Tag Archives: Lee Churcher

boxing, UK Boxing

Fight Report: Churcher KOs Horvath To Secure WBF title as Herbert Shines In Wales

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Lee Churcher pulled out a sensational against the odds victory over Hungarian Balazs Horvath on Saturday night to secure the World Boxing Foundation Intercontinental Middleweight title, at the Pill Millennium Centre in his hometown of Newport.

 

Churcher, who was World ranked some two hundred plus places lower than Horvath, dominated the bout right from the off. Working behind a good solid jab, the Newport lad enthralled the local fans with some slick combinations, to both body and head, so much so that the more experienced Hungarian soon had to result to holding tactics whenever Churcher was in close range.

 

The canny Welshman was having none of it though and just patiently waited for any opportunity that came his way to punish Horvath with vicious body shots.

 

By midway through the first round Churcher’s confidence really began to grow, after badly shaking Horvath with the aforementioned body shots, so it came as no surprise to anyone when shortly after Churcher sent Horvath to the deck.

 

Horvath recovered but once again resorted to holding tactics to frustrate Churcher through to the end of the round.

 

More of the same in round two more or less, except Churcher really started to get into a flow, catching Horvath with more vicious body shots, the Hungarian tried to cover up, before again trying to grab hold of the Welshman, Churcher is canny though and worked behind the jab again before letting rip with yet another huge right hand to send Horvath down for the second time.

 

The Hungarian made the count and immediately on the restart Churcher went back on the attack, but the Hungarian tried to stifle the Welshman’s attacks by attempting to grab hold again, Churcher though used this to his advantage and let rip with a huge body shot to send the Hungarian back down to the canvas.

 

Clearly in distress, Horvath made an initial attempt to get back to his feet before settling to be just up on one knee, the pain showing on the Hungarian’s face clear for all to see as he attempted to unsuccessfully beat the count.

 

Whilst it may not have been a classic, nothing, but nothing can take away from Lee Churcher the artistry of his craft and tactics throughout and of course claiming the third Championship accolade of his career, the World Boxing Foundation Intercontinental Middleweight Championship, to add to his British Masters and BBBofC Welsh Area Title.

 

Main support for the Churcher-Horvath Championship bout, featured a four round Super Welterweight bout between Nottingham duo Carwyn Herbert and Matt Scriven.

 

What a cracking fight, both combatants going at it hammer and tongs in close combat for the full three minutes of each and every round.

 

After the full four rounds of non-stop action referee Chris Kelly scored the bout 40-36 to the youngster Carwyn Herbert, however that doesn’t really express the closeness of each round or the full on intent of either competitor throughout.

 

Supporting the two pro bouts were six Wales versus England exhibition bouts, supervision courtesy of Wales Boxing. Whilst I’m not going to cover these because they were not pro, have to say the final two bouts of the six were excellent and really could have featured on any pro card and nobody would have known the difference.

 

Have to say plaudits must go to co-promoters Dave Murphy (Acourtier Events) and Steven Fisher (Lights Out Promotions) for digging deep into their pockets to bring both the MBC and the WBF Championship to Wales for the first time, even if it meant there wasn’t enough money in the kitty to justify a full pro show, hopefully the Welsh fans will get behind Lee Churcher so his first defense of the WBF title can also be in Newport or nearby.

 

boxing, UK Boxing

Churcher Prepared For War Against McEwan On August 15th

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A mouth watering domestic clash, between Newport’s Lee Churcher and Edinburgh’s Craig McEwan, is set to feature on the undercard of the upcoming Thomas Melville’s Colloseum Promotions THE COMEBACK event at the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley, Scotland on Saturday 15th August 2015, which is headlined by the Craig Docherty-Michael Kelly WBU World Super Welterweight Championship showdown.

 

Churcher (12-3-1), who secured the BBBofC Welsh area title with a ninth round stoppage victory over Barrie Jones in 2012, but never got to defend it before switching allegiance to the MBC, comes into the fight off a six win streak.

 

His opponent, McEwan (22-4-1) will be making his first home appearance since returning from America, where he fought amongst others World Champions Andy Lee and Peter Quillin.

 

On paper the bout looks set to be a stormer as both protagonists are very much ‘attack is the best form of defense’ minded, so much so that a number of on-line pundits have mooted that this is likely to be an out and out toe-to-toe war, very much in a similar vain to those classic battles between Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward back in 2002/3.

 

A train of thought that virtually mirrors Churcher’s own, as was made clear when he spoke earlier.

 

“This is a massive fight for me, I’m really looking forward to fighting him, he’s tough and a big puncher, much like me really.

 

These are the type of fights real fighters want, challenging to put it mildly, fights like this are made for the big occasion and they don’t get much bigger than this, well in Scotland that’s for sure, there’s the Craig Docherty-Michael Kelly title fight headlining and Scott Harrison will be making his return on the show too.

 

That said, I think it will be our fight the fans will talk about most, especially afterwards, It’s going to be a war in there.

 

Yeah he’s been in with some good names, but that doesn’t worry me, it’s not an option for me, I can’t lose, it’s as simple as that.

 

I’m going to take the fight to him, have to really, his right hand delivers a devastating blow, so mustn’t give him the room to use it, I’ve got to get in there and give it to him first.

 

I’m not worried about the occasion or that it’s on his home turf, OK so I’m likely to receive a hostile reception, but that’s fine with me.

 

Saying that there are some fans coming up to support me, obviously it’s a long trip for my fans, it’s a massive journey for them, I appreciate that and can’t thank them enough for traveling all that way to Scotland to watch me fight.”

 

Lee Churcher vs Craig McEwan features on the undercard of the Craig Docherty-Michael Kelly World Boxing Union (WBU) Super Welterweight World Championship bout that headlines the Thomas Melville’s Colloseum Promotions THE COMEBACK event at the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley, Scotland on Saturday 15th August 2015.

 

Sanctioning for this event is courtesy of the Malta Boxing Commission (MBC) www.maltaboxingcommission.com

 

Tickets, priced £40, £50 and £75 (VIP) are available from any of the boxers taking part or call 07932 069376 and are also available on-line at www.tkoboxoffice.com

 

boxing, kickboxing, UK Boxing

13 Time KB World Champ Hunt Signs With Vaughan – Pro Boxing Debut, Liverpool 23rd May

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Undisputed and unified WBC, ISKA, WAKO, IKF & WKA World Champion, Marlon Hunt, is set to begin his professional boxing career later this month, following his signing management papers with renowned Liverpool based promoter Stephen Vaughan.

 

Hunt, who has held World titles in three different disciplines – Kick Boxing, K-1 Rules and Muay Thai – and five different weight categories, will be making his professional boxing debut on Vaughan’s upcoming NEW ERA event, which takes place at the Grand Central Hall in Liverpool on Saturday 23rd May.

 

With a record breaking thirteen World titles to his name already, Hunt has made it clear that he is not entering the world of professional boxing to just make up the numbers, as when he spoke earlier he made it crystal clear that the change of discipline is so that he can focus on becoming a record holding four discipline World Champion.

 

“I’ve obviously done Kick Boxing, K-I Rules and Muay Thai, went through all the ranks there, won literally all the World titles in those sports, all the major World titles as well, so now I think it’s time to give pro boxing a shot.

 

I only signed with Stephen Vaughan on the 2nd May and it looks like I’m going to be busy straight away, he has me boxing on May 23rdin Liverpool and again on the 25th July in Malta.

 

That was a shock, so let’s get it done, that’s the good thing about Steve, you know, it was literally I wanted to be managed by him as he sorts things out really quick.

 

This really suits me, I want to start challenging for titles as soon as possible, I’ve done everything that I’ve done in the other sports, I’ve been told for many years I should switch to pro boxing, but I didn’t think it was the right time, especially now with what I have won, again it will help me going up the rankings a little faster than I would have done otherwise, because of my experience, yeah I think it is the right time now.

 

I will still compete occasionally at Kick Boxing, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my pro boxing, I do want to do the mandatory defenses in my other sports, yeah I really want to defend my World titles still, apart from that I am concentrating fully on my pro boxing career.

 

There’s only a few people that have successfully transferred from one sport to the other, Chris Algieri, he was a kick boxer and has won a pro boxing World title, if Algieri can do it, I’m sure if I push the right way and I’m getting the right fights, I’m sure I can do the same thing.

 

I’m going to do the best that I can and become a four sport Champion, I don’t think to my knowledge that has actually done that yet, you know World Champion at Kick Boxing, K1, Muay Thai and Pro Boxing, so really would like to be the first to do that.

 

I’ve got some good loyal fans and they’ll be following me through the boxing as well and hopefully when I start pro boxing I’ll attract even more fans too, I feel that this is really good for the sport, not just by being able to attract new blood from the other sports, but also by doing that introduce new fans to both sports.

 

I’m really looking forward to the 23rd May and the beginning of a new pro boxing career for myself.”

 

On Saturday May 23rd, Hunt will be in first class company, as others boxing on the star studded bill include; reigning World Boxing Federation (WBF) World Welterweight Champion Chris Goodwin in action against London’s Mark ‘The Flash’ Alexander.

Reigning World Boxing Federation (WBF) Intercontinental Super Bantamweight Champion, Paul Economides, former British Super Middleweight and International Boxing Organisation (IBO) International Light Heavyweight Champion Tony Dodson.

BBBofC Welsh Area Middleweight Champion Lee Churcher, British, Commonwealth and WBF World Title challenger Tony Moran in a local derby with Blackpool’s Mathew Ellis, and Prizefighter Light Middleweight finalist and English title challenger Nick Quigley, who is set to face Scunthorpe’s highly entertaining Jody Meikle.

 

In addition to the Championship experienced boxers, there are also a host of upcoming, unbeaten young prospects boxing on the bill, including; sensational former England amateur Captain Antonio Counihan, Liverpool based hot Russian prospect David Agadzhanyan, who faces former Ghanaian Champion Isaac Owusu, Featherweight prospect Jay Carney, Light Heavyweight prospect Lee Boyce, who takes on Scunthorpe’s Matthew Pepper.

 

Also making his debut on the 23rd May, alongside Hunt, is local lad Dayle Gallagher, whose first opponent as a pro is Nottingham’s Matt Scriven.

 

Marlon Hunt, against a yet to be named opponent, features on the Stephen Vaughan promoted NEW ERA event, which takes place at the Grand Central Hall in Liverpool on Saturday 23rdMay 2015.

Sanctioning for this event will be provided courtesy of the Malta Boxing Commission (MBC) –www.maltaboxingcommission.com

Tickets priced £30 & £40 are available direct from Marlon Hunt, from any of the boxers taking part or call Stephen Vaughan on 07789 037802.

boxing, UK Boxing

Former Welsh Champ Lee Churcher Returns With A Bang

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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.

boxing, UK Boxing

Champions Return: Bell and Churcher Co-Headline 7th March Nottingham Event.

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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