Boxing News Boxing News
Things were beginning to get quiet in Britain this past weekend as the U.K. settled into its traditional midsummer break between the “seasons,” but the scene isn’t completely dead with the upcoming bouts in the U.S. and Italy this week for British fighters, along with speculation on just who some of the biggest names in the country might be facing next. Former WBC middleweight titlist Robin Reid gets another chance at a world title this weekend as he contends for Jeff Lacy’s IBF super middleweight crown in Tampa, Florida on Saturday. For Reid, the IBO belt-holder from the Liverpool suburb of Runcorn, it just might be his final shot at world honors. The thirty-four-year-old “Grim Reaper,” 38-4-1 (27), has only dropped one bout since losing his WBC title to “Sugarboy” Malinga and then coming up short in contests to world champions Joe Calzaghe and Silvio Branco.
A year-and-a-half ago, the Englishman traveled to Germany and dropped a widely disputed unanimous decision to Sven Ottke for the IBF and WBA titles. Many in attendance felt that Reid had done more than enough to defeat Ottke but unfortunately for the tourist, the judges did not see it that way.
In Jeff Lacy, Reid will find a willing participant as the Floridian comes to fight and will look to take the action to the challenger. Lacy, 19-0 (15), was like Reid, a heavily decorated amateur who rose quickly through the professional ranks. The American won the vacant IBF belt by stopping Canadian veteran Syd Vanderpool last October and has since retained against Omar Sheika and Rubin Williams.
A thrilling contest should ensue between Reid and Lacy with the winner possibly facing longtime WBO champion Joe Calzaghe later this year in a unification match. Also on the card in Tampa will be English featherweight prospect John Murray, 12-0 (6). The twenty- year-old from Manchester enjoyed his best win last December, stopping Harry Ramakgoadi in four before the African import went on to knock out Welsh hopeful Jamie Arthur last month. Murray is scheduled to face Juan Manuel Matias, 8-2 (3), of the Dominican Republic.
Irish middleweight titlist Matthew Macklin is also in the U.S. this week, scheduled to square off against Leo Laudat at the Borgata in Atlantic City on Thursday. Macklin, 13-1 (9), is a trained by Billy Graham and is a stable-mate of Ricky Hatton’s. The Birmingham native will seek to employ the same search and destroy methods as Hatton when he makes his U.S. debut against heavy-handed journeyman Laudat, 7-8 (7).
A handful of British fighters see action in Italy on Sunday with Cathy Brown, Brett James and Peter McDonagh scheduled to appear in Remini. Brown, 12-6 (6), gets a shot at the vacant WBC women’s flyweight title against Stefani Bianchini, 13-2 (2), while London welterweight James, 14-3-2 (1), contends with southpaw Leonard Bundu, 3-0 (2). Light welterweight McDonagh, 6-10 (1), meets Italian prospect Brunet Zamora, 4-0 (3), over six rounds.
In the news this week, it has been reported that a potential September 10 match-up in Cardiff, Wales for hometown hero and WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe with ex-WBA titlist Anthony Mundine has fallen through and IBF light welterweight kingpin Ricky Hatton may not have seen the last of former divisional ruler Kostya Tszyu as the Russian born Australian is mulling over a return to the ring in the form of a rematch with the Manchester based “Whirlwind of Bad Intent.”
Finally, heavyweight Audley Harrison will once again fight in the U.S. on August 18; the undefeated six-foot-six Briton meets dangerous journeyman Robert Wiggins for a scheduled ten-rounder in California.
Contact Curtis McCormick at thomaspointrd@aol.com
