Great looking card from Warren ... Saunders v Ryder should be a good un



Frank Warren's Column - 21/09/13 | Frank Warren



I am really excited about this evening's debut promotion at the futuristic Copper Box Arena at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London's East End. Dubbed 'Rock The Box' after hosting handball at London 2012, the £44million, 7,500 capacity venue is tailor made for big night boxing and, to honour the launch, I've compiled a five star card.

The headline act pitches unbeaten southpaws Billy Joe Saunders and John Ryder in what could be one of the great domestic bang ups!

Ryder is from my old manor of Islington. Dubbed 'The Gorilla', he is feted for his strength and poses a genuine threat to the Romany champion.

Expect it to be very lively while it lasts but my man Billy Joe, a former Olympian, holds notable edges in experience and pedigree. I'm backing his greater nous to see him home after a probable candidate for Fight of the Year.

Another who is showing belated signs of maturing – both as a fighter and a person – is heavyweight Dereck Chisora. The former British and Commonwealth champion resurrected his career in July by flattening touted Yank Malik Scott – previously unbeaten in 36 – at Wembley.

This evening, 'Del Boy' will be seeking to upgrade to European champion when he collides with Kazakh born, German based Edmund Gerber for the vacant title. An impressive victory will vault the Finchley man back into world class where his talent clearly belongs.

Now that Frankie Gavin has found stability in his private life, he's really motoring. Still England's only ever world amateur champion, the prodigiously gifted Brummie defends his British and Commonwealth welter belts against Manchester veteran David Barnes.

It's an intriguing test. Barnes was once a four-time British schools champion who deserted the army to win British professional titles at both welter and light-welter.

However, Gavin is the closest we have to a Floyd Mayweather, capable of toying with quality opposition. He punches with a clockmaker's precision, has an exquisite command of distance and, with 12 stoppage wins on his perfect 16 fight slate, is a vastly underrated puncher.

The old 'Funtime' mindset is a thing of the past. Now it's 'Serious' Frankie, an ominous prospect for future opposition. If he triumphs tonight, that could include Kell Brook and/or Amir Khan next year.

It's also a big night for little Paul Butler. After racing to a dozen successive pro wins and bagging British and Commonwealth belts, the 24 year old super-flyweight from Ellesmere Port now needs exposure against the Latino and Asian opposition that routinely dominate in the lightest weight categories.

Tonight, 'The Baby Faced Assassin' locks horns with South American champion Miguel Gonzalez of Chile for the WBO Inter-Continental title.

Butler's a spiteful son of a gun and I've long predicted that he'll not only secure Britain's first ever 115lb world title but also evolve into a big star.

Also on the bill, two unbeaten super-feather starlets Liam Walsh and Joe Murray square off for the former's Commonwealth strap in what promises to be a real humdinger. It's difficult to split them but whoever prevails can expect to crash the world rankings.

Finally a shout out to rising prospects Frank Buglioni, Georgie Kean and Mitchell Smith who, between them, have shifted over 1,500 tickets. Expect the 'Box' to be rocking.

A talent stacked card from top to tail, then. Catch the whole bill live tonight on BoxNation, the Channel of Champions.


As expected Floyd Mayweather re-affirmed his status as the finest prizefighter on the planet by effortlessly schooling Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas last weekend.

Despite the mystifying majority decision, the 'Money' man triumphed rather more easily than most –myself included – had expected. Hopefully C.J Ross has put down her pen after ridiculously scoring the fight a draw.

Trust me, Alvarez is a young fighter who could yet evolve into a quality fighter yet he was made to look decidedly ordinary despite having a significant weight advantage on fight night. At times during the middle rounds, it even looked as if the Michigan master might register a rare stoppage win over his naturally bigger opponent.

The old adage of a good big 'un always beating a good little 'un certainly didn't ring true here.

Mayweather is incontestably the superstar of his generation. Unlike the majority of his rivals, he is a gym junkie, utterly devoted to the code of a fighter 24/7, 365 days a year. It's a mantra that correlates to consistently exceptional performances come fight night.

He might not be the most exciting but he's the most gifted by some distance; a defensive genius and born winner.

The manner in which he tucks his chin behind his lead shoulder then twists sideways on, renders his target area all but invisible and, as 45 consecutive opponents have painfully discovered, if he can't be hit, he can't be beat!

The Money Team are notorious for cherry picking Mayweather's opposition and father-trainer Floyd Snr has strongly hinted that Britain's Amir Khan could be the next victim.

The Bolton lad has long been receptive to that idea and certainly possesses the speed and offensive tools to give Mayweather fresh problems to solve. Whether he has the durability to endure 12 rounds is another issue entirely and more importantly, the defence to deal with the Money Man.

I anticipate 'King Khan' will more than have his hands full when he debuts at welterweight to challenge IBF boss Devon Alexander at The Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York on December 7th.

Amir enters a marginal outsider with the bookies for that one but would be a monumental underdog should he ever dip between the ropes against Mayweather.


The odds on George Groves springing an upset when he challenges Carl Froch for the WBA and IBF super-middleweight belts may have widened significantly after news broke this week that he'd parted company with long-term manager-trainer Adam Booth.

There had been a similar rift when I was working with the pair last year because apparently 'St George' had stopped listening. Dean Powell and I helped to iron out the differences then but now it seems Adam – guru to David Haye has had enough.

With the biggest opportunity of his career just nine weeks away, you have to fear for Groves who will need to gel instantly with whoever he selects as Booth's replacement.


On the Mayweather-Alvarez undercard Danny Garcia, who's mallet fists flattened Amir Khan in four 14 months ago, showed he also owns the skills to pay the bills by schooling monster hitting Argentinian Lucas Matthysse in a minor upset.

The Philadelphia-based Puerto Rican, 25, has now won 27 straight and is fast scaling the sport's mythical 'pound for pound' ladder.


Sadly one of the heavyweight icons from the Golden Era of heavyweights pass away this week. Ken Norton who was Muhammad Ali's jinx man, died at the age of 70. He was a great fighter, but said his biggest achievement was being voted Father of the Year. It don't get better than that!