MAG 7 LIGHTS UP LONDON

By Frank Warren

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN concept once again delivered in a big way at Wembley on Saturday with so many fighters taking a significant step forward in their careers.

It was compelling viewing from start to finish and our southern-based crew grasped the opportunity of the Mag 7 format landing in London for the first time. Luckily, we also enjoyed the perfect mix of absorbing distance fights and explosive knockouts.

I must say, when you get a microphone shoved under your nose straight after the event asking for your personal highlight, you do get caught in the moment and suffer from a bit of recency bias.

So what I would like to do is pay tribute to the performance and progression of Aloys Jr, our cruiserweight destroyer who remarkably is still just 21 years of age.

Aloys was up against a proper opponent in Lewis Oakford and did a brutal job on him, while showing a smartness and maturity well beyond his years.

I know comparisons with a young Mike Tyson are bandied around every time an explosive young puncher comes along, but I strongly suspect Aloys actually is of the same ilk.

The young man has an absolutely huge future in front of him and I believe it won’t be too long before we are contemplating the prospect of thrusting him into world title contention. I think his potential is enormous.

In the headliner Denzel Bentley emerged with two armfuls of title belts for his efforts against Brad Pauls, who he outpointed in a fine and, I think, pretty close run thing.

Just a couple of fights after the despair of being outsmarted by Nathan Heaney, Denzel is now the WBO No.1 contender, European champion and British champion once again. It shows how quickly fortunes can reverse if you maintain belief and keep your eyes on the prize.

Denzel now finds himself on the cusp of a 2025 challenge for the WBO world middleweight title.

I am also now a big fan of Brad Pauls. I have been so impressed with him as a fighter and as a person across our involvement with him over his last three fights. He is what you would call a proper fighter, a real tough and talented individual who still has a big future.

I told him afterwards that he is still very much in our plans and he will continue to get the opportunities he deserves. I think he is one of those fighters who, win or lose, will always keep improving fight to fight.

I think this fight really turned on the 10th round knockdown where he sustained an eye injury. I reckon he was well in the fight up to this point.

The rise of Sam Noakes continues unabated following his near shutout decision victory over an always gallant Ryan Walsh. Sam did everything right against an experienced and dangerous opponent, although I suspect if he had stepped on it a bit in the closing stages he could have got Ryan out of there.

Sam is in a great position with the titles he holds – European, British, Commonwealth and WBO International – so now it is a case of striking when the time is right.

Sam’s big brother Sean also kept hold of his English title with a decisive victory over Mathew Rennie and he too can look forward to some big fights in 2025 with numerous options in front of him.

Our combined heavyweight action lasted a matter of just over three and a half minutes due to the mighty blows landed by both David Adeleye and Lawrence Okolie.

David is now right back in the mix having snatched the English title away from Solomon Dacres and Lawrence now holds the coveted WBC Silver title following the crunching right hander that landed on the previously very confident Hussein Muhamed.

I do think Lawrence can become a heavyweight force to be reckoned with now the burden of weight making has been removed from the equation. He certainly showed he has got the size!

I must also mention a really classy performance from our future super featherweight star Royston Barney-Smith, who posted a hugely impressive stoppage victory over Andres Navarrete in the TV opener.

We know Royston is an elite-level talent, but probably more impressive is his application and willingness to learn and keep improving. He has got a great family behind him and, as his manager too, it is a pleasure to guide his career.

Also congratulations to Pierce O’Leary on his knockout win early in the evening. It was unfortunate that we endured issues in getting him a title-level opponent, but he went into the fight in the full knowledge that a fight for the European super lightweight title beckons for him in early 2025.

Congrats too to our fighting Marine George Crotty for completing a successful professional debut. George very much looks the part.

So that is us done on the Homefront for 2024 but, as you might have heard, we will officially close out the year over in Riyadh on December 21 with Tyson Fury seeking to once again establish heavyweight dominance. More on this next week.