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
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.comandwww.tkoboxoffice.comor call 07960 850645
26 year old Ryan “Crash Bang” Taylor is set to explode back into the big time when he faces undefeated Danny Gunn for the vacant International Masters Light-Welterweight title in front of what will be a sold out York Hall crowd on the Olivia Goodwin promoted “Best of Enemies” card on Saturday 21st March.
Talyor who was a highly touted amateur was undefeated in his first 8 fights including capturing the International Masters Lightweight title.
On his 9th fight he fought Liam Shinkwin for the Southern Area Lightweight title at Wembley Arena losing a close points decision. After reaching the Semi Final of the sky sports Prizefighter competition, Ryan then had his second attempt at the southern Area title in December 2013 at the Excel arena where he was defeated by Floyd Moore.
There was no doubt that the efforts of continuing to drain his body down to the 9 stone 9 lbs limit was draining Ryan. Ryan took a brief break from boxing and then teamed up with trainer Frank Greaves and Manager/Promoter Steve Goodwin.
A decision was made that Ryan needed to step up in weight and campaign in the Light-Welterweight division. Ryan returned to the ring in December 2013 where he was impressive in recording a points win over Vasil Vasilev.
Now it’s the big one. Danny Gunn is an undefeated prospect from Norwich who considers Taylor to be a stepping stone to the big time whilst Ryan knows that a title victory here will open doors to the bigger titles later in the year.
Full credit must be given to Ryan for taking such a hard fight on his second fight at the new weight “I have had incredible support for this fight” said Ryan “I would like to thank everyone who is coming to support me and I have a few tickets left so should anyone want to come please contact me.”
From Left to Right: Shyam Batra, George Hillyard and Marianne Marston.
Report and Photo: Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
On Friday night boxing fans from around the country made their annual pilgrimage to the York Hall in London for the first event, the Shaym Batra promoted, WBU Championship headed, LEGENDS & PROSPECTS, in the Capital in 2015.
There may have only been five fights, following the loss of both Australian Pierre Karam, who failed to obtain a visa in time to compete for the WBU International Heavyweight title, and the UK’s very own Steven Bendall, whose opponent fell through at the last minute, but the fans, including those that travelled all the way down from Birmingham, to support Antonio Counihan, and Bradford, to support Tasif Khan, must have felt it was well worth it, as it was a truly memorable night of boxing.
Heading up the show was Nazeing, Essex’s George ‘Hit Hard’ Hillyard against a late replacement in the Czech Republic’s Michal Vosyka.
From the off it was Vosyka taking control of the proceedings, the Czech fighter stylishly dominated the early part of the opening round, working off his mighty left hand jab to keep Hillyard at a safe distance.
Hillyard, was more than content to bide his time as Vosyka moved around the ring flicking his jab at Hillyard as soon as he made any move to close the distance.
Don’t get me wrong Hillyard did land some shots early on, but it wasn’t until around the second minute mark that the Essex lad managed to make any real impact but when he did it was with one of his trademark right hand exocets, a fantastic shot that virtually stooped the Czech in his tracks.
In a flash Hillyard let rip at the disoriented Vosyka with a sensational double handed assault to send him down to the canvas.
Vosyka boxed beautifully in the opening minute or so of the second stanza, albeit a little more cautiously, his constant strong jabs and double handed flurries left Hillyard no option but to play the waiting game once more, looking for an opening so that he could let a big right hand go.
More of the same in the third, but as in the first Vosyka made the fatal error of giving Hillyard the opportunity to capitalize on an opening, Hillyard’s no slouch, he was in there like a flash, letting rip first with a big right and then a double handed barrage to send Vosyka to the canvas for the second time.
Vosyka was much, much more cautious in the fourth, he was also more open than previously, which provided Hillyard even more opportunities to punish him big time.
Hillyard backed Vosyka towards the corner before letting rip with powerful lefts and rights before letting rip with a lightning quick left to the body, Vosyka had no option but to take to one knee, in order to get his breath back.
The moment referee Mickey Vann finished count, Hillyard literally shot across the ring and let rip with a massive right hand to the head, as Vosyka reeled back, off balance and heading back to the canvas, Hillyard let rip with a massive right to the head, sending Vosyka down and out fro the count.
Referee Mickey Vann was down at the side of the prone Vosyka in a flash, as was the ringside doctor and paramedics as a hush fell over the hallowed York Hall.
A minute or so later the silence was shattered as a round of applause from the crowd rang out, as Vosyka was helped to his feet.
Once Vosyka was given the all clear by the ringside medical team, MC Steve Holdsworth made the official announcement, which was followed by the WBU International Championship belt being presented to a clearly elated Hillyard by WBU Ambassador Marianne Marston.
Chief support see the stylish, unbeaten, Hackney based Turk Siar Ozgul step down a weight to Welter as well as undertake his first six rounder, against super tough competition in the form of Czech Republic’s Vladimir Fecko.
Right from the off Ozgul secured control of centre ring, utilizing his seriously strong jab to great effect, Fecko though was intent on wrestling control from the young Turk, which lead to some fantastic toe to toe action.
Both protagonists stepped up the pace in the second stanza, Ozgul really seemed to get into a flow, allowing himself to make some decent openings to test the mettle of the Czech lad, as he let rip with solid body shots.
More of the same in the next couple of rounds, but by round five Ozgul, who was well ahead on referee Ken Curtis’ scorecard, really went for it, what a round, Ozgul showcased his immense skills in fine style, picking off Fecko at every opportunity, from an array of angles.
Fecko, who was well aware to win he needed a knockout, came out hard and fast for the final round, Ozgul firmly stood his ground and what followed could only be described as a toe to toe battle royale ensued for virtually the whole round, much to the delight of the ~York Hall faithful.
After six sensational rounds of boxing referee Ken Curtis’ scorecard read a shut out 60-54 points victory for the younger Ozgul brother – although have to say Fecko made this fight what it was, yes Ozgul out-boxed him to secure each round but Fecko deserves praise for his performance also.
Prior to the third bout of the event MC Steve Holdsworth introduced a special guest to MC the bout, none other that sixties super star singer and actor Jess Conrad OBE, who then announced that it would be Siar Ozgul’s older sibling, Onder, that would be next in action, against Czech Republic’s Karel Horejsek, in a four round Light Heavyweight contest.
Without doubt the fight of the night, younger sibling’s Siar fight was first class, but Onder’s was to another level altogether.
It was an out and out war, it was all action from start to finish, with neither protagonist being willing to concede any ground whatsoever.
For the full twelve minutes of ring time, these two just went hammer and tongs at each other and for large amount of the time they seemed tied to each other as they fought it out at close quarters.
Praise has to be lavished on both Ozgul and Horejsek for such a magnificent display of the pugilistic arts, unfortunately there has to be a winner and a loser and it came as no surprise to anyone that Referee Ken Curtis scored each round in favour of Ozgul, as virtually every punch he threw not only landed but were by far the most meaningful, however as I said you can’t take anything away from the Czech lad as he made this fight what it was, he really came with one intention, to win, just this time he was against one of the toughest Light Heavyweights around, well the Turkish fans don’t call Onder ‘Little’ Mike (a comparison in style with ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson) for nothing.
The second fight of the night see the return of Bradford’s Tasif Khan to the ring, following a two year sabbatical from the sport, where he faced Richard Voros, a highly experienced boxer and kick-boxer from Hungary, in a four round Super Bantamweight contest.
Voros sprung from his corner as soon as the opening bell rang and went straight on the attack, forcing Khan to cover up, however it didn’t take the Khan too long to turn things around, with a good strong jab, before letting rip with a scintillating double handed flurry, which forced the Hungarian to cover up.
With the bit between his teeth Khan took full advantage by letting rip with super fast combinations at will.
The power and accuracy of Khan’s shots paid dividends almost immediately and on around the thirty second mark Voros was unceremoniously sent to the canvas for the first time with a massive right.
Khan really started to get into a rhythm, so much so picking off Voros with powerful shots to body and head with impunity, albeit for only a short while as on just before the minute mark he let rip with another cracking right to send Voros to the canvas for a second time.
Voros made it to his feet, only to be subjected to another huge barrage of punches, which forced Voros to cover up in a vain hope of making it to the end of the round, no chance, Khan just kept up the barrage until referee Ken Curtis had seen enough and stepped in to save the Hungarian from any further damage on the sixty fifth second mark.
The opening bout of the night featured one of, if not, the top British young Lightweight prospects, Birmingham’s Antonio Counihan, in a six rounder, against Hungary’s David Kis.
Counihan, who came into the fight with an unbeaten in four pro outings record, put in another World class performance, yes this kid is that good, out-boxing Kis, a twenty-five fight veteran, with ease from start to the early finish.
Counihan controlled the bout from the start, in doing so showcased the skills that not only earned him a place on the England amateur squad but also the accolade of becoming the England team captain.
Rounds one and two were more like an exhibition by Counihan, seemingly picking off his more experienced opponent at ease, his punches were clinical and powerful to the extreme, so much so that Kis made a visit to the canvas in both the first and second round.
By midway through the third Counihan stepped up the pace a little, in doing so put Kis way outside his comfort zone that the Hungarian had no option but to just cover up and hope that he could make it to the end of the round, unfortunately for him unsuccessfully, as on the two minute and fifteen second mark Counihan landed a peach of a right hand to send Kis to the deck for the third and final time.
The Brummie youngster has really taken to the pro game in style, Kis is no walkover, by a longshot yet Counihan made it look far too easy and his record now stands at five bouts, five wins, four by stoppage finish.
These were great performances, not just from the home fighters, praise must go to all the opponents too, more so to the likes of Karel Horejsek and Vladimir Fecko, who really did bring their A game, but each of the opponents came and did their best, just Counihan, Khan, the Ozgul brothers and Hillyard were just plain sensational on the night.
If this is the standard of events we can expect in 2015, I for one can’t wait for the next – bring it on!
On Friday evening, at the York hall in Bethnal Green, London, Nazeing, Essex’s George Hillyard put in a sensational performance to beat Czech Republic’s Michal Vosyka, to secure the World Boxing Union (WBU) International Super Middleweight title.
Vosyka started fast, working off his strong left hand jab the Czech stylishly dominated the early part of the first round, easily keeping the big punching Hillyard at a safe distance.
Hillyard, seemed content to bide his time as the much taller Vosyka danced around flicking his jab at the Essex lad each time he made any move to close the distance between them.
Although he had managed to land a few shots, it wasn’t until around the second minute mark Hillyard managed to really break through and land one of his trademark rock solid right hand shots, which clearly shook Vosyka to the core.
Hillyard reacted incredibly quickly to capitalize on Vosyka’s disorientated state, letting rip with another double handed assault to send the Czech to the canvas.
In the second round Vosyka once again boxed beautifully, but little more cautiously, his creative boxing style was clearly frustrating Hillyard, who again was made to play the waiting game, just taking any opportunity that opened up to let rip.
More of the same in the third, but as in the first Vosyka made the fatal error of giving Hillyard an opening, which the Essex boy capitalized on in an instant, letting rip first with a big right and then a double handed barrage to send an off balance Vosyka to the canvas for the second time.
Coming out in the fourth Vosyka was way more cautious, which provided Hillyard even more opportunities to punish him, which he did in a big way after about thirty seconds or so.
Hillyard backed Vosyka to the ropes and just let rip with massive lefts and rights to both body and head before letting rip with a wicked bone crushing left to the body, no surprise Vosyka elected to take a knee, in order to gather a break from the never ending onslaught.
As referee Mickey Vann ended the mandatory eight count Hillyard shot across the ring and let rip with an almighty right hand, which sent Vosyka off balance and heading back to the canvas, Hillyard was taking no chances and followed in with an even heavier right to the side of the Czech’s head.
Mickey Vann was straight to the prone Czech and in seconds so were Dr Rashid and his medical team.
After about a minute or so Vosyka was helped to a stool and a relieved York Hall crowd showed their appreciation with a round of applause.
After which they were even more vocal, when MC Steve Holdsworth made the official victory announcement, before World Boxing Union Ambassador and current MBC International Super Bantamweight Champion, Marianne Marston, presented Hillyard with the well earned spoils of victory, the WBU International Championship belt.
Following the bout the clearly overjoyed new Champion spoke briefly about the fight.
“I’m over the moon, really over the moon.
I’ve got just what I wanted, the WBU title, I’ve worked really hard to make sure I was ready for this fight, spent twelve weeks away from my family over Christmas and the New Year, now I can say it was worth it, it all paid off and I have the belt.
Personally from my point of view I didn’t really fight the way I know I can, respect to Michal (Vosyka) he bought the fight to me, really messed up my A Game Play.
When I hurt him in the first round, all I could do was look for that big shot all the time, yeah it worked out OK, but I feel I could have boxed him better.
Yeah, but now I’ve got the title, it doesn’t matter, this is what I wanted.
Word is my next fight is already lined up, word is if I win, which I have, my first defense will be against Michael Zerafa in Australia.
Obviously it’s not signed and sealed yet, as everything has to be agreed behind closed doors this week, soon as that’s all done, if it’s the right money yeah I’ll be going to Australia to fight Michael Zerafa.
I can’t thank the fans enough for their fantastic support, please keep supporting me as we move on to bigger and better things.
This WBU title has given me a right good kick up the backside, I promise I will be more than ready for my next fight too, I’m leaving nothing to chance, I’m back in the gym first thing Monday, no messing about, this is my belt and I aint going to let anyone take it from me.
I can’t thank the Malta Boxing Commission and the World Boxing Union enough, for giving me this opportunity to fulfill my dream of becoming a Champion.
The next couple of years are going to be really exciting now, we’re gonna go all the way, this is just what I needed, onwards and upwards.”
Please go online to www.wbuboxing.org or www.wbueurope.eu for additional information on upcoming WBU and WBU Europe sanctioned title fights.
On Friday 30th January boxing fans in London will once again be making their way to the famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, London for the first pro boxing event in the Capital of the New Year – the Shyam Batra promoted ‘Legends and Prospects’, headlined by the Hillyard-Vosyka for the WBU International Middleweight Championship.
A large majority that will be making their regular pilgrimage to the shrine of the pugilistic arts in the Capital, will be doing so to support two Hackney based, Turkish born youngsters, Siar and Onder Ozgul.
Over the past year or so the brothers have been building quite a reputation for themselves, as two of the most exciting, all action fighters in the Capital, their fan base has been growing at an incredible rate, so much so that as soon as it is announced they will be boxing on an event, their ticket allocation is usually sold out in a matter of days.
So just what makes these two lads so special and such a draw for fight fans you may ask, well for a start the older of the two, Onder, was dubbed ‘Little’ Mike by the Turkish fight fans back in his homeland, as he has is likened, fight style, to a certain ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson.
He was a regular member of the Turkish team that competed on the ‘World Series Of Boxing’ circuit, as well as racked up a numerous national and international accolades as an amateur.
Younger sibling, Siar, who also has a trophy cabinet crammed to the gills with the trophies and medals from his amateur career, is a little more refined in his boxing style, but still as with Onder presents an incredible forceful style of boxing that his opponents find very hard to cope with.
With five top class wins already under his belt, young Siar is the first to be stepping up to six rounders, as his team begin focusing on preparing him for the rigors of Championship boxing in the near future.
Following a normal day at the office, at the recently rebranded Champions TKO Gym in Hackney, Onder, Siar and their well known coach, former Commonwealth Lightweight Champion Mo Hussein, took a little time to talk about their upcoming fights as well as what the future may hold for the young stars.
Onder was the first to speak, “I’m comfortable with my training, I’m feeling really good and I’m determined to give a very good performance.
I don’t know about my opponent, I know he will come to fight and that is good for the fans, I’m ready for him and that’s good for the fans.
I’m ready to move forward, I came to England to fight for titles, I want to fight for titles that’s why I box, in the past things have happened that stopped me progressing but now I’m ready.
I’m not looking to be just an area champion, I want to be British, European and more than anything to be the World Champion.
When I am training that’s in my mind, train like a champion, I have big targets, I will be Champion.
The fans call me ‘Little Mike’ and I will not let them down, just like Mike Tyson I will be the Champion of the World, it doesn’t matter who they put in front of me I will win, boxing is my life.”
The highly affable Siar then spoke, “I have no problems moving up to six rounds, I was ready for six rounds before.
Now the opportunity has come up I’m very comfortable to do six rounds, even when I boxed at Light Middleweight, now I’m Welterweight I’m more ready than ever.
My aims are the same as Onder, I want to be World Champion, I will fight the best I can and earn the right to fight for titles.
God willing I will get the chance to fight for a title this year, English or International, I don’t care I just want to fight for a title as soon as Mo (Hussein) says I’m ready.
I’m ready for whoever they put in front of me to fight, I’m ready, no problem.
I’m happy with everything Mo is doing in training, I’m really, really happy, he’s a top trainer.”
Finally a smiling Mo Hussein spoke briefly about his young charges. “My thoughts on the two boys is I think they are both excellent prospects, I think the sky’s the limit and they are going to go all the way to the top.
They’ve already proved themselves, they train hard, they fight hard and live the life, there’s nothing to stop them.
The transition to the new Champions TKO Gym has been easy for them, it’s a nice gym and it’s local to them, it’s a bit more traveling for me but as long as the fighters are happy, I’m happy.”
Onder Ozgul versus Karel Horejsek and Siar Ozgul versus Vladimir Fecko 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 Tasif – tel: 07756 311857 – from any of the boxers taking part in the event, on-line atwww.tkoboxoffice.comor call the box office on 07960 850645
Khan Returns To The Fray On Jan 30th – Faces Voros at York Hall In London
On Friday 30th January 2015, Bradford’s Tasif Khan makes his most welcome return to the fray, following a two year sabbatical from the sport, when he faces Hungarian Richard Voros on the Shyam Batra promoted Legends & Prospects event at York Hall in London.
First time around Tasif, who turned professional in 2005, proved not only to be an exciting prospect but also highly popular with the fans, so much so that after just his sixth fight young Khan became a regular on events, at the Reebok Stadium in Bradford and at the M. E.N. Arena in Manchester, promoted by Ricky Hatton, including the Amir Khan versus Paul McCloskey WBA World Championship bout in April 2011.
For his return bout Tasif is set to face the Hungarian #4 ranked Richard Voros, a tough globe trotting fighter, who is more than comfortable competing in his opponents own backyards, including those in the UK, such as current IBF Inter-Continental Super Flyweight Champion Khalid Yafai, who he fought back in 2012.
Speaking from his Bradford home Tasif spoke briefly about his impending return to the ring on the 30th January.
“I’m really looking forward to the fight, I’ve been itching to be back in, it’s been way too long I’ve been out of the ring.
Mentally I feel good, physically I feel good and I’m more motivated and more hungry than ever.
I don’t know too much about Richard Voros, other than he’s an experienced fighter, I know he’s had quite a few fights and has fought all over in a number of countries.
I don’t doubt he’s going to bring his A-Game, so am I and I’m hoping to put on a really good display for my comeback fight.
This fight means so much to me, almost as much as when I fought at the M.E.N. on the undercard of Amir Khan-Paul McCloskey.
That was a great experience, I’ll never forget that night as long as I live, it was a great experience and great people.
I get on really well with Amir Khan and his family, they are great people, they really made it a great experience for me, all of it even during the build up to the fight.
I put in a really good performance on the night, it went really well and was a great experience and puts me in a good position for fights in the future, hopefully get to fight on more big events like that in the future.
At the time I didn’t really take it all in because of the moment of the fight and everything like that.
This should be a really good night and will be the first time I have fought at York Hall, really looking forward to that, as well as watching George Hillyard when he fights for the WBU International title.
I would like to say thank you to all my fans for traveling down to London, I know it’s a fair trek so really appreciate everyone for their support, whether they make it or not.
My family and friends have been great, by my side from day one, even with the absence I’ve had I’ve still had great support from everyone and want to say that I am dedicating this fight to my fans because they have been great and stood by me.
Also a big thank you to my sponsors Kingsland Business Recovery and Vyomax Nutrition, they have been great from day one, even through my absence and the injuries that have kept me out of the ring.
Finally I’d like to say thank you to Rio (Malta Boxing Commission VP Gianluca Di Caro) and Johnny (Champions TKO head honcho Johnny Eames) for their support and the work they have been putting in behind the scenes, it’s much appreciated, cheers.”
Tasif Khan versus Richard Voros 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 Tasif – tel: 07756 311857 – from any of the boxers taking part in the event, on-line atwww.tkoboxoffice.comor call the box office on 07960 850645
