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I think Witter was angling for that shot if he could get it, but I doubt Warren would throw Rees in the deep end so early. I'm sure it'll be a fairly low-key opponent so that Rees can celebrate winning the title in front of a huge audience in Cardiff.Quote:
Originally Posted by WelshDevilRob
Yeh too soon for a Witter fight. There was an article in the SW Echo regarding possible opponents and which fighters were ranked by the WBA. I'll try and find it and post it-up.Quote:
Originally Posted by superheavyrhun
Sweet, would be much appreciated if you can find it.Quote:
Originally Posted by WelshDevilRob
For me Rees will do well to beat his mandatory Kotelnik, I went to the Olympia when he drew with M'Baye and he beat M'Baye that night as far as I was concerned.
Boxing: Champ Rees waits for next opponent
Jul 28 2007
by Gareth Jones, South Wales Echo
WALES’ newest world champion, Gavin Rees, is famously unworried about who he fights – as befits someone who has not lost in 12 years – but the game’s movers and shakers are already looking ahead to his first defence of the WBA light-welter title.
The 27-year-old Newbridge product, who shocked the boxing world with his comprehensive victory over French holder Souleymane Mbaye at Cardiff International Arena last weekend, will be back in action at the Millennium Stadium on November 3.
Rees will have to take on Ukrainian mandatory challenger Andreas Kotelnik, who drew with Mbaye in March, but that is unlikely to happen before 2008.
So promoter Frank Warren will be seeking a likely lad for a voluntary defence on a bill which already features Joe Calzaghe’s super-middle showdown with Mikkel Kessler and Enzo Maccarinelli’s next outing, hopefully against his IBF counterpart, Steve Cunningham.
While Warren does not rule out a future meeting with Ricky Hatton, Gavin himself sees it as unrealistic.
Boxing
Boxing: Champ Rees waits for next opponent
Jul 28 2007
by Gareth Jones, South Wales Echo
WALES’ newest world champion, Gavin Rees, is famously unworried about who he fights – as befits someone who has not lost in 12 years – but the game’s movers and shakers are already looking ahead to his first defence of the WBA light-welter title.
The 27-year-old Newbridge product, who shocked the boxing world with his comprehensive victory over French holder Souleymane Mbaye at Cardiff International Arena last weekend, will be back in action at the Millennium Stadium on November 3.
Rees will have to take on Ukrainian mandatory challenger Andreas Kotelnik, who drew with Mbaye in March, but that is unlikely to happen before 2008.
So promoter Frank Warren will be seeking a likely lad for a voluntary defence on a bill which already features Joe Calzaghe’s super-middle showdown with Mikkel Kessler and Enzo Maccarinelli’s next outing, hopefully against his IBF counterpart, Steve Cunningham.
While Warren does not rule out a future meeting with Ricky Hatton, Gavin himself sees it as unrealistic.
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“Hatton would be a dream fight, but I know I’m not a big enough name for him,” he says. “He’s in the States having big-money fights, so good luck to him. I’m just looking forward to defending my title and I’m prepared to fight anyone in the world.”
So let us take a look at the likely candidates, excluding Kotelnik from the equation. The WBA’s most recent rankings, compiled before last Saturday’s changing of the guard, include no fewer than nine undefeated prospects.
Five of them – Dmitriy Salita, Lamont Peterson, Demetrius Hopkins (Bernard’s nephew), Timothy Bradley and David Torres – are American, with two Argentinians, No.2-ranked Marcos Maidana and Cesar Cuenca, Frenchman Willy Blain and lanky Colombian Breidis Prescott completing the collection.
Another American, Victor Ortiz, has a record marred only by a disqualification loss and a technical draw, both in the first round, so, in effect, he too has yet to meet anyone superior.
As Rees’ own performance underlined, nobody knows just how good an unbeaten fighter may be. Any of the above, therefore, would pose a risk, particularly bangers like Maidana (18 stoppages in 19 wins) and Prescott, whose 13 quick wins in 14 suggest he punches at least as hard as political namesake John.
Southpaw Cuenca, on the other hand, has halted only one of his 26 victims, while former Olympian Blain, also a lefty, has finished just three of 17 bouts early.
The others in the eligible Top 15 are 36-year-old Thai Yodsanan Sor Nantachai, a former WBA super-feather boss, Indonesian Daudy Bahari and Japanese southpaw Norio Kimura, but, for some reason, Far Eastern boxers rarely visit Britain. Economics invariably come into the decision, too.
With Calzaghe-Kessler costing a fortune and a Maccarinelli-Cunningham bout unlikely to come cheap, Warren will not want to spend too much on a foe for Rees.
The Argentinians tend to accept lower purses, while the Yanks are more likely to interest transatlantic television.
With more than three months to go, the name-juggling will continue for a while yet.
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one thing that will always be a pain for gav his his hight, his body is naturaly to big really for him now to fight below super-lightweight... i think hatton could be a step to far for him 'coz he lacks the power to hurt hatton - paulie i would wager is to fast and to savy, gav would need to get on the inside, tie him up all night, don't think he will be able to do it long enough to win on any cards..
witter tho, i dunn, call me crazy but i will pick gav to beat him, everyone seemedto think i was nuts when i picked him to win the wba in his last outing, he has thr style, the punch output and stamina to beat witter over 12 rounds imo.
I reckon Rees might fancy another fight against a really tall fighter, because he seemed happy to duck under the Mbaye guard and hammer away to the body. Then again, his challenger would probably want to do a lot more work than Mbaye. And check my predictions....I had Rees to win last time too. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Preme