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boxing, Champions TKO Boxing Gym

Great Start To The Year – Seven Wins Out Of Seven For TKO

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We may only be just forty days or so into the New Year, but Johnny Eames and the Champions TKO team are already very, very happy with the way everything is going for them in 2015. First off, they secured new premises for the famous gym and now just over two weeks into the new Boxing year have had a string of seven successes for their ever growing stable of boxers.

 

Earlier today the aforementioned Mr. Eames took a little time out from his busy schedule to talk about the excellent start to the year, for his highly talented young prospects.

 

“Yeah, what a great start to the year for the Champions TKO boys.

 

First up we had four boys out at York Hall on the 30th January, unfortunately I couldn’t get to the show because my boiler burst and my house was flooded, but I kept in touch with everyone to make sure the boys were alright.

 

First in action was Antonio Counihan and from what I heard he put in another stunning performance, stopped his opponent in the third, after dominating the fight from the start.

 

As promised he now has an eight rounder in his next fight, on the Stephen Vaughan show in Liverpool on the 20th March.

 

Then hopefully he’ll get to do something up in Birmingham for an MBC International title or similar.

 

Next up on that show was Tasif Khan, boy did he shake the rust off, short and sweat, stopped his opponent in just sixty-five seconds.

 

From what I heard he put on a fantastic display, gutted I missed it but hopefully get to see him next time he’s out, which is also on the Stephen Vaughan Liverpool show in March.

 

Apparently the fight of the night was our Onder Ozgul’s, a real barnstormer Rio (TKO’s Gianluca Di Caro) said, all action and at a high pace as per usual from Onder.

 

This kid’s ready to move onto six rounders now, like his brother Siar, to be honest with you.

 

As I just said Siar did his first six rounder, again a cracking fight by all accounts, everyone’s so pleased with his performance on the night.

 

It sounds like he’s learned to judge his pace now, rather than go hammer and tongs for the whole six rounds, he paced himself nicely for the full six rounds.

 

On the following night we had Charlie Edwards, making his debut, and Tommy Martin fight for the English title at the O2.

 

Charlie, what can I say he was f**king tremendous.

 

For a kid having his professional debut, I was so impressed with his attitude and professionalism, he never wavered from what he had to do and the occasion never got to him.

 

When he got in the ring he was nice and cool, listened to every word that Brian (coach Brian O’Shaughnessy) said.

 

I told him that he didn’t have to impress, because he’s very good anyway, so no need to try and be good, as he is.

 

It was an absolutely perfect match for his first fight, not a walkover that some of the big names get, he was a very tough kid, who came to fight and really believed he could win, which played right into Charlie’s hands.

 

The kid got a systematic beating from round one to four, but that don’t take away from the kid’s own effort, because he was really trying and then Charlie caught him good with about six seconds to go and that was it.

 

It was just unbelievable, unbelievable I was just so impressed with Charlie.

 

Then we had our Tommy Martin, what can I say this kid walked into our gym two and half years ago now, just eighteen years old and I took a little gamble on him and I told his dad after his first fight, actually before the fight that I’d guarantee him ten wins and then I’ll let him off the lead, we delivered from our end, we got him ten out of ten.

 

I have to admit I was nervous going into the fight, obviously having trained his opponent, Ricky Boylan, previously so knew Ricky is a tough kid and thought he may outman Tommy, but it was totally the other way round, Tommy outmanned him to be fair.

 

Tommy slowed around the sixth round and I was worried that he had left something in the gym, but no problem he came back stronger.

 

I can honestly say I think Tommy only lost two rounds, perhaps one or two could have been shared, but that would be being kind to Ricky, that’s how much Tommy dominated the fight.

 

The scores were 99-92 and 97-93 twice, as you can see they were massively in favour of Tommy and rightly so.

 

Fair play to Ricky he never stopped coming, as we knew he would, but for me Ricky didn’t have enough movement, he was moving his head when out of range but wasn’t when he needed to.

 

Now onto our latest debutant, Mickey O’Rourke, but first I must thank all the fans that turned up for him.

 

He sold two hundred and twenty tickets but more turned up and bought tickets on the night, so probably had about two fifty turn out to support him.

 

They were great, very, very boisterous, they made it a great night for him.

 

Mickey was a bit nervous in the first round, once he got back to the corner Brian (coach Brian O’Shaughnessy) sorted him out.

 

Either way he still won the first round comfortably, the other kid made it hard for him, like holding all the time, but Mickey negated everything he tried to do.

 

Luckily the referee also was quick to break them up every time the kid grabbed Mickey, plus we got Mickey to let go with more than one shot to keep him from coming in to grab him.

 

He won the bout 40-36 but the way he boxed in the last round the other kid did well to hold on to the end.

 

In fairness the kid came up to me after the fight and said ‘Johnny sorry but if I didn’t hold him, he’d have stopped me.’

 

I’m happy with that, he was just doing his job and I think Mickey learned a lot from the fight.

 

The fans loved it, the first round as I said was a bit nervy but the next three rounds were exciting, Mickey’s going to be a crowd pleasing fighter, there’s no two ways about it, and I’m glad to be part of his journey.

 

My mate Colin sent him over to me and he’s been very well schooled at Dale Youth, which has made my job a bit easier and I look forward to his next fight on the 21st March.

 

I hope that all the fans that attended come again, as he needs all the support he can get as without ticket sales the journey stops and this kids too good for that to happen.

 

What can I say, fantastic results for all the boys and of course Champions TKO, seven out of seven, you can’t get better than that, hopefully we’ve set the trend for 2015.”

www.tkoboxinggym.com

 

boxing, Champions TKO Boxing Gym, UK Boxing

Martin Aiming to ‘Gun’ Down Boylan This Saturday

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St Neots, Camb’s Tommy ‘Da Gun’ Martin has the biggest fight of his young career this coming Saturday, when he challenges Carshalton’s Ricky Boylan for the vacant English Super Lightweight title, on the Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Sport promoted CAPITAL PUNISHMENT mega show, at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London.

Tommy, who’s just twenty years of age, has already amassed a career record of ten bouts, ten wins and three of those victories came by way of stoppage finishes.

Back in April last year, Tommy secured his first Championship win, the British Masters Bronze, with a shutout points victory over Michael Maloney.

Whilst young Tommy was busy celebrating his success, he was totally unaware that this victory had bought him to the attention of the UK’s two top promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren.

After meeting with both, Tommy decided that the chance to fight on the huge Matchroom Sport shows, whose events are broadcast live on Sky Sports, was his preferred choice.

As such his next fight see him travelling to Liverpool to face Ainsley Seivwright on the undercard of the Matchroom Sport promoted Tony Bellew versus Julio Cesar Dos Santos WBO International title fight.

With another solid victory under his belt, Eddie Hearn decided to really test his latest signing, by having him face Southampton’s Matty Tew in a ten rounder, needless to say Tommy came through with flying colours, stopping the highly experienced Tew in the seventh round, in doing so earning the right to make his first challenge for a major domestic title.

Following one of his final training sessions, a clearly elated Tommy spoke briefly about the upcoming showdown with Ricky Boylan.

“Yeah I’m over the moon, absolutely over the moon with it.

I’ve been training really hard for this for eleven, twelve weeks or so, I literally had a week off after my last fight and got straight back into the gym as soon as I heard the news about getting a shot at the English title.

I’m taking this opportunity with both hands, it’s what I want, I want to be fighting for titles, that’s why I’m boxing I want to be a Champion, not just any champion, I want to do this the old fashioned route, English, British, European and then go for the big one – World.

Everyone is saying this is as genuine a fifty-fifty fight as they come, not just the fight but also those forecasting the result. A lot of people are saying Boylan and an equal number of people are saying Martin, to my mind it is all going to come down to which Ricky Boylan or which Tommy Martin turns up on the night.

I honestly believe my plan A will be better than his plan A and my plan B is better than his plan B.

I can’t see him out-boxing me and I can’t see him out working me, I think I will be too quick and too sharp for him.

Winning the British Masters for me was a massive stepping stone, I absolutely loved the moment, it was an excellent stepping stone for titles like this one I have coming up. It gave me my first experience of Championship boxing, which puts me on the front foot on Saturday as I have already fought a title fight.

I want to say a huge thank you to close to five hundred fans that are coming down to support me on Saturday night, I really appreciate you getting behind me it means everything to me and hopefully I’ll give you a really good show and if all goes to plan I’ll have the English belt round my waist at the end of the night.

I promise I’m not going to make it easy for him, hopefully I’ll give him real problems on the night”

Tommy’s manager, the esteemed Champions TKO supremo Johnny Eames then spoke about his young charge and his upcoming showdown with ex TKO fighter Ricky Boylan.

“This is Tommy’s biggest fight to date, what’s more it’s against an ex-TKO fighter, Ricky Boylan.

It’s a genuine 50/50 fight, you can toss a coin to see who is going to win this one, it really is that close.

Obviously I lean towards Tommy, or else I wouldn’t have taken the fight on, but it ain’t going to be a push over.

Ricky comes to fight, he prepares himself well and he’s trained by my old mate Jamie Moore, with the Manchester boys, so we know he’s going to be well prepared.

I’m really looking forward to the fight, it’ll be a great fight.”

 

boxing, Champions TKO Boxing Gym, UK Boxing

Former Team GB Star Edwards Primed For Explosive Pro Debut This Saturday

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In just a few days time former Team GB amateur star Charlie Edwards is set to make his much anticipated transition to the professional ranks, when he faces Bentley, Yorkshire’s Craig Derbyshire on the Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Sport promoted CAPITAL PUNISHMENT event, at the O2 this coming Saturday, the 31st January.

Back in October, the former European Bronze Medallist announced his intention to move to the pro ranks. After a few weeks of discussions with his team and various promoters Charlie eventually made the decision to sign with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport organisation, a very savvy move indeed as not only are they the UK’s #1 promotional outfit, but more importantly all their events are broadcast live on Sky Sports, therefore ensuring excellent exposure for seriously talented multi-ABA Champion.

Charlie’s transition to the pro ranks has probably been a little smoother than for most young amateur stars these days, mainly because for the past year or so Charlie, as well as his younger brother Sunny, have been travelling to the famous TKO Gym in East London, the home to many of the UK’s top professional stars, both past and present, to be coached by Brian O’Shaughnessy.

As such the youngster enjoyed the best of both worlds, as Brian was a highly respected amateur coach, with a history of developing amateur champions, before applying for his pro license. Another bonus for Charlie being based at the TKO was the regular full on sparring sessions with many of the top prospects based there.

Following one of these sparring sessions, with Champions TKO gym mate Michael O’Rourke, both Charlie and Brian took some time out to speak about the youngsters upcoming professional debut, first up Charlie.

“I’m feeling great, my training’s gone really well and I’m in the best shape of my career so far.

I’ve been preparing at the Champions TKO with Brian (O’Shaughnessy) and my dad, I’ve got a strength and conditioning coach now, covering all angles to make sure I’m totally ready for my pro debut.

The hard work is really paying off, great shape, weight’s perfect, it’s been perfect for the past two or three weeks, so I am definitely in the best shape of my life and just can’t wait to get in there and prove that all the hype about me, because I know there’s a lot of hype about me and I have got a bit of pressure on my shoulders, with people expecting me to perform, so I’m going to go out there and box clever and make sure I perform.

I done virtually everything you can as an amateur, Olympic qualifiers, Commonwealth Games and I won seven National titles, ABA titles and GB titles, European Bronze medallist, European Gold medallist as a schoolboy, so have won a lot of titles.

I’ve had a look at my opponent, he’s on YouTube, he’s had two fights and lost two, he’s from Leeds or somewhere up in Yorkshire (sic – Bentley, Yorkshire) and his name is Craig Derbyshire.

He’s done cage fighting, he’s done a lot of Kick Boxing and that, he comes from a fighting background.

I know what he’s going to do, he’s going to come fighting right from the opening bell. The only thing is he comes flying in with his head so I’ve got to be clever and stay out of the way f his head and he’ll be there to be hit, I don’t need go looking, he’s going to come to me and I’m going to make him pay, that’s the way it’s going to go.

It’s another day at the office, I know it’s pro and everyone says it’s a big step up and it’s a different game, I’ve been winning titles without a headguard for about a year and half now, so it’s no biggy to me, it means I take my top off, which is better, I know when I take my top off in training I feel great, so yeah no big deal for me, I’m raring to go, I’ve fought in front of twenty thousand people up in Scotland, against a home fighter, so that’s the biggest thing I’m going to experience with everyone against me and on my back, so for me I get that extra buzz boxing in front of a big crowd, you can’t get batter.

I’m expecting nothing else, but victory all the way, like I said he’s going to come to fight, I’m not looking for no stoppage or anything, but I know in the way I am hitting, if he walks on to one, especially how open he is, I’m going to hurt him, so it may not go the distance.

I’m going in there prepared to go the distance, been doing a lot of sparring, eight threes, six threes, I mean I’ve just been sparring Mickey O’Rourke and he’s a sixty four kilo fighter and I’m not going to have anyone up against me like him, so I’m prepared a hundred percent, I’m leaving no stone unturned and really want to get in there and do the business.

I want to say thanks for all the support, it means so much when I put up stuff on Facebook and Twitter and get so much positive messages from so many people wishing me luck, I do that to show them I’ve been training, what I’m putting myself through so I can be successful, everyone is reacting so positively and showing that they are supporting me, I’m really grateful and going to really put a show on for every single one of my supporters.”

Then it was the turn of Charlie’s coach, the affable Brian O’Shaughnessy to talk about his young charge.

“Yeah, the 31st, not long to go now, just a few days.

It’s all looking good, Charlie’s been working hard, his transitioning himself for the pro ranks and it’s going really well.

Charlie first came to work with me at the TKO about a year ago, he says he’d been wanting to work with me for a few years, he’d seen me on the amateur circuit and liked the way I worked, so we got together last year and it’s all good.

I first see him when he was just a kid, you could see then he was going to be something special, so I was really pleased when he asked if I could start working with him.

Personally, I don’t see anyone in his weight division in this country, or Europe come to that, that would bother him, there’s not a lot of fighters in his category anyway and even the best ones we had seen as they progressed from the amateurs and they’re not a patch on Charlie.

The person he’s got on the 31st is a seasoned amateur, as well as has a Kick Boxing background, so we’ve always got to expect the unexpected, but we’re ready for that anyway, so expect a good, tidy win from Charlie.”

www.tkoboxinggym.com

boxing, Champions TKO Boxing Gym, UK Boxing

Praise For Counihan Ahead Of Jan 30th London Showdown With Kis

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Solihull’s Antonio Counihan has a date with destiny this coming Friday, when he faces Hungary’s David Kis, on the Shyam Batra promoted LEGENDS & PROSPECTS event at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London on the 30th January.

A good solid win this Friday is sure to set 23 year old Antonio firmly on course for a shot at either a domestic or International title later this year, even though this will be only his fifth professional bout.

Antonio’s excellent amateur pedigree is already well documented, former England captain, oodles of domestic and international accolades overflowing in his trophy cabinet etc, but it’s his impressive performances since turning pro, in October 2013, that make this youngster stand out head and shoulders above his peers in the Lightweight division.

Four outings, four victories is not that unusual for any upcoming prospect, but it’s not just these wins that makes him such a standout, it’s the way he totally outclassed and dominated each and every one of his opponents from start to finish, so much so that three of his opponents failed to go the distance, with just the one, Marcin Ficner, managing to hang on to hear the final bell, albeit losing by a shut out 40-36 points margin.

With these four excellent wins under his belt, it comes as no surprise that Antonio has been making a serious impression on a number of luminaries of the sport, including one of the most respected manager/coaches in the business, Champion TKO’s Johnny Eames, who clearly believes that young Antonio is already a genuine Championship contender, as he made clear when he spoke earlier.

“What can I say about Antonio Counihan, this kid is really special.

Like I said previously Antionio is the jewel in the crown, unfortunately he doesn’t box on a British Board of Control license, that’s one of those things, that’s the British Boxing Board of Control’s loss, not anybody else’s.

He’ll definitely, definitely will end up a Champion of some sort, that’s no doubt, we’re talking about this coming season, not the next seasons or whatever.

Top class international amateur, unbeaten in four as a pro and has looked better and better each fight.

A lot of praise goes to his father Paul and trainer Jon Pegg, who bring him fully prepared each time, he has a great following, his fans are fantastic, they come down from Birmingham each time he fights in London, which ain’t cheap and they are very, very vociferous with their support.

Looking forward to seeing him fight on the 30th, always excellent value for the money, this time will be no different, he’s a class act.”

Following the praise lavished upon him, by the esteemed Mr. Eames’, Antonio seemed a little taken aback when he spoke.

“I don’t know what to say, thank you, I can’t thank Johnny enough for what he has done for my career already, as well as what he has planned for me in the future, I’m lost for words, what can I say, thanks Johnny.”

Antonio then steered the conversation to the upcoming showdown with David Kis at York Hall on Friday as well as touched on the possibility of a title fight in Birmingham later this year.

“Yeah, off to London again this Friday, I can’t wait.

Everything’s been going really well, training’s been very good and all the fans have been buying tickets again, yeah looking forward to it, can’t wait to get in there again.

I know David’s (Kis) record, he has a half/half record, but I’ve never seen him box or anything, so don’t really know too much about him, I do my thing so don’t really need to know much about him.

Hopefully I’ll get a title fight soon, I don’t know the timing of it but yeah I’m ready when my team says I am, I did a six rounder last time out and have a six rounder this time too, so yeah definitely ready for a title fight when the team says I’m ready.

I’d love to fight for the title in Birmingham, I haven’t fought here for a while now, even my last amateur fights were internationals, for England and Great Britain, in fact I can’t remember the last time I fought in Birmingham.

I’d sell a lot of tickets if it was here, I sell a lot of tickets for London but would sell a lot more, I always get people coming up to me saying to let them know when I next fight in Birmingham, so if I fought here I would sell some big numbers, it would be a massive difference.”

Antonio Counihan versus David Kis will feature on the Shyam Batra promoted ‘LEGENDS & PROSPECTS event, headlined by George Hillyard versus Michal Vosyka WBU International Middleweight title clash, that takes place at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, on Friday, 30th January 2015.

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

Tickets, priced £30 (Standard Seated), £40 (Gallery) and £65 (Ringside) – are available direct from Paul Counihan – tel: 07976 735729 – from any of the boxers taking part in the event, on-line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or call the box office on 07960 850645

 

Boxcino, Champions TKO Boxing Gym, UK Boxing

Busy Month Ahead For TKO & Johnny Eames – New Gym, New Signings & Fights Galore

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It’s been a rather busy start to the New Year for the ever hardworking Johnny Eames and his entire TKO crew, whilst most of us took time off to enjoy the Christmas and New Year festivities, not so for Team TKO, who were busy at work, either with the rebranding and a move to new facilities for the famous TKO gym, or preparing for upcoming fights.

 

The gym, which had been based in Canning Town for the past eight years, has now relocated to Hackney and has been rebranded as the Champions TKO Boxing Gym.

 

With such a major project to undertake over the holiday season you would expect that some other elements of the multi-disciplined TKO would be put on the back burner, but no, Johnny has been as active as ever in signing new boxers, as well as burning the midnight oil getting fights for his stable of boxers, or negotiating Championship fights for the senior prospects in the squad.

 

When he finally found a spare few minutes, in between the seemingly never ending stream of phone calls, the affable Mr. Eames spoke briefly about the major changes, his exciting new signings, as well as the upcoming fights for his charges.

 

“Exciting times, it’s been hard work, but I’m sure it will all be worth it.

 

There’s still a lot of work to do with the gym, at the moment we’re only using half the floor space available, so we’re only training the pros there until we get to knock through to the other unit, then and only then when the gym’s completely finished will we start operating it full time.

 

The change of location has done us a big favour, we’ve got rid of a lot of the dead wood we had around us, now we have a really good strong team here, there’s myself, Rio (Gianluca Di Caro) and Mehmet Aba on the I suppose management side, if you can call it that as it’s the running and marketing of everything.

 

On the coaching team side, we have Brian O’Shaughnessy, Mo Hussein, Brian Lawrence, Mark Lowe, Mark Reefer, Larry Edwards, Dave Butcher, Mehmet Aba and of course myself.

 

As I’m going to concentrate mainly on boxers management and coaching, if any fighters out there are looking for management or coaching, they should give me a call.

 

Talking about management, we’ve just had two first class young former amateur stars sign with us, the first is Mickey O’Rourke, who used to box for Dale Youth, he’s a very good fighter and I really do think this kid is going to go all the way, he’ll cause a few upsets along the way.

 

The other is young Danny Arnold, he’s nineteen years of age and has won everything there is to win in the juniors and I mean everything.

 

He’s an absolute natural talent, I put him right up there with the natural abilities of our Kevin Lear.

 

Only his application is all wrong at the moment, he’s going to be a challenge but I’m looking forward to the challenge and if I can make this kid train right we’ve got a Champion for definite.

 

Fighters wise, we have seven out in quick succession, it all kicks off this week with four of the TKO boys out at York Hall on Friday, the 30th January.

 

From the gym itself, we have Onder and Siar Ozgul, they’re both good boys, Siar steps up for his first six rounder and Onder remains on a four for this fight.

 

They’re always crowd pleasing boys, always bring a good crowd to the table and I’m sure it will be a good night for the boys.

 

Also on this show is Antonio Counihan, who is probably the jewel in the crown of the TKO fighters, this kid is outstanding, he’s not trained by us here at the TKO, but he’s managed by myself and is probably the jewel in the crown as I said.

 

He’s got everything, absolutely everything, what’s more he’s got a great team around him in his dad and Jon Pegg.

 

He always brings a big crowd down with him and always puts on a great performance.

 

After this fight we’ll probably have him fight for a title, probably MBC International or similar, so let’s see how it goes, either way I’m really looking forward to it.

 

Also on this show Tasif Khan will be making his maiden outing under the TKO banner, he’s totally new to us, I haven’t seen him fight yet, he’s been out of the game for a couple of years, but he’s got a decent record and if enthusiasm wins titles then this kid’s already a Champion, because he drives me mad on the phone wanting to know everything, which is good, I like that in a fighter.

 

He’s seven and one, but as I say I’ve never seen him fight so can’t judge him on ability, but what I can comment on is if he fights as good as his enthusiasm then he’s a very good fighter and with seven good wins under his belt already am sure he is.

 

Tickets for the 30th January York Hall show are available on our Box Office, so if anyone fancies a real good night out on Friday, go to the TKO gym websitewww.tkoboxinggym.com or the TKO Box Office website www.tkoboxoffice.com

 

Next up we have Tommy Martin, who has an English title fight against Ricky Boylan coming up on the big Matchroom show at the O2.

 

It’s a tough 50/50 fight, it’s a fight I believe Tommy can win, otherwise I wouldn’t have put him in it.

 

I have a lot of respect for Ricky, as he was once a TKO fighter, you don’t expect easy fights when you’re at this level, so obviously it is going to be a tough fight, but I’m pretty sure Tommy will come through the winner.

 

Also on the 02 show on the 31st is Charlie Edwards, who will be making his highly anticipated debut.

 

Big things are expected from this kid, it’s our job at the TKO to keep this kids feet firmly on the ground and make sure he does his job right.

 

If training wins titles, then this kid is a World champion already, he just doesn’t stop training, he totally lives and loves the game.

 

He’s got a great trainer in Brian O’Shaughnessy, he’s doing a fantastic job with him and from my side it’s an honour to be part of young Charlie’s journey.

 

Next up on the 7th February, is our debutant, Mickey O’Rourke, who will be fighting on the Mickey Helliet show at the Camden Centre.

 

I’m really, really excited about signing Mickey, I’ve not been that excited about a new kid’s debut since Kevin Lear days, I really do rate this kid, I really do believe this kid is going to go a long, long way, in the boxing game and I’m certain he’s going to be a big ticket seller, he has a big family and I’m looking forward to meeting them all.

 

We’ve also got a few boys out in March, Freddie Turner, Joel McIntyre as well as some of the boys I’ve already mentioned, I won’t say too much yet as I’m sure Rio will be putting out interviews and releases on these nearer the time, but will say I’m really excited about the coming year, we’ve got some big plans, as well as big fights for our boys, and girl, this year, can’t wait.”

 

For further information on Champions TKO Boxing Gym and their stable of boxers, please see the website www.tkoboxinggym.com also please follow on Facebook and on twitter @ChampionsTKO.