Boxing Perspective: Inside the TKO Gym

By Benn Lettman

The walls inside the TKO Gym are adorned with the faces of fighters, past and present, who have walked through its doors to grunt, sweat and bleed in pursuit of their dream. Those faces include former heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster, current WBU lightweight champion Graham Earl and Ireland’s most famous pugilistic export, Barry Mcguigan.

English welterweight champion Ross Minter, who is preparing for his upcoming British title eliminator against Colin McNeil, was hard at work as I entered the famed gym. “He’s from Scotland, I’m obviously from down here,” he said, referring to his opponent. “It will be a clash of North versus South. It should be a good fight. I gave up the English title recently because obviously I’ve got other things I want to concentrate on to move up the ladder.”

Minter, who boasts an impressive 16-1 (7) record, is keen to take his career to the next level: “Now I want to move on to better things. It’s a shame because I’ve only had one fight this year. One fight in a year could make you go a bit rusty. It would be nice to get a warm up fight in February but I’ve had good sparring and good training. You’ve got to take the opportunity when it comes.”

If Minter gets past McNeil then a match-up with current British welterweight champion Kevin Anderson could be on the cards. A potential fight of the year candidate in the opinion of many.

Also training under the expert tutalege of Johnny Eames and Peter Swinney is light welterweight prospect Ashley Theopane, who meets Alan Bosworth in a British title eliminator a week before Martin Power re-acquaints himself with Tshifhiwa Munyai at the Goresbrook LC in Dagenham.

Theopane, who recently picked up the vacant GBC title over in Germany with a stoppage victory over Omar Siala, now has his sights set on current British champion Lenny Daws. Unlike the majority U.K fighters, the globetrotting Theopane, 17-2 (4), has fought abroad numerous times and has sparred with the likes of Paulie Malignaggi, a world-rated American.

“I’ve always found British boxing boring. I still find it boring now,” revealed the London-born fighter. “But I’ve always liked fighters like Nigel Benn and Lloyd Hunnigan. I’ve always been a fan of theirs. And both of them went to America and boxed. I’ve always loved American boxing. I’ve been there a few times. Over here it’s more heart and guts and fights but over there it’s a lot more technical. And I prefer the technical side of boxing.”

When asked about a possible match against Daws, Theopane replied: “I would love to fight Lenny Daws. From the amateurs I wanted to fight him. Hennessy (his promoter) would think it would be an easy fight for him. But they have never seen me. They don’t know what standard I box at. Because I’ve fought a lot of journeymen, I have always boxed within myself. So if I had to raise my game I could raise it easily.”

But first he will have to get past Bosworth, who is a tough opponent for any fighter.

Courtesy www.frankmaloney.com