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boxing, Champions TKO Boxing Gym, UK Boxing

Haywood Set For Pepper Showdown On May 2nd

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Champions TKO’s Jerome Haywood is set to face Scunthorpe’s Matthew Pepper on the Mark Lyons and Billy James-Elliott Wise Guys Promotions LORDS OF THE RING event, which takes place at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London on Saturday 2nd May 2015.

 

Jerome will be making his return to York Hall, the scene of his successful professional debut in October last year, where he scored a well earned points victory over Rolandas Cesna.

 

Back in October, after a slightly hesitant start, Haywood soon settled down and took the fight to his more experienced opponent, pressuring the big Lithuanian with stiff jabs and heavy rights to the body.

 

Haywood’s work to the body began to take a toll on Cesna, so much so that by mid way through the third Cesna was clearly struggling to cope with the constant punishment to his ribs.

 

In the fourth Haywood stepped up the pressure even further, which in turn forced Cesna to cover up to protect his bruised and battered ribcage.

 

After four excellent rounds Referee Alf Sprung scored the bout 40-38 in favour of Haywood.

 

Haywood’s opponent on May 2nd is Scunthorpe’s Matthew Pepper, who will be making his first visit to the famous home of boxing in the Capital City.

 

Following a training session, under the watchful eyes of his coach Brian O’Shaughnessy at the Champions TKO gym in Hackney, Haywood spoke briefly about the upcoming showdown with Matthew Pepper.

 

“Glad to be fighting again, it’s been six months since my debut fight.

 

After my last fight, I was hoping to get out again as soon as possible and I should have, I was due to fight in March, but had to pull out of that one as I came down with a bug about a week or so before I was due to fight.

 

My first fight, yeah I enjoyed that, I was well prepared for it, he was tough but nothing I couldn’t handle.

 

I don’t know too much about Matthew (Pepper), but we’ve been working hard in the gym, so hopefully I’ll put a good performance in for my fans, who I can’t thank enough for their fantastic support.”

 

Jerome Haywood versus Matthew Pepper features on the Mark Lyons & Billy James-Elliott Wise Guys Promotions LORDS OF THE RING event, that takes place at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London on Saturday 2nd May 2015.

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

Tickets priced £35 (Standard seating) and £65 (Ringside) are available direct from any of the boxers taking part, on-line atwww.tkoboxoffice.com or call the TKO ticket line on 07960 850645

 

boxing, Champions TKO Boxing Gym, UK Boxing

Turkish Prospect Ozgul Set For London Showdown With Miekle On May 2nd

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Champions TKO Gym’s unbeaten Light Heavyweight prospect Onder Ozgul is set to make his fifth professional outing in just over a weeks time, when he takes on the highly entertaining Jody Meikle, from Scunthorpe, in a six round contest, on the Mark Lyons and Billy James-Elliott Wise Guys Promotions LORDS OF THE RING event at York Hall in London on Saturday 2nd May 2015.

Ozgul, has built quite a reputation, as a seriously tough and uncompromising boxer, over the past year or so, following top class victories over the likes of Lithuania’s Dmitrij Kalinovskij, Bighton’s Iain Jackson, Lithuania’s Remigijus Ziausys and most recently over the Czech Republic’s big punching Karel Horejsek.

With a boxing style and approach uncannily similar to that of a certain ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Ozgul’s Turkish fans have nicknamed their man ‘Little Mike’, a name that the British fans that have seen him in action have started to adopt too.

That aside, Ozgul’s resolve could be mightily tested by Miekle, who last time out scored a good solid draw against Portsmouth bruiser Sam Couzens, no surprise there as the Lincolnshire man not only likes a good old fashioned toe-to-toe slug fest, but also has a very entertaining mischievous streak.

Speaking at the famed Champions TKO Gym in Hackney, Ozgul spoke briefly about the upcoming showdown with the man they call ‘The Entertainer’.

“I’m happy I am fighting a six rounder, I’d be happy if it was an eight, I train for twelve rounds, so six is easy for me.

 

The way we look at it is if you can run a marathon, then running a half marathon is easy, that’s why we work so hard in the gym, so it is easy in the ring.

 

My last fight I trained hard, I trained for twelve rounds then too, the opponent was strong and durable but it was still an easy fight for me.

 

It will be the same next week, I will be ready for whatever Jody Meikle brings, I’ve been told Jody is tough, good that means we’ll have a very good fight.

 

I’m really happy that my brother Siar has got a title fight on May 2nd and even happier that I will be fighting on the undercard of his title fight and hope that everyone comes out and gives us both their full support.

 

I want to thank my sponsors and all those fans that come and support me and my brother (Super Welterweight Siar Ozgul), Thank you for supporting us, on May 2nd you’ll not be disappointed, I will be fighting at my best.”

 

Onder Ozgul versus Jody Meikle features on the undercard of Siar Ozgul – Matt Scriven MBC International Welterweight title fight that headlines the Mark Lyons & Billy James-Elliott Wise Guys Promotions LORDS OF THE RING event, that takes place at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London on Saturday 2ndMay 2015.

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

Tickets priced £35 (Standard seating) and £65 (Ringside) are available direct from any of the boxers taking part, on-line atwww.tkoboxoffice.com or call the TKO ticket line on 07960 850645

boxing

Boxing’s most avoided world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux heading to UK next month To publically confront Scott Quigg

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CORK, Ireland (April 12, 2015) – Unified super bantamweight world champion Guillermo “The Jackal” Rigondeaux (15-0, 10 KOs), arguably the most avoided reigning world title holder in modern boxing history, will travel to London next month in order to publicly confront his mandatory challenger, Scott Quigg (30-0-2, 22 KOs), the World Boxing Association (WBA) “regular” 122-pound division titlist.

 

A month ago in an unusual move, Rigondeaux’ manager Gary Hyde formally petitioned the WBA to enforce a mandatory title fight between his WBA Super champion and Quigg. Hyde is awaiting the WBA’s decision. Rigondeaux is also the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and The Ring magazine’s super bantamweight champion.

 

A reigning world champion hasn’t been avoided by other world champions and top contenders like Rigondeux has for the past two years since, perhaps, junior middleweight Sergio Martinez, or possibly all the way back to middleweight Mike McCallum.

 

The top three super bantamweights in the world outside of Rigondeaux – International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Council (WBC) champions, Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz, respectively, plus Quigg – have avoided the Cuban great like the plaque. Once Santa Cruz’ promoter at the time, Oscar de la Hoya, announced that a Rigondeaux-Santa Cruz had to happen, Santa Cruz’ powerful adviser, Al Haymon, exercised a contract option and bought him out to avoid a fight with ‘Rigo.’ Frampton’s promoter, Barry McGuigan, has proclaimed his fighter, not Rigondeaux, as the No. 1 super featherweight in the world. McGuigan, though, is interested in Frampton fighting Quigg in a U.K. showdown, rather than a world mega-fight for three of the four major sanctioning world titles. As the “regular” WBA champion, Quigg is Rigondeaux’ mandatory challenger, yet, he apparently wants no part of the two-time Olympic gold medalist because his promoter, Barry Hearn, not only hasn’t pushed the issue, he’s in negotiations with McGuigan for Frampton to fight Quigg.

 

Former world super bantamweight champions Nonito Doniare, after he lost a unification fight to Rigondeaux two years ago, and Abner Mares chose to move up one division to fight as featherweights. And now Donaire reports that his manager was contacted by a Quigg representative to discuss a Donaire-Quigg fight in England.

 

Another two-time Olympic gold medalist, WBO 126-pound champion Vasyl Lomachenko, continually insists that “Rigo” has to move up in weight for a fight to happen despite him having no problems making 126.

 

“Quigg, Santa Cruz and Frampton have showed no desire to challenge Rigondeaux,” Hyde said. “These three fighters are trying to fool the public into believing that fight the No. 1 guy in the world is not important. While they are lining their pockets with ridiculous amounts of cash for fighting below par opponents, Rigondeaux is forced to wait around until some Asian opponent steps up. This is a sport in which we are accustomed to seeing the best fighting the best but, in the super bantamweight division, it’s the best versus the rest.

 

“Rigondeaux will travel to Manchester to fight Quigg, Belfast to fight Frampton, or Las Vegas to fight Santa Cruz. None of these so-called world champions, though, will consider fighting the acknowledged world super bantamweight champion. They’re all much more content to hold onto their belts than beating The Man in their weight class.”

 

Next month, Hyde reports, Rigondeaux will travel to the United Kingdom in a bold attempt to embarrass Quigg into fighting him. “I don’t like traveling overseas unless I have a fight lined up,” Rigondeaux explained, “but I will travel to England in May to publicly call out Scott Quigg. If he turns down the chance to fight our WBA mandatory, he will be remembered for that instead of being known as a great fighter. While I’m in the UK, I will also go to Belfast to checkout Carl Frampton to ask if he wants to prove himself against the best in his division.”

 

Understanding that the top super bantamweight action is currently in Europe, noting a record purse ($2.2 million USD) offered for a Frampton vs. Quigg fight, Rigondeaux is considering a major change in the not too distant future, moving his base from Miami to the UK, if that’s what it takes for him to get in on the action.

 

Hyde also manages former WBO middleweight champion and current International Boxing Federation (IBF) No. 1 mandatory contender Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (31-1, 18 KOs), former WBA Interim cruiserweight champion Youri “El Toro” Kalenga (21-2, 14 KOs) and Georgian super lightweight Levan “The Wolf” Ghvamichava (14-1-1, 11 KOs) , as well as top prospects such as Cuban super bantamweight Marcos Forestal (2-0, 2 KOs), Irish heavyweight Con Sheehan and Bulgarian light heavyweight Blagoy Naydenov.

 

 

Follow Hyde on Twitter at @NoWhere2Hyde and friend him atwww.facebook.com/gary.hyde.50?fref=ts.
Boxcino, UK Boxing

Speight delighted to secure Home Advantage

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26 year old “The Genius” Jamie Speight has a wish come true on 16th May 2015 when he co-headlines the massive Goodwin Boxing “Master Class” bill at York Hall defending his Southern Area Featherweight title against Ian Bailey.

 

“I am over the moon at signing with Steve Goodwin” said Jamie “With everything he has done for me so far I could not be happier. This is the first time in years I have not had to go on the road and be the away fighter and have waited to be promoted as the home fighter for so long”.

 

Speight has had an up and down career but being sent as the away fighter meant that to Speight he never had the rub of the green or the advantage given to other fighters. Only two years ago Speight took Josh Warrington the distance in Warrington’s back yard and then subsequently lost a contentious decision to Lewis Pettitt once again in the opponent’s corner.

 

May 2014 and Speight once again was in the opponents corner when he stopped Craig Whyatt to win this belt he is now defending but now the time has come for Speight to enjoy home advantage.

 

“I just want a fair crack of the whip and with Steve now in control of my career I know I will get that. I need to win this title as the next day I am flying with the Goodwin team to Turkey for a training camp and that needs to be a celebration.” Speight added “My aim is the British title at Featherweight and provided I keep winning Steve has promised he will deliver that to me.”

 

“This is a tough fight. Ian Bailey does not receive the credit he deserves. Like myself Ian has taken short notice fights and yet stops people with winning records. We have given him 2 months notice so he can prepare as well as myself and may the best man win.”

 

The Speight v Bailey clash is one of four 50/50 intriguing Southern Area title fights on the bill with three masters titles as well making this one of the best non TV shows seen in London for a long time.

 

Adam Dingsdale defends his Southern Area Lightweight title against Prizefighter finalist Michael “Chunky” Devine.

 

Philip “Quicksilver” Bowes (9-1) challenges for the Light-Welterweight version against the unbeaten former Prizefighter Champion Johnny Coyle whilst Johnny Garton makes his second defence of the Welterweight version against former English title challenger Martin Welsh.

 

The charismatic Danny Connor competes for the International Masters Lightweight title whilst Hampshire’s “Dangerous” Danny Goode fights for the Masters Super Middleweight Title. Adam Salman completes the trio of Masters title bouts when he competes for the Light Welterweight version.

 

Two of Ricky Hatton’s “Upton Clan” Paul and Anthony continue their rise to the top with 6 round contests.

 

The exciting Light Middleweight Joey Vaughan (1-0) has his first contest since signing with the Goodwin’s whilst the show sees the eagerly awaited debuts of Andrew Joicey (Welterweight) and Mwenya Chisanga (Light-Welterweight).

 

Jamie Arlain (1-0) also has his first contest after a long year break from the sport and after signing with the Goodwin’s whilst exciting unfefeated Light-Middleweight John Cash (4-0) has a six round contest.

 

The card is completed with Ben Hall (6 rounds) Dean Byrne (4 rounds) and David Leo (4 rounds) all facing selected opposition.

 

Tickets are available from any of the boxers directly or on line at www.iboxingtickets.com

 

boxing, UK Boxing

Championship Battle Headlines Wise Guys Promotions Inaugural Event On May 2nd

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Eminent MMA promoter Mark Lyons has linked up with Britain’s youngest professional boxing promoter, eighteen year old Billy James-Elliott to create a new professional boxing promotions outfit – Wise Guys Promotions.

 

Their first event, titled LORDS OF THE RING, will take place at the famed York Hall, In Bethnal Green, London on Saturday, 2nd May 2015, and will be headlined by the vacant MBC International Welterweight Championship battle between Siar Ozgul and Matt Scriven.

 

Hackney based Ozgul and Nottingham’s Scriven are old foes, having fought each other as recently as October last year.

 

It was an all action, closely fought small hall classic, an enthralling, intense four rounds of toe-to-toe action, so much so that when Scriven approached both the event promoters and Ozgul’s management asking if he could be considered as Ozgul’s opponent for the title fight, all parties agreed in an instant.

 

Who wouldn’t, these two put on a magnificent display of the pugilistic arts, not too dissimilar to the classic Mickey Ward-Arturo Gatti trilogy of fights from 2002/3.

 

Control of the fight switched between the two warriors throughout, both gave their all for every second of every round, much to the appreciation of those in attendance, as was clear when the bout was voted the Fight of the Night and a clear contender for the end of year Fight of the Year accolade.

 

On that occasion it was Ozgul that rightly emerged victorious, by a 39-37 point margin, however that score line just didn’t reflect just how close each round was or give any insight in to just how thrilling the bout was.

 

Main support, for the Ozgul-Scriven Championship bout, sees Bradford’s Tasif Khan return to York Hall, the scene of his sensational first round stoppage victory over Richard Voros in January.

 

On May 2nd Khan challenges Czech Republic’s Patrik Bartos for the International Masters Bantamweight title.

 

Adding an added element of intrigue to this particular match up, is that both Khan and Bartos have a recent opponent in common, Ladislav Miko, what’s more both stopped Miko early in their bouts, Bartos late in the second and Khan with a sensational one minute and fifteen second of the first round knockout.

 

Heading up the support card sees Chester’s WBF Intercontinental Super Bantamweight Champion Paul Economides against Doncaster’s former British Super Flyweight Champion Andy Bell.

 

Economides comes into the bout high in confidence, following a sensational second round stoppage victory, over former Commonwealth title challenger Isaac Quaye, just last month.

 

What makes this victory so special is that Economides became the first person to stop the gutsy thirty seven fight veteran, a major feat indeed considering Quaye had previously fought the likes of British and Commonwealth Champion Don Broadhurst, British, Commonwealth and European Champion Kevin Satchell and WBO European Champion Iain Butcher.

 

Another top class match up sees Siar Ozgul’s older sibling Onder in action against Scunthorpe’s highly entertaining Jody Miekle.

 

Ozgul, who is unbeaten in four pro outings, has been building quite a reputation for himself, following top class victories over the likes of Lithuania’s Dmitrij Kalinovskij, Bighton’s Iain Jackson, Lithuania’s Remigijus Ziausys and most recently over the Czech Republic’s big punching Karel Horejsek.

 

Siar and Onder Ozgul’s Champions TKO Gym mate Jerome Haywood is set to make his second pro outing, against Scunthorpe’s Matthew Pepper.

 

Haywood came through a seriously tough test on his debut, when he faced and beat the highly experienced Lithuanian bruiser Rolandas Cesna at York Hall back in October.

 

Another of the Champions TKO squad, British #1 and reigning MBC International Super Bantamweight Champion Marianne ‘Golden Girl’ Marston will be undertaking her final domestic bout, before starting her preparations for her World title challenge against Australia’s WIBA Champion Shannon O’Connell, which takes place later this summer.

 

Back in October Marston clinically beat then European #3 and World #31 ranked Marianna Gulyas, to secure the coveted MBC International Crown, by a shut out unanimous points margin.

 

Former BBBofC Welsh Champion Lee Churcher will be making his first visit to the famed York Hall on May 2nd, where he will face a yet to be announced opponent.

 

Churcher comes into the fight off the back of a run of five solid wins, since last losing to Costas Osben back in July 2011.

 

Sensational unbeaten Featherweight David Agadzhanyan also makes his first visit to London on May 2nd.

 

Agadzhanyan, who has three stoppage victories from his four bouts to date, won the battle of the undefeated in his last fight, taking Czech Republic’s Daniel Bazo’s coveted ‘O’ with a superb 39-37 point victory in Liverpool in March.

 

Eric Mokonzo will be looking to secure his first pro victory, following his debut loss against Darren McKenna, when he faces debut boy Andy Cona, whilst Luton’s unbeaten Manny Muhammad, who was originally due to fight Mokonzo, will now face a yet to be named opponent.

 

On May 2nd Finsbury Park’s Mark ‘The Flash’ Alexander returns to York Hall, the scene of his magnificent third round stoppage victory over Lithuania’s Tadas Stulginkas back in October.

 

Making their pro debuts on May 2nd will be Nottingham’s Garfield Mushore and Canning Town’s Kimberley Leah.

 

Siar Ozgul versus Matt Scriven, for the vacant MBC International Welterweight Championship, headlines the Mark Lyons & Billy James-Elliott Wise Guys Promotions LORDS OF THE RING event, that takes place at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London on Saturday 2nd May 2015.

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

Tickets priced £35 (Standard seating) and £65 (Ringside) are available direct from any of the boxers taking part, on-line atwww.tkoboxoffice.com or call the TKO ticket line on 07960 850645

boxing, UK Boxing, women's boxing

Marston: I’m Aiming For A Big Win On May 2nd – Tell O’Connell I’m Coming For Her Title Next

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British #1 and reigning MBC International Super Bantamweight Champion Marianne Marston is set to return to the York Hall in London’s East End, the scene of her sensational Championship securing victory over Marianne Gulyas late last year, in a few weeks time, where she will face a yet to be named opponent on the Mark Lyons & Billy Elliott promoted LORDS OF THE RING event on Saturday 2nd May 2015.

 

Back in October Marston utterly dominated proceedings against the then Hungarian #1, European #3 and World #31 ranked Gulyas to secure the vacant MBC International Super Bantamweight title.

 

From start to finish it was the slick British southpaw that took the fight to her much vastly more experienced opponent, aggressively going forward, utilizing her sharp jabs and stinging lefts to great effect.

 

Throughout Marston appeared to be able to pick off her opponent at will, in doing so left Gulyas no option but to defend on the retreat.

 

During the bout, which was fought at a frenetic pace, Gulyas visited the canvas no less than seven times, however only two of these were counted as knockdowns by referee Alf Sprung, who waved the others off as slips or pushes.

 

After ten scintillating rounds of boxing, Judges Ben Doughty (UK) and Matt Hamilton (South Africa) scored the bout 100-89 whilst judge Lee Murtagh (UK) scorecard read 99-88 all in favour of Marston.

 

The superb shut out victory rocketed Marston up the rankings, as well as earned her a World title shot, against reigning WIBA Champion, Australia’s Shannon O’Connell, which will take place later this summer.

 

However it is the upcoming bout that Marston is currently focusing on, as she made clear when she spoke earlier.

 

“I’m really looking forward to fighting again, especially back at York Hall.

 

It’s close to six months since I won the title, I have to admit I hoped to be out much earlier this year, but for one reason or another that just didn’t happen.

 

If I had I would have either defended the MBC title or fought for the WBU European title again, but with the World title fight coming up this summer it was decided that rather than having all the pressure that comes with a title fight, we would find an opponent with a similar style to Shannon (current WIBA World Champion Shannon O’Connell) to fight on May 2nd so we could use this as a seriously testing dry run as such.

 

I know I won every single round against Marianna (Gulyas) but her style is very different to Shannon’s, luckily though my main sparring partner is Ian Napa, Ian is so experienced and can box in any style, which is great as we know can prepare properly for both Shannon and my May 2nd opponent.

 

Ian’s brilliant, having someone that’s been there, done that and has the t-shirt to prove it, I honestly believe it’s his input to my preparations that makes all the difference, I mean he’s won both the British and European titles twice as well as fought for numerous titles, so really knows what is needed.

 

It also helps that I have a great experienced team around me, my coach Brian O’Shaughnessy really has bought me on, now instead of being more or less one dimensional in my approach I’m now fully rounded and can box in any style, even on the back foot, which is something I always found hard to do.

 

Mind you when you’re sparring people like Ian (Napa), Sunny (Edwards) and Ian Bailey all the time, you need to be able to adapt, so some of the praise has to go to them also.

 

I’ve really enjoyed being the MBC International Champion, winning the title has affected me in such a positive way, can’t explain it, but it’s like I’m a different fighter now, maybe that’s just the confidence of knowing I can go ten rounds with a World ranked fighter and not just hold my own, but beat them.

 

Now I’ve got to use this to my advantage, first I have to beat whoever it is I’ll be fighting on May 2nd and then of course Shannon when I challenge for her title.

 

I know I said this before, but when my career comes to an end, I want to be remembered as a boxer that had good skills, a proper Champion, not someone that just coasted through their career.

 

I want real fights, meaningful fights, believe me I’m not looking at May 2nd being a warm up or anything like that, I want to make a huge statement on May 2nd, I want Shannon to worry about the Marianne that will face her this summer, I want her to know I’m coming to take her title from her.”

 

Marianne Marston, against a yet to be announced opponent, features on the Mark Lyons & Billy James-Elliott Wise Guys Promotions LORDS OF THE RING event, that takes place at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London on Saturday 2nd May 2015.

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

Tickets priced £35 (Standard seating) and £65 (Ringside) are available direct from Marianne or any of the boxers taking part, from the Ringtone Gym in Euston, London, on-line atwww.mariannemarston.com and www.tkoboxoffice.com or call 07960 850645

boxing, UK Boxing

Fight Report: Decastro KOs Rozembergs as Wood & Smith Score Sensational TKO Debut Victories

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Report: Gianluca Di Caro

Usually it is either a Friday or Saturday night that I get my regular fix
of pugilistic action, this week though it was a little different as I made
the trip from London up to Leeds on Sunday morning, in order to catch the latest offering from former Irish Champion, turned promoter, Lee Murtagh.

Considering it was a Sunday afternoon/evening show, I was mightily
surprised, or is that impressed, that when I arrived at the venue, a good couple of hours before the advertised start time, it was already more or less full to capacity.

Have to say the Leeds fans really know how to enjoy themselves, the
atmosphere at the Pryzm Nightclub was electric, so no surprise that when the highly entertaining MC, Mr. Tony Dean, announced each of the boxers that the crowd vociferously showed their support, not just of the home fighters but they also made the opponents welcome too, which makes a nice change.

Headlining the show was local favourite Sam Smith, who was making her pro debut, against Latvia’s Jekaterina Lecko.

From the off both girls moved to take centre ring, tentatively boxing off the back of their jabs, after about twenty seconds or so Lecko decided to step it up a tad, throwing a good stiff jab immediately followed by a looping right to the head, Smith closed her guard just enough to catch the shot on her glove, before shooting out a straight right, which caught the Latvian flush.

Smith closed in again and let rip with a big right to the body and a left
to the head, Fecko tried to stand her ground but Smith came in even
stronger forcing the Latvian back towards the ropes.

Initially Fecko used her jab to great effect to keep Smith at bay, but
around the forty five second mark Smith slipped under the jab and let rip with a huge shot to the body, quickly followed by another to the head that shook the Latvian girl to the core.

Smith moved straight in for the kill, throwing a multitude of big shots,
leaving Fecko no option but to cover up in the hope that she could survive the onslaught.

Smith had now corralled the Latvian into the corner and began bombarding Fecko with shots from every conceivable angle, then just as Fecko straightened up Smith landed an absolute peach of a shot to the body that sent Fecko straight to the canvas.

As referee Jimmy Byrne made the count Fecko looked towards her corner and shook her head before desperately trying to make it to her feet, however clearly in distress she instantly dropped back down onto one knee, leaving Jimmy Byrne no option but to call a halt to proceedings on the seventy second mark of the first round.

Prior to Smith-Fecko Lincoln’s unbeaten big punching Middleweight Nathan Decastro, against Latvia’s Elvis Rozembergs, in a six rounder.

Decastro’s ring moniker is ‘Nightmare’ and boy oh boy I bet young Mr. Rozembergs will be having plenty of them after this fight.

Decastro, a former English Amateur International, is about as clinical as they come. Right from the off the Lincolnshire lad picked his shots with precision, landing three pin-point perfect shots just with his opening salvo.

Rozembergs is game though, clearly believing that attack is the best form of defense the Latvian came straight back with a series of off target looping right hands, each time presenting Decastro with a clear target –Rozembergs body – to set his sights on, which of course he did, landing seriously solid shots each time.

On about the minute mark Rozembergs tried to back Decastro up by coming in hard and fast with a double handed flurry, however Decastro side stepped before letting rip with a big right to the body, which sent Rozembourgs to the canvas.

The Latvian was clearly in distress, instantly referee Jimmy Byrne stopped the fight and called the ringside doctor and paramedics into the ring.

After a few minutes Rozembergs was helped to his feet and as he did
received rapturous applause from the appreciative audience.

Prior to Decastro-Rozembergs was another pro debut, this time
Middlesborough Welterweight Chris Wood, against Edgars Milevics.

Milevics didn’t fair any better than either Lecko or Rozembergs, in fact the Latvian lad was sent to the deck in the first twenty seconds,
following Wood pitching a big right into his ribs.

Milevics made the count, but on the restart you could see his heart was no longer in the fight, electing instead to cover up in the vein hope that Wood wouldn’t land another big shot.

On about the fifty second mark the inevitable happened, Wood sneaked a lovely little hook in just behind Milevics guard, causing the Latvian to bring his hands down to protect his body, which left him open to a big right to the head, which left Milevics no option but to cover up again and as he did Wood calmly threw another big left to the body, which sent Milevic down to the canvas for the second time.

Milevic just about managed to make it to his feet but referee Jimmy Byrne took one look and see how unsteady the Latvian was on his feet and rightly stopped the fight on the sixty seconds mark.

Support for the three professional bouts, were a number of European Boxing Federation (EBF) sanctioned bouts.

The main one, for the EBF International Bantamweight Championship, see Leeds’ Sophie Varley in a rematch against Malta’s Mandy Cortis.

Cortis had come all the way from sunny Malta to a rather wet and Windy Leeds to defend the title she won last time the two met.

The first three rounds Cortis played the waiting game, hoping that all
action girl Varley would punch herself out.

Round four was a much more even affair, with Cortis electing to take the fight to Varley, initially the Maltese girl was landing a good few shots, but Varley is as tough as they come and by about the fifty second mark wrenched control back with a fantastic display of boxing, culminating with Cortis backed onto the ropes and absorbing a seemingly never ending barrage.

About the one minute thirty mark it was Cortis on attack again, utilizing her jab to great effect to set Varley up for a combination or two, until the final ten seconds or so, which was a pure toe to toe Battle Royale.

Cortis controlled the majority of the final two rounds, with some
beautiful boxing, Varley still gave a great account of herself, just the
amount of work she had put in during the early rounds had virtually
drained her.

It was clear it was going to be close, and it was with Varley securing the title by a very, very close 58-57 points decision.

The results of the rest of the EBF card were:

York’s Carly McKenzie scored an excellent 40-37 points victory over
Bridlington’s Mel Halstead for the EBF Central Area Featherweight title.

Leeds’s Graham Mattison scored a one minute and fifty second second round TKO victory over Blackpool’s Richard Leak in the EBF Northern Heavyweight contest.

Leeds’ Jay Stevenson scored a 30-28 points victory over Stoke’s Phil McGinn.

Leeds’ Liam Hayes scored a 40-37 points victory over Stoke’s Lewis Sherrat

Manchester’s Jimmy Gold scored a close 29-28 victory over Bramley’s Philip Walker.

boxing, Showtime Boxing

JERMELL CHARLO OUTPOINTS VANES MARTIROSYAN ON A SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® DOUBLEHEADER

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WELTERWEIGHT CHAMP KELL BROOK OBLITERATES JO JO DAN

TO RETAIN TITLE ON SHOWTIME BOXING INTERNATIONAL®  

Watch The Replay Of The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Doubleheader

Tomorrow/Sunday at 9 a.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME,

Tuesday, March 31, at 10 p.m. ET/PT On SHO EXTREME

 

Click HERE For Charlo vs. Martirosyan & Gonzalez vs. Russell Jr. Photos

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME

 

Click HERE For Brook vs. Dan Photos

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig

 

LAS VEGAS (March 28, 2015) – After coming close to world championship glory in 2014,

Gary Russell Jr. (26-1, 15 KOs), a former United States amateur standout, delivered on his promise in impressive fashion Saturday night, knocking out defending champion Jhonny Gonzalez (57-9, 48 KOs), of Mexico City, in the fourth round in the main event of a SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader promoted by DiBella Entertainment at The Pearl Theater at Palms Casino Resort.

 

In the co-feature on SHOWTIME®, undefeated Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo (26-0, 11 KOs) of Houston, won a close, unanimous 10-round decision over Vanes Martirosyan(35-2-1, 21 KOs), of Glendale, Calif., in a clash of top-five ranked super welterweights. There were no knockdowns in a bout scored 97-93 and 96-94 twice.

 

The talented and quick-fisted southpaw Russell, who stood and exchanged with Gonzalez, utilized his overall speed to dominate. He dropped the veteran three times, once in the third and twice in the fourth before referee Tony Weeks waved off the fight 37 seconds into the round (to watch the knockout click HERE).

 

“This is the kind of performance I always expect but don’t always get,’’ said Russell, who lost a close 12-round decision to Vasyl Lomachenko in his initial attempt at the 126-pound crown last June 21 on SHOWTIME. “If people only knew how hard we worked for this, the time we put in the gym, the mental and physical things we work on and put ourselves through every day.

 

“There are always obstacles to overcome but for this fight I was 100 percent. This win is for all the people who have been with me from the beginning.’’

 

Russell’s strategy was to eliminate Gonzalez’ vaunted left hook, and he executed the plan to near perfection.

 

“We were never in this to turn it into a track meet,’’ Russell said. “We were going to stand right in the pocket. We know what Gonzalez likes to do, and that’s throw the wide left hook. I tried to bait him into throwing it and he did.

 

“Honestly, I don’t think he recovered from the first knockdown.’’

 

Gonzalez, a two-time WBC featherweight world champion – and a veteran of 16 world championship fights – won the title for the first time in April 2011 and made four successful title defenses before losing it in September 2012. He regained the title on a shocking first-round knockout over Abner Mares in August 2013 on SHOWTIME, and had made two more successful title defenses before falling to Russell.

 

Gonzalez offered no excuses before quickly exiting the ring.

 

“I’m OK,’’ he said. “I did not expect this kind of fight at all. We expected him to run around the ring with me chasing. But he didn’t.’’

 

In the co-feature, Charlo silenced critics of his resume by defeating his toughest opponent to date.

He was surprised at the way his match with Martirosyan played out. “I definitely expected a much rougher fight,’’ he said. “This was easy compared to what I thought we were in for.

“I fought smart and when I was told to pick it up, I knew what time it was so I did. I’m absolutely ready for a shot at a world title.’’

Martirosyan, who was cut over the left eye from an accidental headbutt in the eighth round, was visibly disappointed with the result.

“I positively feel 100 percent that I won that fight,’’ he said. “I was the aggressor and forced the action. All he did was run. I landed the cleaner punches. I definitely felt I won the last round.

“I was stunned by the headbutt [that resulted in the bout being halted while he and the ringside physician discussed the cut]. Sure my left eye bothered me after that and it was blurry. But that’s no excuse.

“I felt I was hurting him. He never hurt me once. I really don’t understand this decision.’’

Earlier Saturday, on SHOWTIME BOXING INTERNATIONAL, undefeated IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (34-0, 23 KOs) overwhelmed mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan (34-3, 18 KOs), dropping the Romanian-based Canadian four times before the one-sided beatdown was wisely halted after the fourth round at Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield, England.

 

Brook, of Sheffield, was making the first defense of the welterweight title he took from previously undefeated Shawn Porter last August on SHOWTIME and fighting for the first time since suffering a serious injury when he was stabbed in the thigh during a holiday on the island of Tenerife last September.

 

The exciting welterweight showed no ill effects from the layoff in an emotional return to the ring, registering two knockdowns in the second round, and two more in the fourth, with the final knockdown coming at the closing bell. Dan suffered the first knockout defeat of his career (to watch the knockout click HERE).

 

“I’m back, baby!” said Brook, whose devastating performance against the usually durable Dan electrified the hometown fans while paving the way for a major showdown in the future.

 

“It was truly amazing to walk out in front of all my fans. I didn’t think I would ever walk again, much less  box again. Here I am filling arenas. I can’t put into words how much it means to be back and defending a world title. It means everything to me.

 

“It was hard there holding it together. But this is where I belong. The leg feels fine. The leg feels as good as the other leg. There is no problem with the leg.

 

“If you’re watching Amir Khan, then get in here with me. I know you’re delicate around the whiskers. I’ll take you out.’’

 

The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader will re-air this week as follows:

 

DAY                                                                            CHANNEL

Tomorrow, Sunday, March 29, 9 a.m. ET/PT            SHOWTIME

Monday, March 30, 10 p.m. ET/PT                            SHOWTIME EXTREME

 

Saturday’s two-fight telecast will be available at SHOWTIME ON DEMAND beginning tomorrow, Sunday, March 29.

 

Brian Custer hosted the SHOWTIME telecast, with Mauro Ranallo calling the action, Hall of Fame analyst Al Bernstein and former two-time world champion Paulie Malignaggi commentating and Jim Gray reporting. In the Spanish simulcast, Alejandro Luna called the blow-by-blow and former world champion Raul Marquez served as color commentator. The executive producer of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING was David Dinkins Jr. with Bob Dunphy directing.

 

# # #

 

“Gonzalez vs. Russell Jr.”, was a 12-round world championship bout for Gonzalez’s WBC Featherweight World Title and was promoted by DiBella Entertainment. In the co-feature, Jermell Charlo took on Vanes Martirosyan in super welterweight action. The event took place at The Pearl Theater at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The event aired on SHOWTIME.

 

For more information, visit www.sports.sho.com, follow on Twitter at @SHOSports, @jhonnygbox, @mrgaryrusselljr, @TwinCharlo, @LouDiBella and @PearlAtPalms, follow the conversation using #GonzalezRussell, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing or visit the SHOWTIME Boxing Blog at http://theboxingblog.sho.com.

boxing, Showtime Boxing

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH WASHINGTON D.C. BOXER  GARY RUSSELL, JR. PRIOR TO HIS FIGHT WITH JHONNY GONZALEZTOMORROW ON SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®

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Gary Russell Jr. discusses his family’s boxing background, his father’s role in his corner, and his motivation following his first professional defeat to Vasyl Lomachenko. Russell steps in the ring for the WBC Featherweight World Title against defending champion Jhonny Gonzalez tomorrow,Saturday, March 28 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on SHOWTIME ®.

http://s.sho.com/1xCFbic

 

 

Click on the image below to watch, share and embed this video:

 

 

 

Share this video: http://s.sho.com/1xCFbic

(Photo Credit: SHOWTIME)

 

# # #

 

“Gonzalez vs. Russell Jr.”, a 12-round world championship bout for Gonzalez’s WBC Featherweight World Title, is promoted by DiBella Entertainment. In the co-feature, Jermell Charlo takes on Vanes Martirosyan in super welterweight action. The event will take place at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and will air on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT). The telecast will also be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP).

 

Tickets for the live event are priced at $200, $100, $75, $50, and $25, plus applicable fees are on sale. Tickets may be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or by clicking HERE. Tickets are also available online at www.ticketmaster.com.

 

For more information, visit www.sports.sho.com, follow on Twitter at @SHOSports, @jhonnygbox, @mrgaryrusselljr, @TwinCharlo, @LouDiBella and @PearlAtPalms, follow the conversation using #GonzalezRussell, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing or visit the SHOWTIME Boxing Blog at http://theboxingblog.sho.com.

boxing, Showtime Boxing, UK Boxing

JHONNY GONZALEZ VS. GARY RUSSELL JR. MARCH 28 UNDERCARD FEATURES TOP CONTENDERS AND FUTURE STARS

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LAS VEGAS (March 26, 2015) – The excellent night of fights featuring WBC Featherweight World Champion Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48 KOs)defending his title against highly regarded contender Gary Russell Jr. (25-1, 14 KOs) and top 154-pound contenders Jermell Charlo (25-0, 11 KOs) and Vanes Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21 KOs) squaring offwill be supplemented by a full night of undercard fights featuring first class fighters in tough matchups.

 

Get there early and don’t miss a minute of the action as doors at The Pearl at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort open at 2 p.m. PT with the first fight start just minutes later.

 

Tickets for the live event are priced at $200, $100, $75, $50, and $25, plus applicable

fees are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000or by clicking HERE. Tickets are also available online at www.ticketmaster.com.

 

Gonzalez vs. Russell and Charlo vs. Martirosyan airs live on SHOWTIME® at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

 

The exciting undercard features Jermell’s brother, Jermall Charlo (20-0, 16 KOs),looking to keep his undefeated record intact against the powerful Michael Finney (12-2-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round super welterweight bout.

 

Also in action is J’Leon Love (18-1, 10 KOs), who returns to the ring after suffering his first loss and will look to get back in the win column against exciting veteran Scott Sigmon (24-6-1, 13 KOs) in 10 rounds of super middleweight action.

 

Another exciting undefeated fighter, Ronald Gavril (11-0, 9 KOs), will compete in an 8-round super middleweight bout.

 

Former world-title challenger Cesar Seda (26-2, 17 KOs)makes his 2015 debut when he squares off against the young and rugged Cesar Juarez (15-3, 13 KOs) in a bantamweight bout scheduled for 8 rounds.

 

In more undercard action, undefeated prospect Thomas Hill (2-0) will look to keep his perfect professional record against Jeremiah Page (2-1, 2 KOs) in a 4-round super welterweight bout.

 

Rounding out the night is a battle of experienced super lightweights between Levan Ghvamichava (13-1-1, 10 KOs) and Derrick Findley (21-14-1, 13 KOs) competing in a 6-round bout.

 

Highly regarded and undefeated,the 24-year-old Jermall Charlo is primed for a world title opportunity along with his brother. He remained undefeated in 2014 with dominant victories over Hector Munoz, Norberto Gonzalez and Lenny Bottai. The Houston-native will take on the 23-year-old Finney out of Opelka, Alabama, looking to impress once again.

 

A top contender who was on the brink of a world title fight before suffering his first defeat, the 27-year-old Love is eager to get back in the ring and back in the win column on March 28. Before his defeat, Love put on an impressive boxing display on his way to a unanimous decision over Marco Antonio Periban in May 2014. He takes on a 28-year-old battle-tested brawler in Bedford, Virginia’s Sigmon who has been in with top fighters including Kelly Pavlik throughout his career.

 

Another fighter born outside the U.S. but now fighting out of Las Vegas, Romanian-bornGavril is a knockout artist with an undefeated record to match. The 28-year-old will try for his fifth straight knockout in a row.

 

A longtime contender fighting out of Puerto Rico, Seda finally got his first world title shot in Dec. 2013 but lost a unanimous decision to Leo Santa Cruz. He bounced back with a victory over Alex Rangel in 2014 and now the 29-year-old takes on a young brawler in the 23-year-old Juarez out of Mexico City.

 

An undefeated prospect who made his pro debut in Aug. 2014, the 20-year-old Hill will look to continue running through opponents on March 28. The Milwaukee-native faces the 21-year-old Page out of Wichita, Kansas.

 

The first fight of the night is sure to bring fireworks as two experienced fighters battle it out in the super lightweight division. Originally out of Poti, Georgia but now fighting out of Hayward, Calif., Ghvamichava is looking to get his third victory in a row. The 29-year-old will have a battle-tested fighter standing in his way in the 30-year-old Findley out of Chicago.

 

Gonzalez vs. Russell takes place at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and will air on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT). In the co-main event, Jermell Charlo takes on Vanes Martirosyan in super welterweight action. The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will also be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP).

 

For more information, visit www.sports.sho.com, follow on Twitter at @SHOSports, @jhonnygbox, @mrgaryrusselljr, @TwinCharlo, @LouDiBella and @PearlAtPalms, follow the conversation using #GonzalezRussell, become a fan on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/SHOBoxing or visit the SHOWTIME Boxing Blog athttp://theboxingblog.sho.com.