The State Of The British Game: The Heavyweights
In a detailed examination of the fight game within the United Kingdom, SaddoBoxing correspondent Iain Langmaid casts his long eye over the British scene and what he thinks the future holds for 2012 and beyond.
Heavyweight Division:
On the World stage, the Heavyweight division is marked by the log jam that is the Ukrainian Klitchsko brothers continually dispatching all comers who are brave enough to face them, while on the British scene things could not be more different with an exciting blend of prospects and veterans.
While he may have disgraced himself with his antics in Munich, Derek Chisora showed that he can compete at World level after becoming only the fourth man to ever go the distance with Vitali Klitchsko in the elder Klitchsko’s 46 fight professional career.
Prior to this, Chisora was on the wrong end of a questionable points decision loss against Finnish Heavyweight prospect Robert Helenius when challenging for the European Heavyweight title and two minor alphabet titles.
However, following Chisora’s conduct in Munich it is likely will face a substantial suspension should he be found guilty by the Board of Control in March, which shall see him off the radar for whatever duration of time the Board decides.
Meanwhile, another Chisora conqueror in the shape of Tyson Fury is looking to continue to make his mark on the heavyweight scene, despite choosing to abdicate his British and Commonwealth titles on hearing that former amateur rival David Price was installed as his mandatory challenger.
Fury, in his 17 fights to date, has shown very good hand speed and the ability to dig effectively to the body. He has a body shot knockout on his record after stopping Scott Belshaw early in his career and is pushing for his own world title opportunity.
Fury is scheduled to fight big hearted brawler Martin Rogan in Belfast in April with a possible target being the winner of the forthcoming vacant European title match up between Kubrat Pulev and Alexander Dimitrenko.
This linked into a television deal with Channel 5 that Fury’s promoter Mick Hennessy currently has made the Mancunian one of the most recognisable fighters here in the British Isles, given the all action style that has made him a fans favourite.
However, there is still room for improvement in terms of his conditioning and maximizing his punching power but he is still a baby in Heavyweight terms as he is only 23 years old.
Also looking to make the step up on the British scene is former Beijing Olympic Bronze medallist David Price, who recently captured the vacant English Heavyweight title with his first round bombing of Hordon’s John McDermott.
The McDermott clash also doubled as a final eliminator for the British Heavyweight title which Fury then vacated despite Price, who holds an amateur victory over Fury, reportedly turning down an attractive offer of £100,000 pounds to challenge for the Lonsdale and Commonwealth belts.
Although through a combination of promoter disputes and injury problems has seen his development being slight slower in comparison to his amateur team-mates, it can be argued that Price has looked the most impressive of the class of 2008 that turned professional after the Beijing games with the bracing left jab and powerful right hand.
However, there are questions that still remain regarding Price; during his 12 fight professional career, his chin has yet to be tested. Concerns arose in this area following Price being dropped by the Italian Super-Heavyweight Roberto Cammarelle at the Olympics.
Price’s stamina is also a potential issue as the Scouser has only gone as far as the seventh round in his career in the professional ranks when he fought Raman Sukhaterin in October 2010.
Despite these concerns, Price still remains one of the most promising fighters on the British scene and faces a tough test against Norwich’s Sam Sexton, the former Commonwealth Heavyweight champion, in a mouth watering match up the vacant British title.
Also on the fringe looking to show that are still relevant are the veterans.
The veterans, looking to upset the aspirations of the young prospects, are former British and Commonwealth Heavyweight champion Matt Skelton, who makes his return to the ring after being imprisoned for motoring offences.
Skelton is scheduled to fight Chatham’s Tom Dallas, who is on the rebuild after being demolished by Maloney stablemate David Price in two rounds last June at the Olympia in Liverpool.
Should Skelton defeat Dallas in a eight round fight on the undercard of Jamie McDonnell’s forthcoming European Bantamweight title defence against Ivan Pozo, Skelton could be in the mix for the winner of Price vs. Sexton British and Commonwealth title fight.
Another former British title holder looking to show that he is still relevant is Michael Sprott, who will be looking to bounce back after losing his last three fights against Kubrat Pulev for a minor IBF title, Alexander Dimitrenko for the European title and big hitting American Tye Fields.
Audley Harrison will be returning to the scene after his embarrassing world title shot against champion David Haye at the MEN Arena. Harrison is scheduled to fight the Iraqi born Heavyweight Ali Adams in a 10 round fight, which is to be scheduled in April to take place in April at the Brentwood Centre.
John McDermott will be seen as a good trial horse for any young prospect but will also have aspirations at having at another tilt at the British title.
Also looking to making their mark on the British scene over the next year or so in the shape of prospects are Richard Towers, currently 12-0 with 9 knockouts, who is a powerful finisher and Scotsman Gary Cornish.
With this exciting cocktail of prospects on the way up, veterans trying to get one last shot at the British title and top domestic level Heavyweights trying to force their way on to bigger things, the Heavyweight scene here in the UK has never been this exciting since the late 1960s and early 1970s when the British title was regularly changing hands.
The only difference is the Heavyweights are even bigger and much more powerful!