|
|||
|
Tag Archives: England
GCP Switches it Up in a Big Way!
Tony Luis to Face Derry Matthews for World Championship this Saturday in England; Ismael Barroso now Fighting Ira Terry on CBS in Hinckley, MN This Friday
Lack of time to obtain proper visas has forced the necessity for two of Greg Cohen Promotions’ (GCP) fighters to switch places on short notice for this weekend.
On Saturday, April 18, Cornwall, Ontario’s Tony “Lightning” Luis (19-2, 7 KOs) will now face UK veteran Derry Matthews (37-9-2, 20 KOs) for the Interim WBA Lightweight Championship at the Echo Arena in Matthews’ hometown of Liverpool, England, as the main event of a night of boxing presented by Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions.
Luis was originally scheduled to face Memphis, Tennessee, veteran Ira Terry (26-13, 16 KOs) in the televised co-feature of the “Championship Boxing on CBS Sports Network” event, presented by Greg Cohen Promotions in association with Adam Wilcock’s Fight Card Promotions and produced by David Schuster’s Winner Take All Productions onFriday, April 17, from the Grand Casino Hinckley in Hinckley, Minnesota.
Unbeaten Venezuelan slugger Ismael Barroso (17-0-2, 16 KOs), who was originally scheduled to face Matthews, was unable to obtain the proper visas in time to fight on such short notice in England. He will now take Luis’ place in Hinckley and will take on Terry in an eight-round attraction this Friday.
“It worked out well for everyone,” said Greg Cohen. “Tony Luis was high enough in the ratings and ready to fight, so he’s one of the few fighters in the world who could have stepped into this important fight on such short notice. And fortunately, he is a GCP fighter as well, so we made it happen quickly and he is on his way to the UK as we speak. Tony gets his dream shot at a world championship and the fans in Hinckley, and on CBS Sports Network, will get their first look at one of the most fearsome punchers in boxing, Ismael Barroso. So it seems that everyone wins in this unique situation.”
Someone’s ‘O’ Had To Go – Sensational Counihan Stops Radic In One
On Friday night, on the Stephen Vaughan promoted RED MIST event, that took place at the Grand Central Hall in Liverpool, Birmingham’s Antonio Counihan scored another big win, when he stopped previously undefeated Lukas Radic from the Czech Republic.
With both protagonists keen to keep hold of the precious ‘O’ on their record, there were bound to be some nerves jangling, not just the fighters but also from their family and fans seated ringside, especially when the bout got underway.
It was Radic that took the early advantage, coming out hard and fast looking for another early finish, however the Counihan was unfazed, instead electing to box off the back of his excellent jab, which effectively kept the dangerous Czech at a distance and thwarted his early attempts.
Around the two minute mark, just as Radic forced his way forward once again, Counihan stepped in with a big right to send Radic down to the canvas.
Just as referee Mickey Vann was about to reach the end of the count, Radic managed to just make it to his feet, albeit a little unsteadily. Mickey Vann checked to ensure that Radic was able to continue, before restarting the bout.
The instant he did the former England amateur captain went straight on the attack, with a double handed assault to both head and body, Radic covered up but the power of the shots raining down on him was too much and within seconds the inevitable happened and Radic made his second visit to the canvas.
Once again Radic just made it to his feet, but was clearly disoriented, leaving referee Mickey Vann no option call a halt to proceedings on the two minute and twenty eight second mark of the first round.
To describe the victory as emphatic is an understatement, Counihan’s class shone through, without doubt the 23 year old proved himself to be one of the leading young prospects in the ultra competitive lightweight division.
Speaking from his home earlier Counihan spoke briefly about the fight and the possibility of his first challenge for a Championship in the near future.
“Yeah well as everyone had said before it’s a very important fight, both Lukas and myself were unbeaten, so someone’s ‘O’ had to go, which in itself adding extra pressure on the night.
Unfortunately he was a late replacement, we didn’t know anything about him, other than he was unbeaten with two big stoppage wins, so didn’t really get time to prepare for him specifically, but as the original opponent was a tough big hitter we knew our preparations should be enough to see us through.
I felt good, really good, best shape of my life, which is a credit to my team, best I’ve ever felt going into a fight, I was nice and relaxed and just boxed the way we planned.
He’s a good boxer, which made it easier for me, I like boxing people that are happy to box rather than hold on all the time.
I didn’t expect to stop him let alone so early, just everything opened up for me and the shot was spot on and he went down, after that I knew I could get him out of there, so went in for the finish.
Going to have a little rest now and then get back in the gym and start preparing for my next fight, which will be in Leeds on June 7th.
After that hopefully get my first title fight, I’ve been told it will be in Birmingham or Coventry, which will be nice and local for my fans for a change.
Talking about my fans, I have to say a big thank you to them, they’re incredible they travel all over the country to support me, you can always hear them, they are great, they spend their hard earned money coming to support me, I just can’t thank them enough.”
Khan Marches On – TKO Win Over Miko Leads To May 2nd Title Shot In London
On Friday evening Bradford’s Tasif Khan scored another sensational first round stoppage win, this time over Czech Republic’s Ladislav Miko, on the Stephen Vaughan promoted RED MIST event at the Grand Central Hall in Liverpool.
From the opening bell it was Miko that was the more aggressive, taking the fight to Khan, however in doing so the Czech fighter played straight into the Bradford man’s hands.
Khan had expected Miko to start fast and as such when the Czech fighter advanced rapidly, Khan simply danced to the side and let rip with a shot to the body.
Miko’s body language made it quite clear that he had been hurt, so no surprise that when he came in hard and fast again that the savvy Khan utilized a similar tactic, this time slipping to the right and letting rip with another body shot, followed up by a scintillatingly fast double handed salvo to both body and head.
On around the forty five second mark, Miko, who clearly hadn’t learned to be a little cautious, made yet another forceful attack, this time though Khan threw out a solid jab, followed by an uppercut and then just planted his feet and put full power into a lightning fast left hook, to send the Czech lad to the canvas.
Miko managed to make the count, but seconds later walked straight into another big left to the body. This time Miko really struggled to make the count, just managing to do so but was very unsteady on his feet, leaving referee Jimmy Byrne no option but to wave the bout off on the one minute and fifteen second mark of the first round.
Immediately after receiving the victor’s laurels Khan was informed by his team that he would get to challenge for his first Championship accolade, the International Masters Bantamweight title, on his next planned outing, which will be on the Billy James-Elliott and Mark Lyons promoted LORD OF THE RINGS event at York Hall in London on May 2nd.
Following receiving this news Khan spoke briefly about the fight as well as his upcoming title fight.
“Yeah brilliant, it was just brilliant.
I can’t complain that he didn’t last a round, I would have preferred it had gone on a bit longer, I mean it was a six rounder and I really would have liked to get some rounds under my belt, but as I’ve said before you don’t get paid overtime in this game.
We knew that he would start fast and rush in and the plan was to work off my jab to slow him down, basically to try and get the six rounds under my belt.
It didn’t quite happen that way as he really came at me much quicker than expected, instead I adapted and caught him with a good shot, I see his legs buckle a bit but he stayed on his feet.
He’s a game fighter, most people would have backed off to give themselves time to recover, not him he came back at me hard again, which gave me the opportunity to box him a little bit more and catch him as he came back in.
I caught him good with the uppercut and then the body shot, which he went down with.
Then I did more or less the same after the restart, although didn’t think I had caught him quite as well as the first time, but when he got up I don’t think he wanted to know anymore, even if the ref had let it carry on.
Hopefully onwards and upwards now, I’ve been talking with my team and been told we’ve got a title fight organized for May 2nd in York Hall, same night as Mayweather-Pacquaio fight, so hopefully I’ll pick up my first title, the International Masters, and bring it back to Bradford.
As you can see my fans turned out in force and make a lot of noise, they’re all ringside, they love their boxing, it’s a boxing city Bradford, they just need to get more shows there.
My fans are great, they travel to watch me, last time it was London, this time Liverpool and obviously it’s back to London again on May 2nd.
At the moment I haven’t got the opportunity to pick where I fight, hopefully if I win the title maybe we can get a promoter to put on a show in Bradford so even more of my fans will get a chance to watch me again.
I’m grateful for my team, the training went really well, I feel strong, I feel good and the fans coming out in force to support me is adding to that.
My sponsors, Kingsland Business Recovery in Bradford, Broadway Solicitors in Oldham, Kesser Jewelers in Bradford and Vyomax Supplements from Manchester, have been absolutely great.
These guys have been backing me up, which takes away a lot of the pressure so I can concentrate on my boxing.
Again I’ve got to thank my fans, they really are the best, they’ve followed me down to London and of course here in Liverpool, even though traffic was bad they all made it here tonight and really got behind me, making loads of noise, which is a bit like football fans being the twelfth man on the football pitch, it really inspires you, it lifts you hearing all the fans cheering you on, brilliant, just brilliant.”
Khan-Miko in Liverpool Showdown this Friday
This coming Friday evening Bradford’s sensational Super Flyweight Tasif Khan is set to lock horns with Czech Republic’s Ladislav Miko, in a six rounder on the Stephen Vaughan promoted RED MIST event at the Grand Central Hall in Liverpool.
Back in January Khan’s long awaited return to the fray, following a two year sabbatical from the sport, was a rather short lived affair, after he stopped the highly experienced Hungarian Richard Voros in just one minute and five seconds of the first round.
The fight may not have lasted very long but it was enough for Khan to impress a number of influential ringside observers, including a number of promoters such as Stephen Vaughan, Lee Murtagh, Mark Lyons and Billy James-Elliott, so much so that they all made offers for him to fight on their upcoming show.
Speaking from his Bradford home earlier Khan was clearly elated at the prospect of fighting again this Friday.
“It’s great to be back in action again so soon after my comeback fight, this’ll shake the ring rust off for sure.
I had a good comeback fight, I’m grateful for that. It only lasted sixty five seconds, it would have been good for it to have gone a bit longer but can’t complain, we don’t get paid overtime you know.
I’m really happy with the way everything is going now, I’m feeling good and the preparations for this fight have been spot on.
I’m learning a lot, I’m learning something new every single training session, right now I’m feeling fitter, sharper and stronger for this fight than I have before, it’s gone that well.
I can’t thank everyone enough for their support, especially as I’ve been out for so long, the support was fantastic last time out and will be even better this time around, it means so much having the fans cheering you on, it really does.
Not just the fans, the sponsors too, as a fighter you need to be able to focus and having sponsors supporting your career takes a little pressure off.
I’m really grateful to Kingsland Business Recovery in Bradford, Broadway Solicitors in Oldham, Kesser Jewelers in Bradford and Vyomax Supplements from Manchester, without whose support it would be much harder for me to be able to concentrate on my preparations as I have.
I’m really pleased that people like Stephen Vaughan, Lee Murtagh, Mark Lyons and Billy James-Elliott are all getting behind me and having me fight on their shows.
I’m really pleased to be working with people like those I just mentioned, they’re professional, genuine and get the work done and that helps me to go forward on their big shows and I know it’s just a matter of time before I can start bringing titles back to Bradford.”
Tasif Khan versus Ladislav Miko features on the Stephen Vaughan promoted RED MIST event at the Grand Central Hall in Liverpool on Friday, 20th March 2015.
Sanctioning for this event will be provided courtesy of the Malta Boxing Commission (MBC) –www.maltaboxingcommission.com
Tickets priced £30 and £40 are available direct from Tasif on 07756 311857 and will also be available at Grand Central Hall on the night.
Doors open 6:30pm first bell 7pm
Counihan Ready For Liverpool Showdown With Walter This Friday
Birmingham Lightweight sensation Antonio Counihan is back in action this week, against Richard Walter, on the Stephen Vaughan promoted RED MIST event at the Grand Central Hall in Liverpool on Friday, 20th March 2015.
Since turning pro in October 2013 Counihan, the former England Amateur team Captain, has proved to be one of the UK’s top prospects of the Lightweight division, scoring five top class wins, four of these by stoppage finish, with Poland’s Marcin Ficner being the only opponent to go the distance with the young Brummie star.
On Friday Counihan will face Richard Walter, who stepped in at late notice after his original opponent was forced to withdraw with a hand injury.
Walter comes into the fight off the back of an excellent first round stoppage win over Rene Oravek in February, however that doesn’t seem to bother Counihan one iota, as he made clear when he spoke earlier today.
“Really looking forward to Friday, should be a very good night.
I have only just heard that I’ve got a new opponent, Richard Walter, don’t know much about him yet as this has just been announced.
I know he stopped his last opponent, so should be a good close fight, which suits me.
Have to admit I’m a bit disappointed with such a late change, but what can you do, fighters get injured in the gym all the time, I’ll just go out there and box the way I always do and if all goes well I’ll get another good win under my belt.
Had five fights now, won all of them, four of them by TKO, so am looking forward to moving up the rankings because I want a shot at a title soon.
Last time out had a real good fight with David Kis, I was really happy with the way that fight went.
It was a real good performance, I was happy with it, listened to my corner and did as they said and got him out of there in the third.
Hopefully I’ll put in a similar kind of performance on Friday, I’m not saying it will be another TKO win, but if it happens I’ll be well pleased, I just want to put on a good performance for the fans.
Talking about my fans, they really are fantastic, they travel to watch me fight every time, I can’t thank them enough for their support, I mean they’ve had to travel to London for four of my fights and now here we are on the road again, this time Liverpool and they’ll be there cheering me on once more, they really are brilliant.
I can only thank them properly for their support by keep performing well and of course keep winning.”
Antonio Counihan versus Richard Walter features on the Stephen Vaughan promoted RED MIST event at the Grand Central Hall in Liverpool on Friday, 20th March 2015.
Sanctioning for this event will be provided courtesy of the Malta Boxing Commission (MBC) – www.maltaboxingcommission.com
Tickets priced £30 and £40 are available direct from Antonio on 07535 806545 and will also be available at Grand Central Hall on the night.
Doors open 6:30pm first bell 7pm
Former Welsh Champ Lee Churcher Returns With A Bang
Newport’s former Welsh and British Masters Champion Lee Churcher made a successful return to the ring last Saturday night, Nottingham’s Matt Scriven by a 40-35 points margin.
Churcher, who hasn’t fought since his ninth round stoppage victory over Barrie Jones that secured him the Welsh title in May 2012, almost didn’t get to fight at all, after his opponent Ratislav Frano, as well as Elimer Rafael, who was due to face Andy Bell, Julius Rafael, who was to be Matt Scriven’s opponent on the night, and their trainer all failed to make their flight from Slovakia.
With time running out promoter Wayne O’Hara initially tried to get the errant Slovakian boxers on another flight, when it was clear that wasn’t going to happen then tried in vain to locate UK based opponents.
With time fast running out Matt Scriven, who had fought Churcher back in 2010, suggested that rather than lose all three bouts off the show that he and Churcher could fight each other.
Right from the off it was clear that both protagonists were in the mood for a good old fashioned slug fest.
After some nice tidy exchanges it was Scriven that was first to let rip in anger, with a scorching body shot, Churcher responded in kind and then for the rest of the round it was pure toe-to-toe pugilistic heaven for the fans, as the pair slugged it out big time.
More of the same in both the second and third rounds, much to the delight of the crowd, who had been on their feet for virtually every second of the fight.
In the forth stanza Scriven came out of the blocks fast, intent on securing centre ring with some beautiful jabs and crisp combinations, however Churcher was in no mood to play second fiddle to anyone, coming in hard and fast throwing powerful body shots and uppercuts at every opportunity.
About half way through the round Churcher landed a peach of a right, sending Scriven to the canvas. Scriven recovered before the count concluded and boxed smart, as Churcher went all out to finish off the Nottingham man.
At the end of four scintillating all action rounds, referee Lee Murtagh scored the bout 40-35 in favour of Churcher.
Prior to the excellent Churcher-Scriven bout, there were five top class exhibition bouts, featuring some of the young guns from Nottingham’s Robin Hood Gym.
These bouts gave the crowd an early peek at some of the future stars that are destined to follow in the footsteps of Nottingham’s most famous boxing star, Mr. Carl Froch.
The first of the bouts featured Robin Hood’s Jack Whitehouse against Will Smith from Leeds.
What a cracking closely fought fight, both boxed beautifully throughout, but at the end of the bout it was Whitehouse whose hand was held aloft in victory.
Following the excellent Whitehouse-Smith battle see Carl Coulthard in action against another local lad Aaron Stark.
Both lads went hammer and tongs for virtually the whole two rounds, but with just about twenty seconds of the second round to go Stark landed a peach of right hand to send Couthard to the canvas, unfortunately Coulthard tried to get to his feet but just failed to make the count.
Next up see Connor Riddick take the victory laurels against another local lad Dan McCreedy.
Right from the off it was clear Riddick wasn’t interested in anything but a good win, letting rip with big rights and lightning quick double handed flurries.
About midway through the bout McCreedy clicked it up a notch, in doing so played straight into to Riddick’s hands, as he was well up for an old fashioned slug fest and ultimately produced the second win of the night for the Robin Hood Gym crew.
The fourth bout of the night was a sensational all action battle royale between Tom Mulligan and Peterborough’s Dominic Masses.
The first round was very much a fifty/fifty round, with both protagonists more than happy to box at a fast pace, however saying that Mulligan shook Masses a couple of times with some pin point accurate exocets.
Round two see Masses in the ascendance, however even though the Peterborough man was backing Mulligan up for a good part of the fight it was the Nottingham man that secured the round, after sending Masses to the deck twice.
With blood pouring from his nose and on unsteady legs nobody would have been surprised if Masses decided not to come out for the third, but he did and as before took the fight to the Nottingham man.
For about two thirds of the round it looked like Masses would turn the tables on Mulligan, having shook the Nottingham man with some big right hands, however it wasn’t to be as Mulligan managed to settle himself after yet another barrage of shots and land a seriously hard right to the head, that sent Masses to the deck once more.
Before Masses had even landed on the canvas his corner had decided enough was enough and quite rightly threw the towel in.
The final exhibition bout was yet another stormer, this time featuring the highly exciting Tom Langley taking on Portsmouth’s Jules Phillips in a four round Super Bantamweight contest.
What a fight, without doubt both lads have a good future in the sport, especially young Tommy Langley, who boxed with a maturity that belied his tender years, keeping his distance nicely and just stepping in whenever he liked to land a cracking right or a tidy combination.
After four fantastic rounds it came as no surprise that it was Langley whose hand was raised in victory, most deservedly in my eyes.
Tom Langley is one seriously talented young man, boy oh boy can this kid box, definitely one to watch in the future, word is the eighteen year old is going to be turning pro this year, I for one look forward to him boxing on the pro circuit, that’s for sure.
With so much drama preceding the event who could have expected that the show would have gone so well and whilst there was only one pro bout in the end, nobody moaned or asked for their money back, how could they, it really was a good night of boxing.
Champions Return: Bell and Churcher Co-Headline 7th March Nottingham Event.
Doncaster’s former English and British Champion Andy Bell and Newport’s former Welsh and British Masters Champion Lee Churcher are set to co-headline Wayne O’Hara’s Chief O’Hara Promotions OUTLAWS BACK event, at the Britannia Hotel in Nottingham this coming Saturday – 7th March.
After a near five year absence from the sport, following the surprise loss to John Donnelly, in a non-championship six rounder in May 2010, Doncaster’s Andy Bell finally makes his long awaited return to fray this Saturday.
Bell’s Championship campaign began in April 2007 with an eighth round stoppage victory over Shrewsbury’s Neil Marston for the BBBofC Midlands Area Bantamweight title.
Two months later he added the British Masters Bantamweight crown to his trophy cabinet, with a solid points victory over Sheffield’s Mo Khaled.
Just three months later Bell was back in Championship action once again, this time challenging Bradford’s Robert Nelson for the vacant BBBofC English Super Flyweight title. Bell added a third belt to his growing collection, with a yet another stoppage victory, this time in the dying seconds of seventh stanza.
In his final fight of the 2007 season Bell successfully defended his English title with a tidy points victory over Grimsby’s Wayne Bloy.
In March 2008 Bell added the coveted Lonsdale belt to his collection, after beating long time BBBofC British Super Flyweight Champion Chris Edwards in a thriller that went the distance, Bell winning by a clear margin of 117-111 on Judges Phil Edwards and Terry O’Connor’s scorecards and 115-113 on Judge John Keane’s scorecard.
In November 2008 Bell defended the British crown, against current British and European Bantamweight and former WBA Inter-Continental Champion Lee Haskins.
After twelve sensationally close fought, all action, rounds Bell lost out to Haskins by a close points margin of 116-113, on Judges Howard John Foster and Dave Parris’ scorecards and an even closer margin of 115-114 in Judge Victor Loughlin’s eyes.
On Saturday Bell will face the highly experienced Slovakian Elemir Rafael.
Co-headlining the OUTLAWS BACK event is another returning Champion, Newport’s BBBofC Welsh Area Middleweight Champion Lee Churcher.
Churcher, who hasn’t fought since the ninth round stoppage win over Barrie Jones that secured him the Welsh title in May 2012, makes his most welcome return to the ring on Saturday, where he will face a strong challenge from Slovakian hard man Vladimir Tazik in a four rounder.
The support card for the two former Champions is headed by a rare home bout for Nottingham’s very own Matt Scriven, when he faces Julius Rafael.
The OUTLAWS BACK event will also feature a number of Nottingham’s home grown talent, including Clinton Chambers, Tom Langley, Connor Ruddoch, Jack Whitehouse, Tom Mulligan, James Wheldon, De La Menace as well as feature the showdown between Carl Coulthard and Karston Lejoint.
Lee Churcher versus Vladimir Tazik and Andy Bell versus Elemir Rafael co-headline the Wayne O’Hara, Chief O’Hara Promotions OUTLAWS BACK event, at the Britannia Hotel in Nottingham on Saturday 7th March 2015.
Sanctioning for this event will be provided courtesy of the Malta Boxing Commission (MBC) – www.maltaboxingcommission.com
Tickets, priced £35 and £55 (Ringside) for OUTLAWS BACK at the Britannia Hotel in Nottingham, are available from any of the competing boxers or call Matt on 07833 995770.
Doors open at 6pm, first bout 6:30pm
GRAHAM BOYLAN RESIGNS AS CEO OF CAGE WARRIORS FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP
|
|||
|
