Boxing News

Author: Boxing Press

  • Brendan Ingle: “Witter Would Beat Tszyu!”

    Legendary trainer Brendan Ingle believes that British, Commonwealth and European light welterweight champion Junior Witter is still not at his prime, even though he is already every bit as good as his former charge Naseem Hamed. Ingle

    said: “You have to remember that Naz was brilliant because he had a lot of time spent on him. We had him from the age of seven. But we have only been training Junior for about eight years now, since he was twenty-two. He is already every bit as good as Naz was in every department. Can you imagine what he is going to be like in three years time? People will say that Junior will be thirty-three then, but that means nothing, that will be his prime. Look at Kostya Tszyu, he is thirty-five and the best in the division. Look at the old timers like Jack Johnson and Sam Langford. Age doesn’t have to be a bad thing. You learn something new every day in this game. I still do and I have been in it for sixty years.” (more…)

  • O’Donnell and Cadman Ask the Fans.

    Light welterweight talent John O’Donnell has again asked for help in selecting a tub-thumping ring walk tune. The light welterweight initially asked members of HennessySports.com to come up with suggestions, but has been less than impressed. “It seems that the website users agreed with the promotional team here at Hennessy Sports,” said the former Junior Olympic champion. “They voted that I should come out to Jamelia’s “Superstar’. What a load of big girl’s blouses! Ok admittedly I am a superstar! But I need a man’s track, not a chick’s warm up tune before they leave the house on a Saturday night!” In search of the answer the Shepherds Bush based boxer, with Galway roots, has turned to his Irish fan base. He continued: “Let’s have the Irish people of North West London decide. I want people to contact the Irish World with their ideas for my ring song and I will walk out to the best. We are a trendy bunch, so no doubt they will deliver the goods. (more…)

  • McCall and Williamson Open “Struggle For Supremacy.”

    Before the heavyweight championship action begins this Saturday night at Madison Square Gardens, fight fans will be treated to an intriguing scrap between former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall and hard-hitting contender Davarryl Williamson. McCall became the WBC heavyweight champion by knocking out Lennox Lewis in two rounds back in the nineties but subsequently lost the title in a subdued effort against Frank Bruno. McCall’s misdemeanours inside and outside of the ring have been well documented. As a habitual drug user, McCall furnished boxing history with one of its most bizarre moments when he seemed to suffer a mental breakdown in the ring in the Lewis rematch, in tears, he was led from the ring a tattered shell. But you do not get the nickname ‘The Atomic Bull’ for nothing. McCall has a granite chin and fists to match that notably helped him to KO Henry Akinwande in a 2001 comeback fight. Williamson is looking to ride the momentum he gained whilst knocking down Wladimir Klitschko before losing the fight on a technical decision when Klitschko was cut. That was only a little over a month ago, This is a crossroads fight that should be entertaining while it lasts. Williamson is not known to have great punch resistance and if McCall can get to him he might have himself an early night.

  • Michalczewski Returns to the Ring Against Champion Tiozzo.

    WBA Light Heavyweight World Championship
    Fabrice Tiozzo vs. Dariusz Michalczewski
    26. Feb. 2005, Color Line Arena Hamburg

    Hamburg – The Tiger returns where he stopped one year ago: Right at the top. On February 26 the thirty-six-year-old record keeping former world champion will challenge for the WBA light heavyweight title.

    His opponent at Color Line Arena of Hamburg, Germany, will be thirty-five-year-old Frenchman Fabrice Tiozzo who captured the crown of the World Boxing Association in March from Silvio Branco. “I’ve been thinking deeply about whether I should box again or not,” Michalczewski explained in front of a large crowd of journalists and camera teams at Wednesday’s press conference in the spacious hall one of the Cinemaxx cinema in Hamburg-Dammtor. “Many people asked me over and again whether I will make a comeback. Even though I’m living in Gdansk now most of the time, whenever I came to Hamburg people spoke to me on the streets and asked me when my next fight will be. Finally I made a decision. I decided to return. I still feel young and fit. I don’t like to join the group of retired former champions yet. In my mind I haven’t lost my last fight and now it’s my goal to become world champion one more time.” (more…)

  • Witter: Boxing Kept Me on the Straight and Narrow.

    Bradford’s British, Commonwealth and European light welterweight champion Junior Witter has revealed how boxing has steered him away from the many troubles that beset the youth in his hometown. “For as long as I can remember there has been tension in Bradford,” said the thirty-year-old, who defends his European title against Krzysztof Bienias at the Wembley Conference Centre on Friday night’s Hennessy Sports “Born To Do It’ promotion. “There are racial issues. There is fear, ignorance, unemployment, poverty and religious and political extremism. A lot of the youngsters in the area find it difficult not to get caught up in it all that. At times it threatens to spill over as it did in 1995 with the riots. I know for a fact that kids I went to school with were involved. These same kids now spend there days as thirty-year-olds hanging around street corners with absolutely no ambition. It is a vicious circle and young people can be so easily led. I could have easily been one of them.” (more…)

  • Frank Maloney Meets Dave “Boy’ Green on the Dinner Club Circuit.

    At the present moment in Britain, there are a number of top American fighters doing what we call the dinner club circuit. They go around chatting, have dinner, speak to the gathered attendees for about forty minutes, show some film and then answer questions. As a measure of the popularity of this sort of thing, a short while ago we had Larry Holmes entertaining up to 1,000 people
    Mickey Kingwell, Dave “Boy” Green, Frank Maloney
    Click for Larger Image

    in Manchester with John Conteh and Earnie Shavers. Recently, Thomas Hearns, his nephew and Emmanuel Steward were also touring Britain. The British fight fans love the American legends but there is still room for Britain’s favorite fighters as well. (more…)

  • Barrett Promises a Blood and Guts Affair.

    Irish traveler Francis Barrett is steeling himself for a tough night this Friday when he defends his EU light welterweight title against Alan Bosworth at the Wembley Conference Centre on the Hennessy Sports “Born To Do It’ promotion. “This is going to be a real blood and guts affair,” predicted the twenty-seven-year-old, now based in Wembley. “It’s going to be fought in the trenches and I know I won’t be going home without suffering a few war wounds. Bosworth and I are very similar. We both only know one way: forwards, and that is going to result in us meeting each other in the middle of the ring. A classic is on the cards. This is the kind of contest British Boxing needs. This is a real 50-50 fight. Two of the most honest professionals you could ever meet will be going at it hammer and tongs. I know I am going to have the edge though. I have the stamina and strength to ensure that I won’t be the one backing down. I keep winning fights that I am supposed to lose, perhaps people will stop underestimating me soon!” (more…)

  • Spartacus Out to Down “The Daddy.’

    Ipswich warrior Spartacus has vowed to make the first defense of his English light heavyweight title in style when he takes on Peter “The Daddy’ Haymer on November 12th at the Wembley Conference Centre. “Crash, bang, wallop. It should be a case of job done, next!“ appraised the twenty-seven-year-old. “Haymer is a good operator. He’s only lost twice, never been stopped and has
    Spartacus beating Scott Lansdowne
    Click for larger image
    © Action Images

    been in with the usual suspects but I am on the top of my game right now. I am in great shape. I could go twenty rounds, my timing is sharp and I am banging harder than ever. I feel like “The Daddy’!” Spartacus, 16(9)-1, is currently in Denmark preparing for the encounter. “The sparring I have been having is second to none,” he added. (more…)

  • ARTHUR PROMISES CAPITAL CRACKER.

    Edinburgh super-featherweight star Alex Arthur returns to action in quick-time when he headlines the Meadowbank Sports Centre on Friday 3 December and has promised a capital cracker. Arthur, who was only in action just over two weeks ago with a victory over Eric Odumase in

    his home city, will defend his IBF Intercontinental title against a challenger to be named. The twenty-five-year-old is eager to get as much ring action before the year ends and was delighted to get another fight in. “I’m so happy to be fighting again just before Christmas, primarily for the fans who have supported me and I will give them a real cracker of a performance but also because it’s a pay day that I need now that I have more mouths to feed at home!” said Arthur whose girlfriend Debbie recently gave birth to a baby boy. (more…)

  • Froch Looking to Dominate Europe’s Super Middleweights.

    British and Commonwealth super middleweight champion Carl Froch is considering making the European title an imminent target given the lack of suitable domestic contenders.

    “I had hoped to win the British title outright by making three successful defences,” the twenty-seven-year-old began. “But that is proving difficult so I may have to already move on to bigger things. Nobody in Britain wants to fight me. It was hard enough getting hold of the belt in the first place. Former champion Tony Dodson pulled out three times before he was stripped, then the fight for the vacant title was offered to Brian Magee, but he turned it down. At least Damon Hague had the guts to step up to the plate. He has called for the rematch, but what would be the point in that? I have even chased fights with Robin Reid and Joe Calzaghe. Though they would not have necessarily been for the British, at least I could have continued proving I am the best this country has. But Reid just cocked a deaf’un and hid behind his fringe title whilst Calzaghe’s daddy priced him out of the market. It may just be time to look elsewhere.” (more…)

  • Thirlwall gets Monaghan.

    Matthew Thirlwall is looking to bounce back in style when he takes on Nottingham’s Michael Monaghan on the November 12th Hennessy Sports “Born To Do It’ promotion at the Wembley Conference Centre.

    The Bermondsey boy suffered a controversial points loss to Jason Collins last time out at the Nottingham Arena in September, despite having clearly put in the better work throughout the six rounds. He is not the type to let it hold him back. “I have been here before,” began the twenty-three-year-old. “I was also robbed of a decision in January 2003 at the Nottingham Arena (against Gary Beardsley); for some reason they don’t like me up there! On that occasion I bounced straight back and won. I intend to do just the same again.” (more…)

  • Tarver and Johnson Give Up Their Titles.

    Both WBC light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver and his IBF counterpart Glen Johnson have opted to forego their mandatory obligations to the sanctioning organizations they represent to pave the way for their fight on December 18th. Tarver was due to honor his mandatory in a fight with Australia’s Paul Briggs who has just signed a promotional agreement with Don King. Likewise, Johnson would have been pitched in for the second defense of his title against Rico Hoye, the man that beat former champion Montell Griffin for the title shot. Boxing politics will fall as they may, leaving Briggs and Hoye to contest the titles with whoever the next available contender is as mandated by their respective sanctioning bodies. But the legitimacy of Tarver-Johnson cannot be called into question, virtually all of boxing recognizes the fight as the only one that can decide the true identity of the world’s best light heavyweight.

    Watch this space for more developments.