Fight Report: Selby And O’Meara Retain Titles,
Saunders and Turner Impress In Style

(Selby celebrates / Turner lands again)

Photos and Report by Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
Frank Warren knows a thing or two about putting on a top class fight night and boy has he put some great shows on over the years. Usually his real all action extravaganzas are reserved for the bigger venues around the country, places like the O2, Excel, M.E.N., Echo Arena etc. however last night the King of British Boxing pulled out all the stops for a small hall show at the York Hall in Bethnal Green.

Heading up the classy lineup was Lee Selby’s first defense of the British and Commonwealth Featherweight straps he won back in September, with a fantastic eight round stoppage of Liverpool’s Stephen Smith.

                                  

Right from the off Selby went on the offensive, effectively using his jab to keep the super tough, and former holder of both titles, Simpson at bay. Each time the Scot made any move forward the Champ just stood his ground before throwing out a series of stiff jabs to push him back. Nice nonstop action opening round that was easy to score in Selby’s favour.

Second round was even livelier, Simpson just kept going forward, but as before Selby just resorted to his jab for the early part to thwart every move Simpson made. Frustration was already starting to settle in and by the end of the second minute Simpson started to throw some wild shots, problem was he left himself open to be picked off by some nice double handed counters. Another excellent round for the Champion.

More of the same in the third, Simpson’s shots were getting even wilder and again were leaving him open for Selby to counter, which he did with more force than in the earlier rounds.

Simpson’s trainer, Billy Nelson, obviously gave him a good talking to between the rounds as he came out and took the fight to Selby in a much more controlled fashion, so much so that he was actually getting some good success, landing some big shots. Selby responded in similar fashion and this lead to some great exchanges. Much closer round, but I still felt it was Selby’s round - just.

It was more of the same in the fifth, but as before it was Selby that seemed to be getting the better of each exchange. The round was a real firecracker that had the fans on the feet from almost the opening bell right through to the second minute mark, when Selby let rip with a peach of a left hook to the body that sent the Scottish challenger to his knees.

                                    

Simpson made it to his feet to take the count, but referee Marcus McDonnell could see that he was in no fit state to continue and waved the fight off on the 2 minute 2 second mark.

In doing so handed Simpson his first stoppage loss in his illustrious career. Selby, now with five stoppages in six outings, proved without doubt he’s the best domestic Featherweight and ready for a shot at the European crown.

As with virtually every Frank Warren Promotions show supporting the main event is another title fight of similar stature, last night’s was no exception. West Drayton’s Steve O’Meara stepped in to defend the Southern Area Light Middleweight belt he won back in September, with a sensational first round knockout of then champion Ryan Toms.

                                  

O’Meara’s opponent, Thamesmead’s super slick ‘Sugar’ Nathan Weise, bought to the table a 7-1-2 record that included a recent draw over previous champ Toms.

No surprise that the Mark Tibbs trained Weise went straight on the attack forcing O’Meara onto the back foot. O’Meara remained calm as he looked for an opening, he didn’t have to wait too long though, as around the fifty second mark Weise stepped in to let off yet another jab O’Meara released a wickedly fast left jab-right hook combination that sent Weise crashing to the deck in an instance.

                                       

A hush fell across York Hall as referee Ken Curtis instantly waved the fight off and the ringside doctor and paramedics rushed in to assist the prone Weise. It was a good few minutes before Weise was raised to a stool - the crowd responded with a standing ovation - but it was clear that Weise still wasn’t one hundred percent, the paramedics kept administering oxygen for a few more minutes before leading him from the ring to the waiting ambulance.

It has to be one of the worse knockouts I have seen in a long, long time but I can assure everyone that Nathan is one hundred percent OK, he turned up at the TRAD TKO Gym, to let his manager Johnny Eames, myself and all the fighters here know that he is OK literally as I was writing this report.

One of Frank Warren Promotions brightest stars, former Olympian and Nathan Weise’s gym mate Billy Joe Saunders, was drafted in at the last minute to face Belfast’s Tommy Tolan following Gym mate Ediz Hussein’s fight being called off, due to his coming down with the flu.

                                   

Slick southpaw Saunders went straight on the offensive and landed a massive left that shook Tolan to the core. In an instant Saunders stepped up the attack and literally chased Tolan from one corner to the next and beyond before landing another powerful left. Tolan legs had gone but he managed to stay on his feet, but referee Jeff Hinds had seen enough and just as Saunders was about to let rip with another shot stepped in and stopped the fight on the one minute and seven second mark.

Unbeaten in twelve, with five stoppages out of his last six outings and the Southern Area title already firmly in his grip, it’s clear that Saunders is ready to step up for a shot at either Nick Blackwell (English title) or Martin Murray (British title) for their crowns in the New Year, either of which would be a mouthwatering prospect.

                                   

Prior to Saunders-Tolan see unbeaten Welterweight George Michael Carman in action against the ubiquitous ‘Rockin’ Robin Deakin.

Now I hate writing negatives on any fighter, I know how much hard work precedes a fight and it takes serious guts to step into the ring, but having seen Carman in action twice now, the first when he managed to receive a highly dubious ‘draw’ result against Tom Bowen at Wembley in November - back then I, and it seems most of those present, felt Carman lost every single round by a country mile - I really can’t see why he is being so protected.

I mean Deakin is a Super Featherweight, Lightweight at best, with a negative 1-41 record, yet Carman couldn’t even handle him - in my between round notes I said that I wasn’t sure if this was boxing or handbags at fifty paces and that it is hard to think that there is only one journeyman in the ring, sorry but yes it was that bad.

The first three rounds were scrappy to put it mildly, with Deakin keeping the Slough man on the back foot for most of the time. It was only in the fourth that Carman actually started to get the better of the much lighter Deakin.

I have to admit that when he did get ‘fighty’ he was quite slick, but in all honesty it was still totally ineffective work. Deakin was deducted a point in the final round, not sure what for as I didn’t see any wrong doing from where I was. Anyway that aside at the end of the fourth referee Jeff Hinds scorecard read 40-35 in favour of Carman.

Canning Town’s Freddie Turner must have been a little surprised that it was the original opponent Kevin McCauley, and not stated replacement Michael Frontin, that he faced on the night. No matter either way to the Jimmy and Mark Tibbs trained fighter, he was just happy to get a decent opponent for him to showcase his sublime talents.

Round one was a bit of a cagey affair, as both fighters took their time to suss the others tactics. Whilst neither were in the zone yet Turner worked the hardest and landed the most meaningful shots to take the round in my book.

The second however was a much livelier affair, Turner was on the offensive in the early part and landed a couple of big scoring shots. As the round progressed McCauley started to push forward and managed to back Turner onto the ropes before letting rip with double handed flurries. Turner, taking a leaf from fellow TRAD TKO gym mate Kevin Mitchell’s book, just dipped and swayed to avoid every single shot. Another easy round to call, it was Turner’s all the way.

More of the same in the third, including Turner, back to the ropes, luring McCauley in and after a little dipping and swaying effectively countering with stiff jabs and big lefts. The lack of effect really started to get to McCauley, who started to resort to some dirty tactics, including late on in the round backing Turner up before blatantly head butting, which opened up a nasty gash over Turner’s right eye.

Needless to say this fired Turner up when he came out in the fourth, the Canning Town youngster went hard on the offensive, in response McCauley decided to stand and trade - which suited Turner fine, but not Jimmy and Mark Tibbs, who could be heard shouting at their charge to keep calm and just box McCauley.

With four rounds firmly in Turner’s favour McCauley decided he needed to step things up and started targeting the cut, albeit to no avail as Turner’s defensive skills are second to none. McCauley frustrations were clear for all to see as he started throwing wild shots in the hope that something will actually land. Turner responded with some cracking counters that clearly were hurting McCauley, both physically and mentally.

McCauley comes out hard and fast for the final round and tries to plain bully Turner, big mistake as this just allowed Turner to showcase his excellent ringcraft to even more effect as he see his way to a shutout 60-54 points victory.

Turner-McCauley was a seriously cracking fight, as was the fight that preceded it - when Cranham’s Lee Markham took on fellow Essex boy Danny Brown.

                                     

The first round was a close fought affair, with both determined to win the battle of the Essex boys, however Markham’s was just a little more effective and took the round in my book.

Markham stepped it up more in the second and landed a wicked shot to the body that caused Brown to take one knee. Brown made the count and continued, however deciding not to take too many chances overly protected his body which allowed Markham to land some big shots to the head.

Still protecting the body Brown came out on the offensive in the third and took the fight to Markham. For three minutes the pair exchanged punches in equal measure. However, as Brown was still wary of being on the receiving end of another big left to the body kept leaving his head unprotected, which made easy pickings for the Cranham boy big right hand.

More of the same in the fourth and final round, both letting rip with big shots as they again went to war for the full three minutes, much to the crowd’s delight. At the end of four excellent rounds no one was surprised that referee Ken Curtis scored the bout 39-36 in favour of Markham.

                                      

The opening bout of the night was an all action cracker too, between nineteen year old Alfie Smith and Jason Nesbitt.

Smith showed his intentions right from the start, attacking the body of Nesbitt with big left and right hands. The highly experienced Nesbitt tried to cover up to negate the onslaughts, which only encourage the teenager to play upstairs before returning to the body in style.

More of the same tactics, in the second, from Smith which was really beginning to take a toll on Nesbitt, who was huffing and puffing before the midway point. I had a good long hard look at Nesbitt between rounds and he really looked down hearted and honestly didn’t expect him to stay the course, but I was wrong.

For the final couple of rounds Smith continued his all out assault on Nesbitt’s body. The Brummy battler tried his hardest to take a part of the fight but each time he did the Rottweiler like Smith let rip with big left and rights to push him back. I would think Nesbitt was very happy to hear the final bell, although not as happy as young Smith who has the second win under his belt, and by a tidy shutout 40-36 points margin.

I have to say that as the final major fight show of the year Frank Warren did us all proud, it was a great show which had it all, drama, excitement and three stoppage victories. I know that after such I for one can head into the Christmas break happy in the knowledge that my appetite for boxing is well and truly sated and will see me through to the first big show of the New Year, Leon ‘Solid’ Williams’ first defense of his British Cruiserweight title at York Hall on Friday 13th January. 

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Conquest Cruises To Victory, The Mac Returns
and Buglioni Plain Sensational

Photos and Report by Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
(November 18th) With the proposed Lee Selby vs John Simpson British and Commonwealth title clash falling through Francis and George Warren pulled out all the stops to ensure that Friday’s BoxNation televised event at the York Hall in London was up to the standard of their previous couple of events.

The brothers first elevated chief support - the Tony Conquest versus Toks Owoh Southern Area Cruiserweight Title clash - to main event and drafted in former two time Cruiserweight World Champion Enzo Maccarinelli to face Hungary’s unbeaten Georgy Marosi, in a Light Heavyweight contest, as chief support.

In hindsight the Warren boys could have saved a little money, they didn’t need to pay out more money for a pair of big names, as the undercard was nothing short of top class, and any of the bouts could easily have been designated chief support and the paying public would have been just as happy.

On the same subject I could quite easily start with the opening fight of the night, which was a cracking Heavyweight bout between Tom Little and Hastings Rasani, but I wont, I’ll start with the main event of the evening - Tony ‘The Conqueror’ Conquest versus Toks Owoh.

There was no doubt that both protagonists took this regional title tilt seriously, both looked the part and more importantly both were well prepared for a ten round war, as that’s what we got.

                                  

Right from the off both went for it hammer and tongs, no sizing the other up or pacing themselves. Owoh set out his stall by utilising his excellent jab but Conquest was more than ready for that and used superb movement to avoid before countering with stiff jabs or body shots of his own. It was a fairly close round but I scored it in favour of Conquest as he was a little more active and landed the more meaningful shots.

The highly experienced Owoh was a little more savvy in the second stanza and started to mix it up a bit more, letting rip with big shots to the head and body. However the younger Conquest was just too fast for the veteran and often landed his volleys first. By mid round Conquest had really settled in, at a fast pace, and started to control things with relative ease.

Conquest was in a groove and in the third started to showcase his full arsenal of punches, tight uppercuts and scything hooks on the inside and big left-rights from every conceivable angle when at range.

Round four was a barnstorming slugfest, both warriors just stood toe-to-toe and let rip. Even though working on the inside should have suited Owoh better it was Conquest’s speed that was still the telling factor. Before Owoh could let off any telling shots Conquest would fire off a salvo of wickedly fast sharp rights to the body, forcing Owoh to take a step back before countering. Each time Owoh threw a shot Conquest had already countered with two or three heavier shots back.

More of the same in the middle rounds with Conquest piling on the pressure and beating Owoh to the punch virtually every time.

By the start of the eighth Owoh was clearly down on points and needing a knockout. However the pace that Conquest had set was causing the former World Super Middleweight star big problem, Owoh started to look dejected and covered up more and more, to no avail as Conquest kept up the relentless assault and was getting way too much success.

Things got worse for Owoh in the ninth, Conquest stepped it up another gear and plain broke down Owoh’s guard with a relentless double handed assault. Conquest was on fire and looked to get his first championship belt by way of a stoppage finish. Throughout the round the Romford man just backed up Owoh and let rip with every conceivable punch, to which Owoh barely replied. Referee Ken Curtis started to take a close look at Owoh to ensure that he could still defend himself, Owoh was clearly aware of Curtis’ presence as each time he got close Owoh would let rip with a half hearted flurry. Early in the final minute Conquest landed a massive uppercut, that sent Owoh’s gum shield skittering across the canvas. Owoh looked relieved as Curtis stopped the action to retrieve the errant piece of plastic and took advantage of the short break to get his breath back.

With strict instruction from his corner Conquest slowed the pace in the final round and worked on the outside. However Owoh was still unable to gain any advantage as Conquest still easily outworked , out-punched and plain-outclassed the former star for the whole three minutes to be rightly crowned the BBBofC Southern Area Cruiserweight Champion and earn a title showdown with British Champion Leon ‘Solid’ Williams on January 13th.

For the record, referee Ken Curtis who scored it 100-91 in favour of Conquest.

                                 

Preceding the main event see Southampton’s undefeated Light Welter Matty Tew against Crawley’s ‘Rockin’ Robin Deakin.

Now if Tew and his army of supporters thought that this was going to be a walk in the park they were going to be mightily disappointed. Deakin always comes to fight and boy oh boy did he turn it on last night for the TV cameras.

The first round was a pretty close, after the initial ‘sussing out’ period Deakin obviously felt confident enough to take it to the Southampton man. There was some excellent exchanges throughout with Deakin doing most of the play making and forcing Tew play off the jab or counter. The round could have gone either way to be honest but I gave it to Tew, as even though he threw a lot less punches than Deakin, they were by far the more telling.

As I said the first round was close, but the second was even closer still. Again it was Deakin setting the pace and outworking Tew, on the other hand Tew landed the better shots, just not enough in my book to secure the round and as such I marked it down as a draw.

More of the same in the third, with Deakin controlling centre ring to force Tew on to the back foot. As in the previous rounds Deakin was by far the busiest and throwing a lot more shots that Tew, but it was Tew that landed the meaningful shots. Personally I scored this round in favour of Deakin as again Tew didn’t do enough to secure the round, or in this case even earn a draw.

As before the final round was a storming all action affair with Deakin taking the fight to Tew, who must have been aware it was going to be close on points as he stepped up the work rate. Deakin is as savvy as they come and used every trick in the book to keep Tew tied up, Tew on the other hand wasn’t prepared to allow Deakin to get too much success this round and started to utilise his jab and combinations more to easily secure the final round.

There was no surprise when referee Ken Curtis raised Tew’s hand aloft, but when MC Mike Goodall announced the score as 40-36, in favour of Tew, I was more than a little surprised, as well as disappointed for Deakin who had made this fight what it was - a cracker.

                                  

The highly anticipated return of former WBU/WBO Cruiserweight World Champion Enzo Maccarinelli, making his first appearance in the Light Heavy division, preceded Tew-Deakin.

Maccarinelli’s opponent, Budapest’s Gyorgy Marosi, came to the UK with an unbeaten record, if he thought he had any chance of returning to Hungary with it intact that was soon dispelled at the weigh in. Maccarinelli stands 6’4” and Marosi, who is listed on BoxRec as 5’11 1/2”, considerably shorter at around 5’9” at best.

No surprise than that Maccarinelli dominated the early going with solid jabbing, about the best the much shorter Marosi could do was launch himself and let rip with big overhand rights, trouble is Maccarinelli barely had to move to get out the way and pick off the off balance Hungarian.

About midway through the round Big Mac landed a wicked left hook that sent Marosi stumbling back onto the ropes, Maccarinelli instantly crashed a big overhand right to the Hungarian’s forehead. Before Big Mac could fire off another shot referee stepped in and stopped the fight on the one minute and thirty one second mark.

Maccarinelli got the first win under his belt at Light Heavy and in doing so showed the viewing public that he still has the big punches in his arsenal.

          

Whilst Big Mac stopping Marosi wouldn’t come as much surprise to most, the smart money would never have been on young Frank Buglioni, on only his second pro outing, doing the same to former Southern Area Champ, and awkward southpaw, Paul Morby.

Right from the off the Mark Tibbs trained, at the TRAD TKO Gym in Canning Town, youngster took control with clinical solid jabs, often followed up with double handed flurries of shots. Barely had the fight got underway before one such assault sent Morby back to the ropes, and moments later to the canvas for the first time.

Morby got to his feet as referee Ken Curtis completed the count. Buglioni took full advantage of the clearly still dazed and confused state of the Portsmouth man and started another full on double handed assault, that sends Morby back to the canvas.

As Morby rises his legs have clearly gone, Curtis is quick to notice this and instantly waves off the fight at the two minute ad thirty seven second mark.

Buglioni is definitely one to watch, it was one thing stopping the highly erratic Sabie Monteith, but to stop Morby in just one round is something else altogether. The problem Francis and George Warren are going to now have is who do you match him up with, it’s hard to revert to journeymen after such a meaningful win, which means that Buglioni is going to have to be fast tracked against better and better opposition.

I spoke with young Frankie at the end of the evening and put this to him, his response was “I don’t want to take a step back after tonight, I want even tougher competition.”

                                  

Prior to Buglioni’s sensational victory over Morby his TRAD TKO gym mate Billy Morgan was in action, against Marc Callaghan.

Morgan performance was equally sensational as gym mate’s Buglioni’s, albeit in a a very different way.

Right from the off Morgan was clearly a class and half above Callaghan. The youngster was in total control from start to finish and showcased his fully stocked arsenal with aplomb.

The effectiveness of his work soon see copious amounts of blood leaking from a deep cut on Callaghan’s forehead, which was caused by a succession of big overhand rights.

Referee Jeff Hinds took a long hard look at the cut at the end of the first and decided it wasn’t too serious and the bout was allowed to continue.

As in the first Morgan dominated the proceedings and put on one helluva boxing display to easily secure each and every round, as was reflected by Hinds’ 40-36 score.

It really was a superb victory for the Jimmy and Mark Tibbs trained fighter. Last night the Canning Town youngster showed Francis and George Warren that it’s time for him to step up from four rounders, don’t be surprised to see him in a six rounder on his next outing.

                                 

The opening fight of the night see former World Champ Graham Earl’s heavyweight discovery Tom Little make his second pro outing, against the highly experienced Hastings Rasani.

24 year Little showed little respect for his seasoned opponent and just plain went all out for a knockout from the start. Each time Rasani came in range Little let rip with a big right.

Rasani’s been in with the best so used his experience to keep Little at bay as much as possible, but Little was bursting with youthful exuberance and would constantly push forward, which caused Rasani to rethink his game plan.

Rasani started to stand his ground and trade but the big lad from Hatfield proved to be just too big and strong and as such easily dominated each and every round on his way to a shutout 40-36 points victory.

As I said at the beginning Francis and George Warren had put together a really strong card that even after losing the Selby-Simpson title fight proved to be yet another top class night of boxing by their fledgling Queensberry Promotions organisation.

Roll on their next show and more importantly after watching Tony Conquest’s performance last night I for one can’t wait for the 13th January when he gets to face Leon Williams. Mind you can’t see him dominating that one as much as he did against Toks Owoh, especially as Williams is a big punching fighter who likes to walk his opponents down - oh and Williams knocked Conquest out in just 45 seconds when they last met.
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“Sudden Impact” Lionell Thompson a KO Hit in UK Debut

(November 17th) - First impressions are everlasting and last weekend, undefeated Buffalo light heavyweight Lionell "Lonnie B" Thompson made a smashing United Kingdom debut, knocking out Phil "You Know" Goodwin in the second round in Manchester, England.

Thompson-Goodwin was on the Tyson Fury-Neven Pajkic undercard, presented by Hennessy Sports, at EventCity in Trafford Park.

Thompson improved his perfect pro record to 11-0, 7 KOs. "I was very excited to fight in England for the first time," Thompson said. "I can't wait to fight there again in front of those great fans. I trained hard and was in great shape. British fans got to see an up-and-coming star who delivered."

The only other fighter to stop Goodwin in two rounds is Tony Bellew, who recently went the full distance against World Boxing Organization ("WBO") 175-pound champion Nathan Cleverly.

"Not only is Lionell a dangerous fighter," promoter Adam Harris (Hennessy Sports) said, "he's also a true showman. British fans really loved him. He must have spent at least 30 minutes after his fight signing autographs for young fans. We're very high on Lionell Thompson."

Rated as high as No. 2 in his division as a U.S. amateur boxer, Thompson was a five-time New York Golden Glove and three-time Empire State champion.

Other members of Hennessy Sports' growing stables of champions, contenders and prospects include undefeated Commonwealth and British heavyweight champion, WBC # 11 Tyson Fury; WBC #15 light heavyweight contender Danny "The Big Mac" McIntosh, former Commonwealth welterweight champion John O'Donnell, former British light welterweight title-holder "Lightning" Lenny Daws, former WBC light welterweight king Junior "The Hitter" Witter, WBC International Silver welterweight champ Victor Lupo; unbeaten prospects such as NABA super featherweight champion and WBA #9 Logan Cotton McGuinness, super bantamweight Kid Galahad, newly-signed middleweight sensation Chris Eubank, Jr., welterweight Samuel Vargas and featherweight Tyler Asselstine.

Go on line at www.HennessySports.com for more information about Thompson or any his stable-mates.

CONTACT: Bob Trieger, Full Court Press, bobtfcp@hotmail.com,  978.664.4482
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Lynes Beats Purdy to Become Two Time Champ,
Rising Stars Ryder and Ochieng Shine!

Photos and Report by Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
(November 11th) Former British, European and IBO World Champ champ Colin Lynes added the second Lonsdale belt to his collection, after comprehensively beating defending champ Lee Purdy in a storming war at York Hall, last night.

The scintillating British title battle was a fitting finale to an evening of top class boxing from some of the best young prospects from the UK, headed by the likes of the sensational pairing Erick ‘The Eagle’ Ochieng and John Ryder, and beyond.

Prior to the start of the Purdy-Lynes British title fight a standing ten bell was sounded in honour of legendary Heavyweight Champion of the World Smokin’ Joe Frazier, who had passed away on Tuesday.

With a chorus of Lyno, Lyno, Lyno, echoing around the hallowed York Hall the opening bell rung. In an instant defending champ Purdy and challenger Lynes moved in unison to meet centre ring, no hanging around or feeling out with this pair. Lynes throws the first shots, a stinging stiff jab, Purdy goes to counter but Lynes moves out of range before returning another powerful jab.

Throughout the first three rounds Lynes totally dominates, having totally neatralised Purdy’s game plan with his world class ring craft, the aforementioned superb jabbing and lightning quick combinations. That’s not to say that Purdy never landed a shot, he did but Lynes would respond each time with a flurry of shots to outscore Purdy three or four to one and as such I scored each of these rounds to Lynes.

The fourth round was a much closer affair, as in the early rounds Lynes calmly stayed on the back foot to pick of the forward coming Champ. However Purdy started to get a little more success on each foray, as such I scored this round a draw.

The fifth started with Purdy getting some good success, after about thirty seconds or so he landed a cracking right, Lynes just shock it off and returned a big left-right of his own. Normal service then resumed with Lynes controlling the proceedings right up to the final few seconds when Purdy again managed to get through Lynes’ defense to land another solid right. Lynes had landed not just the biggest numbers but also the most meaningful shots throughout to win the round in my book.

Purdy steps up the pressure in the sixth, but no matter how hard he pushes couldn’t seem to find a way past the excellent Lynes defense or jab. As every round before it was non-stop action and as before the vast majority of the point scoring work was coming from Lynes, who as we go into the seventh I have ahead by five clear rounds.

Now as I said each previous round was action packed, however in the seventh somehow these Warriors managed to pack even more in. This round has to have been one of the best rounds of the year so far.

Purdy was clearly aware his hopes of retaining the coveted belt were fading, as such Purdy somehow managed to step it up another level again and really went for it. However Lynes seemed fully prepared for this change in tactics and had also shifted up a gear.

The assembled crowd, as well as those watching live on Skysports, were treated to three minutes of pure pugilistic heaven. Both protagonists reached deep into their well stocked arsenal of punches as the toe to toe battle raged on. Once again Lynes out boxed Purdy, no matter what ‘Lights Out’ tried Lynes did it better, Purdy would land a big right, Lynes would return with an even heavier right, followed by a left or a hook to the body, so much so again I scored it in the Hornchurch’s man favour.

Somehow these two warriors kept up the same pace for the eight round, Purdy initially had some success and got through with a couple of solid rights, however Lynes was in the zone and just plain out boxed Purdy. Late on in the round a cut appeared over Purdy’s right eye, whilst Lynes had landed a fair few solid punches in the round in all honesty I feel it was just the high level of solid jabs Purdy had absorbed throughout the bout that had caused the cut. After three minutes of explosive action Lynes again took the round in my book.

Now bear in mind that I said round seven was probably one of the best rounds of the year, and round eight was not far off, well they have just been surpassed as the ninth was nothing short of sensational. It was a bloody slug fest of almighty proportions. For virtually the whole round the pair went at it hammer and tongs. Purdy was beginning to get desperate, throwing wild shots that Lynes avoided with ease, to make matters worse the cut over his eye was gushing blood.

As we go into the tenth I have Lynes a clear eight and half rounds up, plus Purdy is badly cut. Purdy needs a knockout, a couple of knockdowns will not suffice now.
The tenth starts at the same pace as the ninth, although this time Lynes was on the front foot chasing down the wounded Purdy, again it was a sensational round Lynes was boxing sensationally, Purdy gets more ragged as the round goes on, then with about fifty seconds to go Purdy is sent crashing to the canvas - I have to say that I didn’t actually see what punch did the deed as it came during a wicked high paced exchange between the two.

When the bell sounded to end the round Purdy’s supporters started leaving in droves, now whilst I am used to seeing this at football matches I’ve never ever seen this at a boxing match.

As we start the first of the Championship rounds Lynes’ supporters, who had been vocal throughout, raised the decibel levels to a whole new level, literally all you could hear was a chorus of Lyno, Lyno, Lyno, as the fighters engaged.

A virtual replay of the ninth round ensued, sensational toe to toe slugging sessions interspersed with back and forth action, in the final seconds Lynes makes yet another massive attack and backs Purdy up with another double handed flurry of heavy shots. As before Lynes again dominates the majority of the time to secure yet another round.

Purdy is clearly aware he needs a knockout to stand any chance of retaining his crown and comes out strong in the final round, to no avail though as Lynes was in sensational form and countered everything Purdy threw at him. With just over a minute of the bout remaining Lynes instigates yet another toe to toe exchange much to the horror of his coaches Jimmy and Mark Tibbs, Mark starts screaming from ringside at Lynes don’t take any risks and to get back to the jab and keep it long, but the warrior inside Lynes was in control and the toe to toe slug fest more or less continued to the final bell.

Whilst there was no doubt in my mind, or anyone else's at York Hall come to that, that Lynes was the new British Welterweight Champion it wasn’t until the judges scorecards were read out that the celebrations could start in earnest.

The look on MC’s John McDonald face when he looked at the scores indicated that they may not be a clear cut as the fight was, then when he decided to check with Southern Area Chairman Mick Collier I feared that this could be yet another contentious result. Sure enough there was something well wrong with one of the judges scores, whilst two of the judges scored the bout in Lynes’ favour - Richard James Davies who scored it 119-110 and Mark Green who scored it 117-112 the third judge Ian John-Lewis incredibly scored this heavily one sided bout a 114-114 draw!

The reason I had made the comment ‘yet another contentious result’ is that the result for the preceding bout - between Chris Evangelou and Joel Ryan - was more than a little dubious.

Evangelou started strong but Ryan soon got to grips with the normally slippery customer and started to control the bout from around the mid point of the first round. Evangelou, who is used to having it all his ways, was denied any room to work, Ryan kept ‘Flash’ on the back foot and picked him off with double handed flurries of shots.

I scored the first round a draw, even though Ryan had done the majority of the work, as well as thrown more shots, the couple of shots Evangelou had landed were exceptional.

In my book Ryan easily earned the second and third rounds, The 21 year old from Walsall outworked ‘The Flash’ throughout, he not only worked harder but also threw, and landed, far more shots than the designated ‘home’ fighter.

The final round was all Ryan, he plain out boxed Evangelou - who barely threw a meaningful punch all round. Midway through the round Evangelou’s normally highly vocal fans, who had been silenced by Ryan’s dominating performance as early as the second minute of the first round, came to life screaming at their man to do something, Evangelou responded but Ryan shrugged it off and returned with a big flurry of his own to silence the crowd once more.

Image my surprise, as well as that of the majority of the crowd, when the result was announced as 39-37 in favour of Evangelou.

Prior to the Evangelou-Ryan bout was an international Heavyweight contest between Ireland based Cuban Mike Perez and Ohio, USA’s Zack Page. It’s always good to see the Heavyweights in action, to have two heavyweight bouts on the same show is a real treat, especially when one features such a talent as Mike Perez.

Perez set out his stall early, he was looking for a big knockout finish that’s for sure. Virtually his first big shot shook the durable Page, but the American wasn’t gone to just roll over, after all he’d come to fight. Page used his ring savvy, to stay out of range as much as possible, as well as his jab to good effect. Perez wasn’t deterred one iota and just kept walking his prey down before launching forward with big shot after big shot.

Throughout the bout Perez looked dangerous, you couldn’t help but feel that Page would end up on the canvas, it really was a matter of when not if. Page’s first visit to canvas came early in the third but was rightly waved off, as it was more a comedy of errors than a punch that sent the off balance American back stepping across the ring, before landing on his ‘ass’. A short while later Perez takes a visit to the deck, again this was waved off as it was a slip.

Pages second visit most definitely was a knockdown, again this was in the third stanza, Perez launched himself forward a connected with a solid left to the body to send the American down.

Both fighters settled down in the fourth to put on a great show of boxing for the crowd. Perez was by far the more effective but you can’t take anything away from Page, he resisted the urge to stay on his toes and took the fight to Perez at times. One really good exchange see Page mirror Perez’s southpaw stance, the instant result see the pair simultaneously land solid right hand jabs. Perez kept pushing forward and let off a lightning quick right-left.

Perez started to started to pile on the pressure in the fifth, the pace may have been slower but the big punches really started to fly. When the round ended no one was left in any doubt on just how durable Page’s chin was, I mean he took four thunderously heavy lefts and just shrugged them off.

There was another trip to the canvas for both Page and Perez in the sixth, Page seemed to slip and in doing so dragged Perez down with him.

The final two rounds see Perez pressuring throughout, clearly intent on adding another stoppage finish to his record. Page really did a great job avoiding each exocet Perez fired in his direction and make the final bell. After an excellent and highly entertaining eight rounds referee Richie Davies scored the bout 80-71 in favour of Perez, exactly the same as I did.

The preceding bout see Islington’s John Ryder destroy Luke Osman in under 6 minutes. Ryder was on fire right from the opening bell and systematically walked down Osman before letting rip with big body shots, often followed with a follow up to the head. On various occasions, both in the first and second rounds it looked like Osman would be headed for a trip to the canvas, so there was no surprise when yet another vicious left to the body that Osman dropped to one knee to take the count.

Osman showed massive heart as he rose to his feet, deeming attack being the best form of defense took the fight to Ryder. After about fifteen seconds or so Ryder backed Osman to the ropes and started another foray, with a huge double handed attack. Luckily the referee spotted Osman was not defending himself and jumped in, on the two minute and fourteen second mark, to stop the fight before Ryder could inflict any further damage.

Ryder looked everything a true prospect should be, he’s climbed to the top half of my list of ‘ones to watch’ following this performance, that’s for sure.

Talking of my list, one of the perennial front runners, the supremely talented Light Middleweight prospect Erick ‘The Eagle’ Ochieng was also in action, against Birmingham’s Dee Mitchell.

Ochieng was hoping for an English title shot on the show but when that didn’t materialize quite happily decided to stay busy with a six rounder.

Throughout the rounds Ochieng showcased his full arsenal of punches, as well as demonstrated his defensive ability to the full. The early rounds were played out in centre ring mainly, with some cracking exchanges from both men.

As the bout progressed Ochieng played to the stands, happily positioned with his back to the ropes he would dip and sway, avoiding everything that was thrown at him, before picking off Mitchell with crisp clean lefts and rights.

It was another cracking bout, Ochieng confidently controlled the rounds with his superb skills, don’t get me wrong Mitchell fought his heart out, but a classy operator like Ochieng can make anyone look average.

The crowd, which had been chanting ‘Eagle, Eagle, Eagle, throughout turned the volume up another notch when John McDonald announced Ochieng the victor by a 59-55 points margin.

The second bout of the night see Upminster’s Ryan Taylor take on York’s Graham Fearn.

Taylor boxed superbly thoughout the bout and easily controlled the lively Fearn, except for an aggressive attack early in the second when Fearn let rip with a fourteen punch flurry.

Throughout Taylor used his jab to good effect as well as occasional pulled some excellent uppercuts and hooks from his arsenal. Taylor really kicked it up for the last thirty seconds of the final round and landed some big shots that shook Fearn to the core. No surprise that when the referee’s score card was read out Taylor has secured his first win by a 40-36 points margin.

The opening bout of the night see former World title challenger Albert Sosnowski against Birmingham’s perennial entertainer Hastings Rasani in a six round Heavyweight bout.

What a cracking opening bout, both protagonists came for a scrap that’s for sure, throughout the bout the pair went at it hammer and tongs. Rasani has a bit of a reputation as an upsetter and to be honest showed that form against the former European Champion.

It was Rasani that took the high road to pressure his younger opponent, often letting rip with massive rights that tested Sosnowski’s chin to the max, mind you Sosnowski tested Rasani’s resilience on almost as many occasions each round.

In one way I was quite pleased the referee scored the bout a draw, even though I had Rasani ahead by a single point on my score card, as both men really did put on a excellent show, one that set the tone for the top class night of boxing.

Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport really did pull out all the stops with this midweek event, it was first class. It was great to see Colin Lynes back in Championship action, and of course securing another title, it was also great to see some of our best young talents getting an outing on a televised show. My only disappointment on the whole event was some of the decisions and poor scoring, but that’s not down to Eddie or Matchroom.

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Burns Beats Katsidis, Groves KO’s Smith
and New Star Billy Joe Saunders Shines  

By Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
(November 6th) Guy Fawkes night, or bonfire night as some prefer, is an explosive celebration with fireworks lighting the evening skies. With this in mind promoter Frank Warren had declared that his ‘Gladiators’ event, at the Wembley Arena, would be an explosive affair. Being a man of his words he delivered as promised. The three Championship bouts all featured all action boxers with knockout reputations, as did the undercard.

We’ll start with the main event, which see former Super featherweight World Champion Ricky Burns take on the dreaded Aussie Brit Basher Michael Katsidis, who as we all know already beaten both Graham Earl and Kevin Mitchell, for the interim WBO Lightweight title.

The atmosphere was electric as the build up to the main event starts, Katsidis team, including former foe Graham Earl, enter the ring waving huge Australian and Greek flags. Moments later the crowd erupt as the man himself, donning Gladiator headgear, starts his ring walk.

Ricky Burns’ entrance was a lot less theatrical, far more business like. Burns looks a hundred percent focused on the fight, yet he still manages to acknowledge the huge following that were cheering his entrance.

Anyway let’s get down to the action, of which there was plenty.

ROUND ONE: As expected Katsidis went straight on the attack, Burns uses his excellent jab to try and keep the marauding Aussie at bay. The ever forward moving Katsidis goes low as he backs the Scot on the ropes before letting rip with heavy flurries of big lefts and rights to the body.

Burns stays calm and times the occasional counter to perfection before covering up and absorbing yet more big shots to the body.

Even though Katsidis was clearly throwing the most shots, Burns occasional counters were by far the most effective shots thrown in the round. Saying that I still gave this round to Katsidis.

ROUND TWO: As before it is Katsidis on the attack from the start, firing double handed combinations as he walks the Scot back. Burns sticks to his game plan, covering up and letting rip with the occasional counter. About mid way through the round the tide suddenly changed as Burns landed a short uppercut. Katsidis is stunned for the barest fraction of a second which allowed Burns to fire a vicious right hook which initially slows the tough Australian enough for Burns to get back to his jab. Absolutely stunning round that I scored a draw.

ROUND THREE: Katsidis puts Burns under heavy pressure from the start, each time the Aussie backs his foe to the ropes signals the start of yet another massive double handed onslaught. Burns seems content to absorb and counter. Around the mid way point, as the pair really go toe to toe BUrns again sends the head of the Australian back with a cracking uppercut, the crowd roar and egg Burns on, he doesn’t disappoint and again lands a vicious uppercut. Katsidis responds with massive double handed exocets as he backs the Scot to the ropes yet again.

With about forty seconds or so to go in the round Burns counters with a massive right that clearly shakes the Australian, so much so that Burns is able to take control with his exceptional jab until the final bell. I see this round clearly in favour of the Scot.

ROUND FOUR: The round starts with some great toe to toe action, Burns seems to have decided to take the fight to Katsidis and lands a phenomenal double left combination, first to the body then the head that stops the Aussie in his tracks for the merest fraction of a second, before going back on the double handed attack to push the Scot back onto the ropes. Another fantastic close round and again even though Katsidis threw the most punches the quality ones all came from Burns, so I scored the round in favour of the Scot.

ROUND FIVE: Clearly aware that Burns is ahead at this point Katsidis kicks up the pace, letting rip with massive double handed flurries. Burns keeps his cool and picks his moments before countering. For the full three minutes Katsidis would attack, attack and attack leaving Burns to cover up and counter whenever the opportunity arose. Still not an easy round to score but I gave it to Katsidis purely for his nonstop attacking.

ROUND SIX: Not surprisingly Katsidis initially slowed in the sixth, whilst still well and truly in attack mode it wasn’t at quite the high tempo previously seen and hence it was quite scrappy for the first couple of minutes. Burns worked his jab to great effect and late on landed a pair of solid body shots to nick the round.

ROUND SEVEN: Normal service resumes, Katsidis back in full attacking flow whilst Burns closes shop and countering whenever the opportunity arose. As in every round previous it was nonstop action, but the best action see Burns let rip with another double left to the body and head only to receive a big right to head in return late in the round. Yet another close round, which I gave to the Scot just because he landed the most quality shots.

ROUND EIGHT: Katsidis again steps up the pace and literally chases Burns around the ring before pinning the Scot against ropes and letting of massive double handed attacks. Burns covers up, counters and moves, Katsidis just doesn’t stop and chases him back into the ropes and the whole process starts again. It is awesome, Frank Warren promised fireworks and Katsidis and Burns were providing them...big time. A bit of an easier round to score, as Katsidis was not just throwing more shots but easily controlled the round.

ROUND NINE: At a slightly slower pace than the previous round again sees Burns land a big left to the body to which Katsidis responds by pushing Burns back onto the ropes and start his double handed attacks, Burns again just closes shop and waits for the perfect opening before jabbing or make a big point scoring counter. Another great all action round, I scored it in favour of Burns due to the quality of his counters, and that early big left to the body.

ROUND TEN: Burns sticks to his game plan, covers up and lets Katsidis attack, the Scot calmly absorbs the nonstop attacks before, with precision timing, counters or moves out of the Aussie’s firing range. As throughout Katsidis throws massive volumes of shots but as the fight has gone on more and more are getting through the Scots defense. The tenth was yet another close round, I’m going to give it to Burns as whilst he landed slightly less scoring punches than Katsidis they definitely had more venom.

ROUND 11: As we enter the Championship rounds I can’t help wondering how the judges are scoring this, if it is by aggression it will be Katsidis ahead on their cards, if it is quality scoring shots it could be Burns just ahead, then again if it’s a mix of the two this could well end up a draw.

Anyway back to the fight, Katsidis does what Katsidis does, attack, attack and attack, and he does it so well. But Burns is looking totally unflustered, sticking to his game plan of covering up and waiting for the perfect opening before countering and getting behind his excellent jab. Another close all action round, again I scored this in favour of Burns, but it could so easily have gone the other way.

ROUND 12: What a fabulous round, it was out and out war. Katsidis goes for it big time, clearly looking for the knockout finish. Burns though stays calm and uses his jab to great effect. With around a minute to go the pair lock horns in a toe to toe slug fest. The crowd are going wild as Katsidis starts to throw wild shots while Burns stays calm and counters with some scintillating lefts and rights. What a cracking final round. Again not the easiest to score but I favoured Katsidis because he just went for it.

After twelve fabulous rounds I have to admit I wasn’t one hundred percent certain who the victor would be, judges may see the scoring differently to those of us watching, anyway after short wait the scoring was announced - Terry O'Connor 117-112, John Stewart 117-111 and Andre Van Grootenbruel 117-111 all in favour of Coatbridge’s Ricky Burns.

I was a little surprised that the judges had scored it by such a wide margin - I had Ricky Burns winning by a single point and many of those in the press corps seated around me also see it by just the single point or a draw - but either way it doesn’t matter it was a cracking fight and one that will shut up the Scot’s doubters for once and all, as tonight he proved one hundred percent that he is World class.

The co-feature fight, between British and Commonwealth Champion George Groves and former British Champ Paul Smith, followed the headliner.

An edgy start to the round with neither protagonists seemingly willing to push forward, the first real action came in the final seconds, when Smith landed a cracking left hand hook-right hand combination that shook Groves to the core. Unfortunately for Smith the bell rang before he could follow up. Purely on the final action I scored the round to the Liverpudlian.

Smith’s supporters remained on their feet to cheer on their man as the second round started. However Groves got back behind his jab to easily control the early running, then in a flash a wickedly fast right sends Smith crashing to the floor.

Smith gets to his feet but is very unsteady, after finishing the count referee Victor Loughlin restarts the fight, Groves instantly lets rip with another big right to the temple sends Smith back down. It’s clear Smith is in no fit state to continue and Loughlin waves the fight off at the one minute eighteen mark.

This emphatic win by Hammersmith’s Groves sends a clear message to both his doubters and arch rival James DeGale, anything DeGale can do Groves can do better.

Prior to the featured bouts was another cracking fight, as Southern Area Middleweight Champion Gary Boulden attempted to defend his title against former Olympian Billy Joe Saunders.

I say attempted as the Jimmy and Mark Tibbs trained Saunders was the bookies favourite by a massive margin, and rightly so as the 22 year old from Hatfield had won his last four bouts by stoppage finishes, all in under six minutes.

ROUND ONE: Saunders made a confident start and controlled the first round with ease.

ROUND TWO: Saunders really come into his own,picking off the champ with fast jabs and double handed salvos. Boulden occasionally responded with big shots of his own, however each time he did Saunders just countered back with more punishing shots.

ROUND THREE: See more of the same, Saunders controlling most of the round with his slick combinations. Boulden manages some success with his jab and the occasional big right, but each time southpaw Saunders would just return with sensational double handed shots of his own.

ROUND FOUR: Saunders lifted the pace again, as well as adding more power to his shots, to easily control the round from start to finish.

ROUND FIVE: Boulden had barely landed a punch in the previous rounds, not so in the fifth. The champ decided to take the fight to his challenger. Saunders remained calm and picked his punches before turning up the heat, big time, in the final minute

ROUND SIX: Boulden was made to pay in the sixth, Saunders plain dominated the round in every way, so much so that Boulden started to run around the ring stamping his feet in frustration. The crowd responded by jeering at his actions, whilst Saunders just punished him with even more perfectly picked exocets.

ROUND SEVEN: Boulden decided he has to stand his ground, which produced some great toe to toe action. Saunders seemed to enjoy this more than Boulden, so much so the Hertfordshire youngster began showcasing his fully loaded arsenal of punches, to full effect.

ROUND EIGHT: Boulden had clearly realised it doesn’t pay to go toe-to-toe with Saunders, so reverted to spoiling tactics. Saunders was undeterred and just picked his shots to easily take the round.

ROUND NINE: More of the same, Saunders easily controlling the round.

ROUND TEN: A strong final round from Saunders, blitzing his way to victory with yet more big left and right hooks between firing salvos of exocets to the body.

When the final bell rang there was no doubt that there was a new Champion, Billy Joe Saunders, so no one was surprised when referee Ken Curtis raised Billy Joe’s hand high. For reference the score was 99-92.

Saunders rounded out a good night for Team Tibbs and the TRAD TKO Gym in Canning Town, having not only added yet another Champion to the squad but also a clean sweep on the night.

Prior to the championship bouts George Michael Carman faced Tom Bowen in a storming six rounder.

Carman was clearly the bookies favourite, just nobody told Bowen. For six rounds the youngster from Sedgley took the fight to Carman, his work rate was magnificent, round after round he lead the charge and received little in return.

Even so the first couple of rounds were close, only due to the cleaner shots from Carman, so much so that I scored them as draws.

The third and fourth rounds though were clearly Bowen’s, who not only kept the pressure up but also landing by far the more meaningful shots.

The only round I gave to Carman was the fifth, which was a cracking round featuring some nice action, as the youngster stood his ground and caught Bowen with a couple of wicked shots.

The final round was a cracker Bowen could smell victory and really went for it, Carman on the other hand decided to stand his ground and battle it out. For the full three minutes the pair when all out looking for a stoppage finish. When the final bell rang referee Bob Williams went to both men and raised their arms, declaring the bout a 57-57 draw.

Preceding Carman-Bowen Billy Joe Saunders’ Team Tibbs/TRAD TKO gym mate Frankie Buglioni made his debut against Woodford wild man Sabie Monteith.

It was a short lived affair as Enfield’s Buglioni gave his massive, and very vocal, following reason to celebrate, firstly by controlling the wildly lashing Monteith with ease before sending him to the canvas, to secure the win, after just two minutes and four seconds of the first round.

Prior to the short lived Buglioni-Monteith battle, Cardiff’s Francis Luke Robinson made his third pro outing against Sid Razak.

It’s clear that Robinson, the son of former World Champion Steve Robinson, is a chip off the old block. From start to finish the twenty one year old showed a maturity, that belied his age, to control the highly aggressive Razak from start to finish. Razak had clearly come to make a fight of it but the youngster used his head to control the highly experienced Razak with superior movement and his magnificent jab. Occasionally Robinson took the fight to Razak and showcased his skill and arsenal of punches. I had him winning every single round but the man that counts, referee Bob Williams scored it 39-37 for Robinson.

The previous bout see the excellent Bradley Skeete against the wild spoiler in the form of Jay Morris.

Morris came to win, he always does, and made life hard for the Penge youngster in the early part of the round. Skeete though is a classy operator and it didn’t take him long to take control of the proceedings, so much so that for four rounds he was able to pick off Morris at will to take each round with ease.

The fight came to an abrupt halt, after just nineteen seconds of the fifth. Early on Skeete backed Morris onto the ropes and let rip with massive bombs, Morris was hurt and covered up in an effort to survive. After Skeete had landed around a dozen more unanswered big shots referee Ken Curtis had no option but to step in and stop the fight.

Morris was fuming, he ripped off his gloves and threw them to the canvas before storming out of the ring much to the delight of the massive Wembley crowd.

Prior to the entertaining Skeete-Morris bout Darren Cordona made his debut against Westbury’s Aaron Fox.

Even though he has yet to have a win on his record Aaron Fox always comes for a fight and as sure as eggs is eggs Cordona would be subjected to a baptism of fire.

Cordona was well prepared for the expected war, so much so that he controlled a large part of the contest with relative ease, often backing up his more experienced opponent onto the ropes before letting rip with some tidy left-rights. Personally I had Cordona win each round due to the quality of his work, but have to admit that a couple of rounds could have gone either way as Fox is a gutsy battler, so wasn’t too surprised that referee declared the bout much closer at 39-38 in favour of Cordona.

I arrived just as the final round of first bout of the night started and as such only got to see three minutes of Gary Corcoran’s debut win against Billy Smith.

Corcoran, the brother of Light Welter prospect Eddie Corcoran, was declared victorious by a shut out 40-36 points margin, much to the delight of coach Mark Tibbs and fellow gym mates Billy Joe Saunders and Frankie Buglioni.

What a great night of action, it had it all drama, knockouts, hissy fits and even an against the odds upset. Promoter Frank Warren promised an explosive all action show fit for Guy Fawkes night and boy did he deliver.
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Undefeated Light Welterweight Prospect Levan Ghvamichava
‘The Wolf’ Already Hunting Champions

(October 30th) – One of the hottest prospects in boxing, light welterweight phenom Levan 'The Wolf' Ghvamichava, tore apart former European and Italian champion Giuseppe “The End” Lauri (52-9, 31 KOs) en route to a second-round victory by technical knockout last Friday night in front of an excited, packed crowd at Wishaw, Scotland.

“The Wolf,” who is already rated No. 66 by Box Rec after only six pro fights, dropped Lauri three times before the referee jumped between them in the second round to rescue the courageous Italian in the biggest upset loss of his 61-fight pro career.

It took former world champion Ricky Hatton five rounds, and ex-European titlist Paul McCloskey 11, to stop the rugged Hungary native Lauri who lives in Italy.

“He has devastating punching power in both hands and has the best reflexes and speed I have ever seen,” Lauri said after his fight against Levan.

Initially floored by a straight right, left hook combination in the opening round, Lauri managed to beat the count, rising at nine, only to be dropped once more in round one. “The Wolf” calmly stalked his prey before finishing his attack in the second round

Lauri was visibly shaken and surprised by the power of Ghvamichava, the spectacular Georgian power puncher who now lives in Belfast, Ireland, where he’s trained by the masterful father-and-son duo of Paul and Sean McCullagh.

“It has been almost impossible to match Levan because the word is already out that he is a multi-talented fighter with devastating punching power,” Ghvamichava’s manager, Irishman Gary Hyde, noted. “It will even be harder now but we don’t need to build-up this kid fighting journeymen. He is ready to fight anyone in the world at 140 pounds. Once he gets a little more professional experience, he will be challenging current European champion Denis Shafikov, from Russia, who needed eight rounds to stop Lauri.

“I am delighted with Levan’s explosive performance against a good experienced opponent such as Lauri, especially considering ‘The Wolf,’ who is 26 years old, only made his pro debut this past January. Few, if any, fighters with six fights are rated higher than Levan.”

American boxing fans will soon have an opportunity to watch Ghvamichava in action. His U. S. sports visa has been approved and plans call for him to make his American debut before the end of this year.

Hyde, president of Nowhere To Hyde, also manages WBA Interim Super Bantamweight Champion Guillermo “The Jackal” Rigondeaux (8-0, 6 KOs), former European super bantamweight king and world title challenger Willie “Big Bang” Casey (12-1, 8 KOs), undefeated British welterweight prospect Mark Heffron and light middleweight “Wealthy” Dee Walsh (1-0).

CONTACT: Bob Trieger, Full Court Press, 978.664.4482, bobtfcp@hotmail.com  
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Choi Wins Prizefighter On Second Attempt and A New Star is Born!

Report and Photos Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
(October 29th) Last night at the York Hall in Bethnal Green 40 year old ‘Mongolian Warrior’ Choi Tseveenpurev won the excellent Matchroom Sport promoted Prizefighter tournament on his second attempt, having failed last year in the Super Featherweights.

Choi may have been the ‘big name’ in this the 22nd edition of Prizefighter but the real star of the show was someone half his age, 20 year old ‘Saint’ George Jupp who was unlucky not to be facing Rhys Roberts in the final. I say unlucky but that really is not a the right word as in my opinion, and the majority of the York Hall crowd, Jupp was robbed of a certain final round appearance by some dubious judging. More on that later.

The evening of sumptuous pugilistic fare started with the Prizefighter Prospects featuring Light Heavyweights Andreas Evangelou and Matt Inman.

Whilst not the most thrilling of bouts, Evangelou and Inman both worked their socks in equal measure. There were no highlights as such and I feel that a draw would have been a fair result, but the man that counts, referee Terry O’Connor, see it as 39-37 for Evangelou.

Now onto the tournament itself, which was a real cracker.

                                     

The first quarterfinal see Choi up against previously unbeaten Lee Glover. First round was a close fought affair, Glover used his jab to good effect, to slow the hard charging Mongolian, for the early part of the round, however late on Choi caught an off balance Glover with a solid right to send the youngster to the canvas. Glover protested it was a slip, but to no avail and a standing count ensued. As soon as referee Victor Loughlin waved them back in battle Choi went on all out attack until the bell.

The second round started where the first left off, Choi smelled blood and was going in for the kill. Around the one minute round Choi let rip with a big right to send Glover to the canvas for a second time. Glover appeared dazed as he rose to his feet and just wandered off, on unsteady legs, towards his corner which lead to referee Victor Loughlin waving the fight off.

The second quarterfinal see Belvedere’s George Jupp against Liverpudlian Lee Jennings.

                                       

Jennings started strong but the South Londoner kept his cool and used his jab to seriously good effect to turn the round his way. With his confidence growing Jupp started digging into his well stocked arsenal and put together a cracking left hook, right uppercut combination that rocked Jennings to the core.

Jupp motored on at the start of the second and was really getting down to business, throwing a variety of heavy right hands, one of which opened a cut in the corner of Jennings’ left eye. Jennings turned up the wick in an attempt to keep Jupp at bay but the cut had worsened and on the one minute fifty five second mark causing the referee stopped the fight.

Next up was Jupp’s TRAD TKO team mate Ian Bailey against future finalist Rhys Roberts.

                                         

Bailey, who’s really a Super Bantam, struggled to control the slick Mancunian throughout the bout. Bailey showed heart and determination, as he tried to get himself back into the fight, but to no avail as Roberts confidence had grown to such a level that the Slough man was struggling to land a punch at times and being picked off with ease.

No surprise then that all three judges score cards read a shutout 30-27 in favour of Roberts.

The final quarterfinal pitched Troy James against Barrington Brown.

                                         

Nottingham’s Brown was out of the corner like a rocket and looked set to provide the third stoppage of the night, but he didn’t as James is made of sterner stuff. Brown kept up the major assault for a good part of the first round but from then on it was all James, who worked his heart out to overcome his much taller opponent and earn a semifinal place by 30-28 and 29-28 (twice) points margin.

Choi and George Jupp squared up in the first semifinal, and what a cracker it was. Throughout the first round Choi was frustrated by the youngsters mature ringcraft, Jupp kept the charging bull that is Choi at bay with superb crisp jabs. Whenever Choi did manage to bully his way through and land a blow, Jupp responded in kind, landing an equally heavy glove on the Mongolian, before reverting to his jab.

More of the same in the second, even after Choi had wrestled the youngster to the canvas - and following through with a punch to the back of the head when Jupp was down, which should have been punished by a point deduction according to the tournament rules - Jupp remained calm and let his boxing skills do the talking.

Choi, clearly aware that he was two rounds down and needing a stoppage to progress to the final, started the third stanza like a man possessed. The Mongolian threw bomb after bomb but the resilient youngster wasn’t overawed one iota and just returned exocets of his own.

When the final bell rang Jupp’s team celebrated certain in the knowledge their man was through to the final. These celebrations were bought to an abrupt halt though when the judges scorecards were read out - 27-30 and 28-29 (twice) in favour of Choi.

As Choi’s large contingent of fans celebrated the majority of the York Hall crowd showed their disapproval.

George Jupp may have been denied his rightful place in the final, but he sure won a lot of new fans on Saturday so hopefully we’ll be seeing a lot more of this talented youngster in the future.

                                         

The second semifinal see Rhys Roberts grow in stature, against Troy James, from the off the Mancunian took control, Rocking James with a huge left hook early on. James responded in true pit bull style, coming forward and letting rip with flurries of shots. Unfortunately whilst throwing plenty of punches James barely slowed the slick Roberts who seemed to be able to pick him off at will.

Throughout the three action packed rounds Roberts was in full control and cruised into the final by 30-28 and 29-28 (twice) points margin.

                                         

Not surprisingly the final started out as quite a cagey affair, with Choi landing the only meaningful punch, a huge left hook that shook Roberts to the core, following a lot of scrappy exchanges.

Roberts confidence took another massive blow in the second, when Choi landed a peach of an overhand right. From then on the Mancunian was on survival mode and relied a little too much on his sharp counter punching to keep the marauding Mongolian at bay. Choi’s savvy at the best of times so it was no surprise that Choi was able to undo Roberts’ game plan, landing further big shots in-between roughing the Mancunian up on the inside.

The final round was a bit of an anti climax, instead of the barnstorming finale the early rounds promised instead there as almost three minutes of nonstop mauling and arm locking interspersed with the occasional flurry of hard action.

Even before the scorecards were read Choi’s corner and fans were celebrating, quite rightly so as Choi had easily won every round by a shutout 30-27 margin.

Once again Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport team have produced another superb night of tournament boxing - Roll on the 23rd Prizefighter edition, if it’s half as good as the 22nd it’ll be brilliant.
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Quigg Stops Booth for British Super Bantamweight Title!

By: Ian Webb
October 22nd Reebok Stadium, Bolton, Lancashire, UK: Hatton Promotions WBA Inter-Continental Super Bantamweight Scott Quigg claimed the British Super Bantamweight Title stopping former champion Jason “2 Smooth” Booth in round seven.

At twenty three Quigg clearly the quicker stronger fighter imposed his will on the thirty three year old Booth starting as the aggressor and attacking Booth to the body from the opening round.

In round two Quigg began to sit down on his shots ripping Booth to the body convincing him to move and box in round three.

In round four Quigg was in total control with Booth trying to make a stand in round five but was eating some very hard shots up and down.

Quigg was winning the battle on the outside landing some big right hands then landing a vicious right uppercut on the button inside. Booth wasn’t looking “2 Smooth” now as Quigg was beginning to work him over with both hands bringing out some wrinkles.

In round seven Booth showed some heart but was now just serving as cannon fodder convincing his corner to keep him on his stool after round seven. Quigg improves to 23-0, 16Ko’s leaving Booth contemplating retirement at 36-8, 15Ko’s.
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London Fight Report: Williams Topples Norton,
Walsh Dominates Richards and Skeete Impresses 

Report and Photos Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
(October 21st) On Friday night, at the excellent Francis and George Warren’s Queensberry Promotions event at York Hall in Bethnal Green, the pack house were treated to a great night of pugilistic action. The slickly produced show had it all, world class boxing, a knockout, oodles of drama and the dethroning of the Cruiserweight King, as Leon ‘Solid’ Williams achieved what many thought would be impossible, when he snatched the Lonsdale belt from long time holder Rob Norton’s iron grip.

Williams-Norton wasn’t a classic fight by a long way, Norton’s awkward southpaw counter punching style ensured that, but it was an intriguing, and at times highly exciting, bout.

Right from the off it was clear that Williams plan was to to play the long game, out of the window had gone the ‘devil may care’ I’m gonna knock him out or get knocked out mindset, instead the 27 year old from Streatham took a much calmer, slow approach.

The early rounds were edgy, to put it mildly, it was like a poker game with neither man willing to show his hand too early. There was some good action but each time it looked like a proper battle was set to erupt Norton’s ring savvy would come into play, at times he’d just paw away at fresh air to keep Williams at bay, but should the youngster get through the wily old fox from Stourbridge would just grab hold until referee Terry O’Connor pulled them apart.

Both Williams’ co-trainers, Johnny Eames and Barry Smith, were clearly getting exasperated, as were the crowd and the referee, as each time their young charge instigated an exchange he was thwarted by Norton’s persistent clinching.

Just prior to the start of the fourth Johnny Eames could be heard instructing Williams to up the pace and keep the pressure on Norton. With the instructions fresh in his mind Williams shot from the corner the instant the bell rang, closed down his target and let rip, landing a cracking right hand. The crowd jumped to their feet screaming ‘Solid, Solid, Solid, in unison.

Williams responded, in kind, but the action was short lived as Norton just tied him up again to slow the fight back to his pace.

Throughout the middle rounds each time Williams tried to lift the pace the same would happen, Norton would either use his superior reach advantage, pawing, to keep Williams at bay or just grab hold and walk Williams back onto the ropes.

Williams again kicked up the pace in the sixth and seventh, receiving intermittent success letting off some neat combinations before Norton would resort to spoiling tactics again.

My thoughts at the time was that this was the real turning point, it seemed Norton’s age was coming into play and Williams, some twelve years younger, was seemingly in the ascension.

More of the same in rounds eight and nine and Norton was beginning to look uncomfortable as each ‘Solid’ attack started to take it’s toll. I couldn’t help but think that this was the beginning of the end of Norton’s title reign.

Then again maybe not, as in round ten Norton changed tactics, allowing Williams to back him on the ropes and let rip with powerful flurries of shots, most of which Norton would just dip and dive to avoid. Each time Williams would step back Norton showboated by either calling him back in or leaning back in the corner with his arms spread across the ropes.

Now into the Championship rounds. Round eleven was quite a lively affair at times, but yet again anytime Williams tried to instigate any meaningful attacks Norton would stifle him. This lead to Williams trying to pick his shots before moving out of range, but each time he came forward their was a big glove waving in front of him.

Williams’ corner, and promoter Francis Warren, told Leon to throw caution to the wind for the final round, it was close and a good final round was likely to clinch the bout in his favour. Not needing to be told a second time Williams went for it, but so did Norton. The final three minutes were probably the best of the whole fight, it definitely had the most action.

When the final bell rang both protagonists threw their arms in the air before turning to hug each other. The wait for the judges scorecards to be read seemed endless but eventually MC Mike Goodall spoke, declaring the match a split decision in favour of Williams by 116-114 (Richie Davies), 114-115 (John Keane) and 116-113 (Ian John-Lewis).

Prior to Williams-Norton the vacant English Super Bantamweight title was contested by Cromer’s Ryan Walsh and Melksham’s Liam Richards.

In total contrast to the headliner Walsh-Richards was nonstop scintillating back and forth action for the full 30 minutes. I’m not joking every single round was a cracker as these two warriors came prepared for war.

At the end of the ten hard fought rounds Walsh was declared the new English Champion, by a huge margin 100-90 (Richie Davies) 99-91 (Ian John-Lewis) and 100-90 (Terry O'Connor) but that doesn’t give a one hundred percent accurate picture of the fight by a long shot, I’m not arguing the judges score, as yes Walsh won every round, as he boxed superbly, in my book too, but it was far from one way traffic.

They say it takes two to Tango well it also takes two to make a great fight and as such Richards deserves to be praised for his part in this sensational battle. On Friday night we see there’s the heart of a Lion beating inside that tiny frame.

Preceding the excellent Walsh-Richardson see Ireland’s Dean ‘Irish Lightning’ Byrne, in his first outing on British soil, against Edmonton’s Michael Frontin.

Byrne has an excellent pedigree, unbeaten in fourteen and became the New South Wales State Light Welterweight Champion on only his fourth fight. So when I see this match up I have to admit I thought the fight wouldn’t go past three rounds - well I was wrong.

It was a bit of an edgy start but it didn’t take Byrne long to show his class and easily took the early rounds, although he didn’t have it all his way. Frontin showed heart and often took the fight to Byrne.

Byrne boxed beautifully throughout but never really seemed to get a handle on the tough London based Mauritian. Frontin grew in stature as the bout progressed and was holding his own whenever the battle intensified, in fact not just holding his own, as at times he rattled the Irishman with big looping rights at least once each round.

No surprise that at the end of the eight hard fought rounds referee Ian John-Lewis declared Byrne the winner, or that it was by a 78-74 points margin.

On the off-TV section Penge’s ‘Super’ Bradley Skeete got to strut his stuff against Scunthorpe’s Steve Spence in a four rounder.

What a cracking fight, right from the off Spence went for centre ground but novice Skeete, in only his fourth pro bout, wasn’t willing to concede a single millimeter to the more experienced man.

Skeete boxed beautifully throughout and just plain outclassed Spence to earn a much deserved 40-36 points decision.

A rematch, between Liam Shinkwin and ‘Rockin’ Robin Deakin preceded the cracking Skeete-Spence battle.

Last time out Shinkwin won by a shutout 40-36 margin, so really no one was surprised that again Shinkwin dominated proceedings a second time. Saying that Deakin was seeking redemption, by whatever means possible, but no matter how wily the Crawley man is he was still no match for the youngster from Bushey Heath. After four highly entertaining rounds referee Ian John-Lewis raised Shinkwin’s hand and declared him victor by a 40-36 points margin yet again.

The opening bout of the night featured Croydon novice Danny Davis against Tottenham’s Mark McKray.

A rather edgy start, but it didn’t take that long to liven up as McKray tried to rough up the youngster from Surrey. Davis used his jab to good effect to keep the ever forward coming McKray at bay.

More of the same in the second, but in the third McKray was starting to get some real success and around midway of the round clearly hurt Davis with a wicked body shot.

It was close going into the fourth so there was no surprise that Davis stepped things up a bit and around the one minute mark let rip with a massive right cross to send McKray crashing to the canvas.

The celebrating Davis support quickly fell silent as Initial concerns see the paramedics enter the ring to administer oxygen to the prone McKray. After a few tense minutes McKray sat up and after a round of applause Davis and his fans restarted their celebrations.

Following the main event were two floater bouts, which I have to admit I didn’t get to see. - the first see Cranham’s Lee Markham beat Westury’s Aaron Fox by a 40-36 margin. The second see Peckham’s Johnny Garton get his maiden victory over Tooting’s Danny Dontchev also by a 40-36 points margin.

Francis and George Warren did it again it was a truly superb, slick event, OK their dad is the King of British Boxing Frank Warren so they have had a great teacher, but you can’t take it away from these two it was their show and they did it their way and it was brilliant, and I for one can’t wait for the next Queensberry Promotions show.

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