Frank Maloney Boxing: Jeffries Defeats Rivals Froch, Degale

Tony Jeffries got one up on potential rivals James Degale and Carl Froch when he won the Lonsdale Challenge in Nottingham.

The challenge involved the three boxers taking part in a variety of exercises against the clock to see who could register the most repetitions.

It was held to mark Lonsdale’s 50 year anniversary which has seen the sporting brand associated with some of boxing’s greatest ever fighters including Muhammad Ali, Joe Calzaghe and Henry Cooper.

Jeffries was pitted against the clock to see how many of each exercise he could register in a 30 second time period.

He left his rivals toiling with 104 punches thrown, 53 tuck jumps and 44 sit ups as Olympic Gold medallist Degale and WBC super middleweight champion Froch found ‘The Mighty Mackem’ too hot to handle.

“It was great fun and I’m happy with my totals,” explained Olympic Bronze medallist Jeffries. “It was good to see both James and Carl as I get on well with both of them. We had a laugh when we did it as well.

“It was only for 30 seconds but it was tough because it was flat out the whole time! I don’t think anyone expected me to win because I was the underdog.James is an Olympic champion and Carl is a world champion so I’m happy to come out on top.”

Jeffries returns on the undercard of Rendall Munroe’s WBC super-bantamweight title eliminator against Victor Terrazas at Coventry Skydome on April 23 and is itching to get back in action following an injury lay-off.

He said: “I can’t wait to get back in there. Training has gone really really well and I’m just focused on putting in a good performance in April.”

Tickets for the Coventry show are on sale, prices £30, £50 and £70 by logging onto www.frankmaloney.com or by calling 0871 226 1508. Boxers on the bill will also be selling tickets.