THE BATTLE FOR HEAVYWEIGHT SUPREMACY, PART 2
By Frank Warren
THE EARLY FORMALITIES ahead of our big pre-Christmas bash in Riyadh on December 21 are now complete. Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk did the media rounds, said a few – only a few – words at the official press conference, then squared up for the all-important face-off.
It is game on for the Kingdom Arena for the sequel to May’s undisputed heavyweight championship clash, this time minus one belt that is now in the proud ownership of Daniel Dubois. It won’t diminish the occasion in any way.
For Tyson, this is about putting it right with a few corrections to his performance last time out. It is not a major reconstruction because it was a very close fight that could have gone either way.
Tyson offered up no complaints and made no excuses, but he can be better. Fingers firmly crossed that both fighters emerge unscathed throughout training camps and we get both stepping into the ring in fine fettle.
It was certainly no advantage to Tyson that he went into battle without the benefit of rigorous sparring due to the need to protect the healing of the cut he sustained that caused a delay to the original fight.
As any fighter will tell you, without sparring, sharpness and timing is missing and you lose a bit of that battle hardiness.
If there are no mishaps this time around we could be in for an even better fight. And that is some prospect.
Most of the undercard for December 21 was also on parade at the GuildHall and I do feel we have got a good few potential bangers lined up.
It is not a supporting cast lavished with the biggest names in the sport, but what we have put in place is a card of real 50-50ish fights that will deliver excitement, as well as a major, major opportunity for young stars to shine on the biggest stage of all.
These fights will bring entertainment and nobody will convince me otherwise.
To my mind, Dennis McCann vs Peter McGrail for the British, Commonwealth and European super bantamweight titles is as good a match as can be made currently between two of the brightest young talents in the game. It carries obvious appeal and it is the sort of fight people said wouldn’t happen not so long ago.
Lee McGregor against Isaac Lowe, as I like to say, has got fight written all over it and we’ve also got two young British heavyweights taking a significant step up.
Moses Itauma, who is still just 19, is going up against Demsey McKean, who has taken a single loss to Fillip Hrgovic. It will be fight number 11 for Moses against an opponent with 22 wins.
It is a fight that will reveal a lot more about the future career trajectory of Moses and how quickly he can close in on the current elite. Or, as Demsey would point out, is it too much too soon?
Much the same applies to Johnny Fisher, who goes up against an experienced hand in Dave Allen. Both Moses and Johnny are in the sort of proper fights people want to see them in.
Add in a super welterweight helping of Serhii Bohachuk and Israil Madrimov and a real gourmet feast of tasty fights awaits us on December 21. I cannot wait to see it all unfold.
I’D LIKE TO extend a big welcome to the Queensberry ranks to our new signing Huey Malone, who is turning professional with us after amassing an impressive resume in the amateurs.
Huey will be making his debut on our Birmingham show on November 2 and I’d like to thank his manager, Matthew Macklin, for steering him in our direction as the place to be for the finest young talents.
I ENJOYED LAST week’s show at York Hall, which continues to serve as a breeding ground to develop our younger fighters, but I must mention one of the older participants who really announced himself on the night.
Sam Gilley retained his Commonwealth super welterweight title with an emphatic stoppage of Jack McGann and his performance suggested that he could be one of those fighters who makes a late career surge to major success.
He looks a real quality operator, who is entertaining to watch and I look forward to working with him and pushing him towards reaping the rewards that have previously eluded him.