening body-punch to Dean's torso. But Dean starts the fifth trying the same tactic and lands some short body-punches. Mid-way through the frame, he backs Booth up on the ropes but Booth retaliates with a lovely right hand to the face followed moments later by another peach of a right and he starts to ‘pick off' Dean. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

On Sunday, at the Liquid Envy Night Club in Luton, England, PJ Rowson and Errol Johnson of First Team Promotions put on another action-packed fight card.

The show was headlined by local-man, the former British and Commonwealth lightweight champion Graham Earl, against tough veteran Karl Taylor of Birmingham.

It wasn’t an easy fight for Earl, who hasn’t fought since he lost by first round TKO to Henry Castle in October. He had success with the straight left, sometimes dipping low to target the body, but experienced Taylor scored with some left shots of his own and gave Earl a tough contest throughout.

The Luton favourite secured a 60-54 points win and improves to 26 wins (12 by KO) and 4 losses (3 by KO). More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Saturday night at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, two British boxers fought on an historical boxing occasion due to the number of people that had packed in the venue.

Paul Butlin and Michael Sprott boxed on the undercard of the Wladimir Klitschko vs. Ruslan Chagaev world heavyweight title headliner in front of a massive crowd of 61,000.

Butlin of Melton Mowbray faced Johnathan Banks of Detroit in an eight round heavyweight contest. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Last night, at the Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany, 61,000 people enjoyed a night of boxing and entertainment in the home of Schalke F.C.

It was indeed the biggest and most lavish boxing event I’ve ever witnessed.

There were seven fights in total - but of course - everyone was there to see the Heavyweight clash between immensely popular Wladimir Klitschko and Ruslan Chagaev.

Michael Buffer made the usual introductions and entering the ring first - to the sounds of ‘Guess who’s back?’ - came the Challenger Chagaev proudly sporting a Schalke F.C. tshirt. Shoots of fire and sparkling fireworks lit up the arena (inside!) to welcome the Champion who entered the ring amidst an entourage of red-track-suits with the three belts held aloft. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Friday night at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton, England, PJ Rowson and Errol Johnson of First Team Promotions hosted a fight night headlined by a female title bout.

The night should have been headlined by local-man Steve Savilles’ defence of the Midlands Lightweight title against Stoke's Gary Reid, but Saville pulled out last week with an injury.

Lyndsey Scragg of Wednesbury faced last minute opponent Kristine ‘Krissy’ Shergold of Paignton, for the Global Boxing Council Female Super-Featherweight title.

Scragg was originally scheduled to face Florea Lihet, but when Lihet pulled out, Shergold stepped in at short notice. More...

Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade Miguel Cotto proved that he has the heart of a champion retaining his WBO Welterweight title with a hard fought split decision victory over Joshua Clottey in front of nearly 18,000 fans.

In a fight that could have gone to either fighter the judges scored in favor of Cotto by scores of 116-111 and 115-112 while the score for Clottey was 114-113. Although many rounds could have been awarded to either fighter I felt Cotto had won a close decision by a score of 115-112.

The first round was one of the previously mentioned that could have gone to either fighter until Cotto 34-1 (27) delivered a jab near the end of the round that dropped Clottey 35-3 (21). It appeared to be a flash knock-down from a well-timed jab that caught Clottey as he was unbalanced.

After some back and forth action Cotto suffered a severe cut over his left eye from an accidental head-butt at the end of round three, which would bother him for the rest of the fight. In the post fight interview Cotto would later say that he could not see Clottey’s right coming for the last five rounds of the fight.

The fifth round was all Clottey as he took advantage of Cotto who was obviously bothered by the cut landing several accurate punches as Cotto pawed at the blood streaming from his eye. Clottey’s momentum in the round was interrupted when he came in on Cotto getting hung up on his shoulder and fell face first into the canvas as Cotto shrugged him off. More...

© Mike Worden / Saddo Boxing

Moving his way further up the ladder of the featherweight rankings, WBC #3 ranked Juan Carlo Burgos, 22-0 (15), pulled out a scrappy ten round decision over Russia's Vyacheslav Gusev, 16-2 (3), on Friday night in order to retain his WBC CABOFE title.

Dubbed by Thompson Boxing Promotions as “New Blood 4”, the card from the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California had a good amount of the red stuff flowing. The majority of which was generated from under the right eye of Gusev after a right hand from Burgos opened a cut early in the first round.

While the cut appeared to bother Gusev early in the bout, the challenger managed to push through the adversity to give Burgos his toughest challenge to date. More...

© Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing

DiBella Entertainment and Winters Boxing brought the fights back to Long Island and the Westbury Music Fair, now the Capital One Bank Theater at Westbury, NY.

The action packed card was headlined by Pawel Wolak, whose pressure style of fighting earned him a unanimous decision against Contender alum Vinroy Barrett.

The history of the Music Fair goes much beyond boxing and was originally a tent that was raised with the hope of bringing Broadway to Long Island.

The first performance on June 18, 1956, starred Charles Korvin and Constance Carpenter in “The King and I” and nearly ten years later, the tent was replaced with a round fully enclosed theater. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Sunday afternoon at the Meadowside Leisure Centre in Burton-on-Trent, England, PJ Rowson and Errol Johnson of ‘First Team Promotions’ hosted a fight card headlined by a British Masters title clash.

Robert Kenney (Wolverhampton) faced Dale Miles (Alfreton) in the main event for the British Masters Welterweight title.

It was a better start to the fight for Miles, in fact ‘Yam Yam’ Kenney didn’t really ‘pick it up’ during the fight. Miles’s corner shouts at him to ‘target the body!’ And he did land some solid body-shots in round five, which seemed to sap the Wolverhampton man, who has now sustained a cut under the left eye.

Despite Kenney’s corner urging him to go for the body - he didn’t, instead choosing to throw head shots, which weren’t having the effect. Southpaw Miles keeps up the body punches - landing while backing Kenney on the ropes in round six. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Last night at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke-on-Trent, England, Frank Maloney promoted a fight-night headlined by local-man Chris Edwards’ first defence of his British and Commonwealth flyweight titles.

Billed as ‘Lord of the Flys', Edwards faced Derby boxer Usman ‘Uzzy’ Ahmed in what would turn out to be a ‘gritty’ battle between the two flyweights.

Ahmed, a popular but ‘odd’ little character, dances into the ring ahead of the Champion. As soon as Edwards reaches the ring, Uzzy goes right up to him in a taunting manner but Edwards remains stony-faced and looked at his opponent with ‘distaste’. Edwards has huge support from the local crowd.

An all-action contest right from the start - both men ‘fly’ at each other but Edwards looks more focussed against the less experienced Ahmed and appears ‘solid’ looking against his skinny opponent. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Last night at the Colosseum in Watford, England, Hennessy Sports promoted a fight night which would see Darren Barker's third defence of his Commonwealth Middleweight title, facing Darren McDermott.

Darren McDermott, "The Dudley Body Snatcher", entered the ring to the sounds of ‘One Step Beyond’ by Madness and enjoyed huge support from the Dudley fans who had travelled to Watford.

The Champion, "Dazzling" Darren Barker of Harrow, London, entered the ring wearing Chelsea colours while Chelsea football star Joe Cole looked on. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

On Sunday afternoon, boxing fans were treated to a full fight card of nine contests which included the British Masters Light Middleweight Championship. Promoted by Steve Wood's V.I.P Promotions, the event at De Vere Whites Hotel in Bolton, England, was a rousing success.

The main event saw local man Alex Matvienko face Jon Musgrave of Barnsley for the vacant British Masters Light Middleweight title.

Matvienko, the 'One Man Riot’, looked better this time out - using both left and right punches with success, while Musgrave concentrated on the long left straights.

Matvienko wins on points 98-93 to take the title, improving his record to 14 wins (4 by KO) 1 loss. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

On Sunday afternoon, at the ‘packed’ Heritage Hotel in Derby, England - Clifton Mitchell of Mitchell Promotions hosted a fight card which would see some exciting action from both male and female boxers.

First up, local woman Suzanne Hemsley faced Kristine ‘Krissy’ Shergold of Paignton, Devon, in a six round lightweight contest.

‘Bigger’ Shergold gave Hemsley a tough time from the start, landing a notable big left punch at the end of round two. Hemsley picked-up in round three to throw some solid right uppercuts, but doesn’t look happy with herself as she sits in the corner at the end of the round. More...

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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Last night at Crowtree Leisure Centre in Sunderland, England, Frank Maloney hosted a fight night which would feature three title fights and one title eliminator.

The event - billed as ‘Fighting on Home Soil’ was headlined by Jamie Moore, Rendall Munroe and Danny Williams. There would also be a British Light Middleweight title eliminator between Sam Webb and Thomas McDonagh, and Tony Jeffries would fight in front of a home-crowd as he took on German boxer Roy Meissner.

With a total of eleven contests, last night would prove to be an exciting-all action evening - not least because it would provide the lead-up for Sky Sports viewers to the Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton fight in Las Vegas.

It might not have been the MGM Grand - but the 1600 fans crammed into the Sunderland venue were looking forward to a great night of boxing - and they weren’t disappointed! More...

© Tom Casino / Showtime Boxing

On Saturday, April 25 at the MGM Grand Ballroom in Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT, WBC Super Middleweight titlist Carl "The Cobra" Froch made the first defense of his belt when he faced off against former undisputed Middleweight Champion Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor.

Froch, who had fought all but one of his previous 24 bouts in the United Kingdom, and his promoter Mick Hennessy were both hoping to use this bout as a way to showcase Froch to the United States fans, but "The Cobra" ended up being anything but impressive until the final two rounds.

When the bout began, Taylor was in control immediately, landing his jabs at will, following up with big right hands that at first unfazed the British Champion, at least until the third round when Froch went down for the first time in his career. More...

Friday Night at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ was indeed a very green night.

Fans were urged to take mass transit to help decrease emissions and preserve our planet. The fans not only created awareness about helping our Earth, they clearly indicated being loyal followers of John Duddy.

The ring card girls went green by announcing the rounds and ditching the paper signs. I realized, I am always green by using my BlackBerry, never pen and paper.

The co-main event was a 10 rounder between junior middleweights. Kassim Ouma, currently, 26-6 (16), and Gabriel Rosado currently 12-3 (7).

In the first two rounds, Ouma's southpaw stance clearly caused a challenge for Rosado and by the third round Ouma had Rosado in a hold, seizing his punches.

By the fifth round Ouma was consistent as he released and landed his right jab, and Rosado appeared hungry to dominate. More...