Category: Boxing News

Impressive Debut By Conlan

I don’t think i have ever seen a pro debut so eagerly anticipated as that of Michael Conlan as he took on Tim Ibarra over Six Rounds on this St Patricks Day bout  . Over 2000 Irish fans and press had made the trip across the pond to take in this spectacle , and Conlan did not disappoint.

From the first bell you could see Ibarra was an awkward costumer who had a slight reach advantage and was planning on using every inch of it to keep Conlan away , and for the first round, at least  it looked to be a decent game plan as Conlan was finding it hard to get in range . That being said Conlan took the first round easy as Ibarra didn’t throw anything worth talking about and as the round went on the irishman looked to be settling down .

There are not many boxers out there with a better amateur pedigree than Michael Conlan but the big question was, Can he bring it to the pros ?…. Well in the second round we got that answer . Conlan came out the second round with a lot more intent , you could see he was getting closer to Iberra and about half way through the round he he got his reward with a viscous bodyshot landing which seemed to take wind out Iberra. From this point Iberra looked well out his depth only throwing back in desperation rather than intent, and the pro Conlan fans who where packed into the Theatre at Madison Square Garden where loving it , they knew this fight didn’t have long left.

Conlan picked up where he left off in third ,really catching the wounded Iberra at will , and after two minutes of intense punishment to the body the referee had seen enough . You’ve got to give it to Micheal Conlan for this performance, with all the hype from fans,press and promoters the pressure was on and Conlan handled it with style …….impressive

Steven Donnell

@DJayBoxingBlog @Dinobhoy86

Haye vs Bellew Preview

So its here, the latest sky sports box office hype job of David Haye vs Tony Bellew will take place later tonight , and i have to admit the bombardment from the sky propaganda machine has even worked on me . Since this fight was announced I’ve viewed it no more than a exhibition fight, how can you not , Bellew is a average size cruiserweight coming up to  heavyweight to face a Haye, who is still at this ripe old age is top 5  in the division , but that won’t put me off watching .

David Haye has been one of the UKs best heavyweights for years and will be going into this fight the faster, bigger, stronger of the two if he is 100% fit, and thats what this fight boils down to , Is Haye injury free ? . I have tried to take no interest in the WWE style trash talk and try to focus on how Haye looks in training, but the videos that are available are short and sweet so we don’t really have any real indication of how Hayes training . Also Haye did admit to going to Germany to get checked out to make sure he was fit to fight but i wouldn’t read to much into this . A more worrying thing for any Haye fans is that this will be Hayes first real competitve fight since he beat Chisora in 2012, this is where Tony Bellew does have a slight edge on Haye.

Tony Bellew will be coming into this fight a massive underdog in most peoples eyes . At yesterdays weigh in he looked quite flabby next to the well sculptured body of Haye . But Bellew is confident he can drag Haye into a dog fight and he belives this is where he can beat him , and I’ve got to give Bomber Bellew credit here, since starting to train with Dave Caldwell he has improved dramatically in every aspect, now even living up to the name “Bomber”but does he have the power to trouble Haye ? ….i doubt it . I also believe the Bellew camp are putting to much stock in Haye’s fitness as a David Haye fighting at 50% should still be to much for Bellew . For me i think Bellew should run for the first five rounds and come on strong the second half of the fight, a risky tactic but one that could use Hayes inactivity against him.

Prediction; Well this a case of choosing with the heart or the mind, The mind says Haye is a far to much for Bellew, the power and speed of Haye will see him KO Bellew inside 5 rounds . The heart well that beats a hatred for Haye , Haye is the embodiment of everything thats wrong with boxing . The guy is little more than a whore who will milk his fans without thinking twice ,and even tho i might have a betting slip with his name on it ,there will be nobody happier than me if Bomber Bellew can pull it off .

Steven Donnell

Deontay Wilder :Wild By Name,Wild By Nature

Well this is going to sound a little cliche but “Wild by name,Wild by nature” , thats how Deontay Wilder left me feeling after seeing him KO Gerald Washington on his big return to the ring after his latest hand injury .

Washington had come into this fight a massive underdog but actually took the first four rounds of this fight with relative ease as Wilder looked to be puzzled by the giant Washington. From the word go Washington established his jab and used good movement to have the WBC Heavyweight Champion chasing shadows and looking well off the pace , well that was until the fifth round where Wilders awesome power dug him out of a hole and gave us the result we all expected, a Wilder Win by stoppage.

This fight did leave me asking myself “Can Wilder adapt his style to protect his fragile hand?”. Anyone who has watched Wilder before will always comment on his unothadox style , he throws punches from obscure angles which opponents don’t see coming , but this is the reason why he’s already had three hand breaks and really boxing on borrowed time until the inevitable happens and his hand breaks again .Due to his hand I was expecting to see a more calculated Wilder against Washington, a Wilder who picks his shots,uses his jab and pretty much be a well rounded boxer,  but i was sadly mistaken . The Wilder that showed up did nothing until the fifth and only really looked comfortable when swinging from the heavans . The fact that these adjustments where not made leads me to the conclusion that maybe Deontay Wilder doesn’t have it in his locker to change his style, maybe he can onlt fight one way …..Wild .

Steven Donnell

Exclusive: David Brophy Interview 

So i had been invited out to Billy Nelson’s Gym in Airdrie to catch up with David Brophy before he heads out to Australia to fight Zac Dunn for the commonwealth title and watch him spar with a Brazialian lad Dieago, whomb David described to me as “one tuff guy” . we also got to catch up with Stephen Simmons and Gary Cornish and both looked in fantastic shape .David Brophy interview

In the Gym you get the feeling this is one close stable, a group who you can tell enjoy each others company . As the lads are getting ready there is a lot of laughter and storytelling, we where even treated to 3 jokes by Billy, the same 3 Jokes he tells anyone new in the gym according to Gary Cornish and even then he still managed to mess one up . Then Billys tone changes ever so slightly and the laughter stops as these lads get ready to go to work . Full David Brophy interview

After watching David look really impressive in sparring against a very tricky partner we got our chance to sit down for a chat :

so David how are the preparations going for the fight ?

“Aye its going well the training has went as planned , I’m feeling sharper every day . The sparring is going well,the running is going well and theres been a great atmosphere in the gym so I’m really enjoying this camp and I’m looking forward to getting over there, getting away from this weather and doing a job over here.”

Zac Dunn has a bit of a reputation as a puncher, does that worry you or do you think his power is a bit overrated ?

“uch it doesn’t worry me , I’m going over there and theres a ring there , a fight’s a fight . We have got to deal with this the right way ,he is powerful and he is fit but he’s beatable . We will get our tactics spot on,the preparation in the gym is going according to plan for this fight ”

I seen on twitter last week you had Liam Williams up for sparring, preparation doesn’t get much better than that does it ?

“Liam is a good friend of mine, we have helped each other out with sparring loads of times before , He (williams) has the biggest fight of his life coming up against Liam Smith which is going to be a cracker. So he comes up and i go to Cardiff sometimes and we have a great relationship that way and he was great sparring , he was here for 3 days so we got a 8 round  and 10 rounds of sparring in so it was great preparation , you couldn’t get any better than that”

I notice with Billy Nelson and yourself on twitter yous go at it , no holds barred, do you find it hard to separate Billy the mate from Billy the cornerman ?

“We  know there is a fine line between that, but I’ve known billy for 7 years now unfortunately . We’ve got a good relationship inside and outside the gym but its two very different relationships . Billy has done a lot for me inside and outside the gym and we do know when to change it . It is only banter on twitter ”

with the wealth in knowledge Billy has it must give you confidence to go over there and talk you thru any changes that might need made .

“Billy has been in these situations loads of times, world title fights everywhere with Scott Harrison and Ricky Burns so i couldn’t ask for any more experience to take over there with me . Its worked up to now but we do have a long way to go on our journey ”

We also had time to ask David his thoughts on the George Groves fight

The Last time i seen you, you where training hard to go fight George Groves in the bright light lights of London , how was that experience ?

“It was good in terms of experience but it wasn’t good what happend, don’t get me wrong if i get offered that fight again tommorow for no money i would take it because that experience is priceless to have . It never went our way last time ,it was bad,its the loneliest shower I’ve ever had . I got things wrong altho i wasn’t nervus before the fight maybe the big stage did overcome me a little bit”

Watch the full interview and more here

would just like to thank all the MTK lads and Billy for having us down, really was an education watching these guys .
Steven Donnell @dinobhoy86 @Djayboxingblog

Is Brook Ducking Spence ?

“Dodge, duck ,dip ,dive and dodge”these famous words of dodgeball Guru Patches O’Houlihan seems to have been adopted by IBF welterweight world champion Kel Brook when it comes to facing his manditory Errol Spence Jnr  .

For well over a year now, I’ve been shouting to anyone who would listen that this fight needs to be made. It did look like it was going to happen when Spence beat Chris Aligieri (very convincingly with a 5th  round stoppage) then called out Brook.  Now with Brook having a long lay off with injury, then coming back to defend his strap against Kevin Bizier, this looked like a great a fight and at the right time for both. As loud as Spence shouted, the silence from Brook was deafening . Then we had Eddie Hearn say in an interview “No matter how loud Spence shouts for the fight behind closed doors him and his people don’t want it, we would have no problem making the fight otherwise.”

Now anyone who has watched Spence over the years knows this is a down right lie, the kid has always looked to challenge himself and move up as fast as possible. As for Kel Brook, he has one world level win against Shawn Porter to his name, which was in August 2014, and although that was great win for Brook it was a close fight, in fact I know a few people who scored it the other way. Now Brook was supposed to fight Jessie Vargas which would have been fine with me but then we find out Brook never actually signed to fight Vargas in a unification fight, instead he elected to fight P4P superstar GGG at middleweight. Now this was ballsy, as he didn’t really have a chance in the fight or was it? Brook went into that fight knowing no matter what, he had a pass and not only that but his IBF title was safe at home where he likes it .

Now onto this week, we finally see Errol Spence Jnr brought up in an interview with Brook as the IBF have ordered him to fight the Spence fight next. As it turns out Brook only wants big paydays if he’s to bother making the weight but I can’t imagine he got paid big cash to fight Bizier. The massive stadium fight with Amir Khan is on for the end of the year, but Khan says “only if he fight Spence first.”

I was once a big Kel Brook fan, right the way up to the Porter fight. I thought Brook might just be in top 3 welterweights in the division but as it turns out Brook getting his hands on that IBF title was the worst thing that could have happened for the division, and for his fans . He didn’t want to go on the road to get the big names like Garcia or Thurman, he would rather stay in UK and hold the title hostage becoming an irrelivence . If I am being honest, I cannot see this Brook/Spence fight happening now which is a real shame as it would be a great fight. I can however, see Brook going up to 154lbs to try his luck .

Steven Donnell

Twitter-@dinobhoy86 @Djayboxingblog

 

The Weeknds Review ,Davis/Pedraza + DeGale/Jack 

well what a way to kick off the year,we where promised a big night by Floyd Mayweather and Eddie Hearn and we weren’t disappointed .

As a starter before the main course we had Jose Pedraza v Gervonta Davis for the IBF  super-featherweight title , a fight i had been intrigued by as it was my first time seeing Davis after hearing he was a top prospect but against Pedraza he was testing himself at a whole new level, refreshing for a lad of just 22 . Right from round one Davis looked to settle quickly, also sending a warning shot to Pedraza with a beautiful upper cut that he had came to win. As the early rounds went by anytime Pedraza tried to get his jab working he would be caught with by Davis ,backing him up ,Pedraza just couldn’t read these awkward shots from Davis .It looked as if Pedraza was trying to let Davis gas himself , which for me was crazy and letting the youngster build up an early lead, whilst landing some big shots . By round four Davis was still unloading and obviously trying to finish this one early but now Pedraza was having his success landing on Davis body also postuturing at every opportunity trying to get under Davis skin .At the halfway mark it looked as if Pedraza had sussed he could get to Davis on the inside and had some success there, but it didnt take this talented youngster long to work it out and he really shook Pedraza up with a beautiful left hook to the body then another to the head , by now Pedraza must have known this was slipping away. The victory came for Davis in the seventh,by this point there was very little coming back from Pedraza . Davis was ruthless with his bodyshots then switching to the head with unbelievable accuracy and it all eventually became to much as Davis sent Pedraza to the canvas thru the ropes and altho he made it to his feet the ref has seen enough . What a performance from this lad and what a way to announce yourself to the world, on this evidence there is plenty to come from Gervonta Davis and i can’t wait to see him in action again .

Time for the Main event, Badou Jack v James DeGale for the IBF and WBC super middleweight titles . In my preview i had picked DeGale saying he would have to much skill for Jack , and as the fight started thats how i looked like it would turn out . DeGale start quick and was moving well in the opening round against a cautious looking Jack . going into the last 30 seconds of the round DeGale sent Jack to the ground with a well timed over hand left which caught Jack off guard , even tho Jack was up quickly and didnt look hurt, it was a wake up call that he was going to have to slow DeGale down . Regaining his composure in the second round, Jack started to turn the screw by the third, landing some nice bodyshots which would pay back in dividends towards the end of the . Going into the middle rounds it was Jack who was really establishing himself , his bodyshops landing with great power and accuracy which was noticeably  taking the wind out of DeGale . When DeGale was landing most of his work seemed to be coming off Jacks gloves and arms , DeGale seemed to be taking a lot shots flush which was snapping his head back whilst only landing tapping jabs . Before this fight i had said i think DeGale could get to Jack on the inside , but it was Jack who looked the better and landing big on the inside . At round nine DeGale had to try and stop this onslaught from Jack and DeGale did show his class with a big round but altho he was landing more ,the quality of Jacks work was far superior. This late rally from DeGale set us up  for a nail biting finish,even tho Jack had dominated most of the fight that knock down in the first round could prove to be the difference . As both came out there corners it was clear that DeGale was a spent force , his face was in a hell of a mess and his legs looked heavy , in contrast Jack as ever was there showing no signs of slowing .After trading some early blows you could see Jack had lost respect for any power DeGale had and was ready to lay it on him hard . Jacks Hard work paid off sending DeGale to the canvas, as DeGale got up you could see he needed the bell, he had nothing left to give and was in survival mode as the relentless Jack went looking for the KO , the end came with both going toe to toe in the middle of the ring , what a fight this was from start to finish . For me there was only one winner, the tempo,quality and accuracy of Jacks work was far better than DeGales and when the judges scored it a majority draw i couldn’t help but feel for Badou Jack ,it was a close fight but Jack for me was the clear winner .

Steven Donnell

DeGale v Jack Preview and Prediction

Well folks its nearly time to kick off a great start to to 2017 with a mouthwatering unification fight between IBF Super middleweight champion James DeGale and WBC champion Badou Jack, in Brooklyn .

For me, James DeGale is the most underated boxer in the UK today. Not only  did DeGale pick his IBF title up on the road against Andre Dirrell, this will also be his third time defending it away from home, following tough tests against Lucian Bute and Porky Medina. On his day, DeGale is brilliant to watch. There are few that can switch from southpaw to orthodox as naturally as he can and these switches open up angles for DeGale to land his lightening quick combinations, and when it comes off, it really is a joy to watch. DeGale lacks power but after sending Dirrell to the canvas twice, he did prove that his timing can make up for that. However on DeGale’s last outing against Porky Medina he had a howler for his high standards. Medina’s high volume punching and constant pressure seemed to throw DeGale, resulting in him eating some big shots and spending most of the night fighting off the ropes, as well as long periods covering and tying up. Although his skills got him the victory on the cards, it was far too close for comfort.     Badou Jack has a totally different style to DeGale. Jack is really one of those guys with limited ability but what he can do, he does very well. When Jack fought Groves, he bossed Groves from start to finish also sending Groves to the canvas in stand out perfromance from Jack . His judgement of distance really was superb in that fight, he completely nulified Groves attacks before he could get inside (to expose what I suspect is his achilles heel). It really was a great performance against a George Groves that has given James DeGale his only loss to date. In Jack’s last fight against Lucian Bute, he was dragged into a fight that i didn’t think he had in him. Bute (as he did with DeGale), came for a war but in fairness to Jack, he stood up and showed heart and grit that I’ve never seen from him before in a very entertaining  fight that finished a fair draw .

Prediction: For this fight i just can’t see past James DeGale. I have a feeling Jack might just be taylor made for him. I think the way DeGale works his way inside will see him take this fight on the cards if not by a late stoppage. DeGale does have flaws that Jack has to exploit and Jack can’t let DeGale dictate the pace at which he fights. One big critisim of DeGale is he takes to much time off during the fight and as Medina showed , he can be got at and put off his stride . this should be good, intruiging fight .

Steven Donnell

@Dinobhoy86   @DJayBoxingBlog 

Sneaky Russian Povetkin and his Freakshow fight

Now i have been thinking of how i am going to go about writing this piece on a fight i have no interest in due to it showing massive flaws in boxing and it was taking part in a country that is embaressing most sports at the minute   .In Russia we where supposed to see Alexander Povetkin take on Bermane Stiverne for the intirim WBC Heavyweight  title, a fight i had joked about in the asylum writers chat should be good as both men will be like super humans with the amount of juice they will be pumping into themselves . Fast Foward a few hours and it was announced by the WBC they would not be sanctioning the fight as Povetkin had tested positive for muscle-building substance ostarine ,his second failed drug test this year, soon after it emerged that Stiverne would not be taking part in the fight now  it looked like Povetkin would not be fighting as he only had 24hrs to find a replacement …..enter Johann Duhaupas.

When i was watching this fight all that kept going thru my mind was ‘why am i watching this freakshow’ , i mean the thing was that disorginised that Duhaupas was in the ring with running shoes on,not that that made any diffrence because how prepared can you be on 24hr notice anyway . Duhaupas looked big and flabby,he didnt look like a guy who stays in shape between fights . The fight was only ever going to end one way and it came at the end of the sixth round, a lapse in concentration by Duhaupas saw him hit by three big shots which knocked him flat on his back out cold, was a great KO if not a valid one in my book .

Now that brief overview is as much time as I’m willing to give to the fight but there is something else i want to put out there thats been eating away at me. Why was Povetkin allowed to fight anyway ? . This is his second failed drug test this year, this guy shouldn’t be allowed near an event until he has proved himself innocent , we can’t have guys failing drug tests then going on and picking up a wage and winning a fight the next day, there has to be a deterant for cheats. Maybe Povetkin would think twice about doping if he was facing ruin finaccially due to lawsuits and massive bans but lets simplify this even more to a human level, ostarine is a muscle builder,for me that is the same as loading your gloves, if true he was trying to gain an advantage that would directly cause major damage to his oponent and that for me is the worst kind of cheat .

Povetkin KO
Steven Donnell @dinobhoy86 or @DJayboxingblog

Haye v Bellew : what a circus 

“I’m the money fight” he said “I’m the money fight ” and with that my fucking soul was destroyed. No folks this isn’t an extract from Floyd Mayweather memoirs,this was how far into the circus that is David Haye V Tony Bellew fight presser I was willing to go. Now let’s be honest with Bellew,Hearn and Haye all at one table this was always going to be a cringeworthy event but nothing could prepare me for what was unfolding. 

At the start we had the obligatory droning on of Eddie Hearn telling half truths mixed with shite, followed by a personal attack by David Haye on Hearn (which I did find rather entertaining) to which super Tony B jumps to his PIMPS defence which kicks off the worst kind of little girl argument you could imagine …..a little girl argument involving a scouser .

Now as I’m  writing this Iam still angry so might come across a bit harsh but I need to vent somewhere as the wife’s stopped listening to me. The worst bit of the full thing wasn’t David Haye all but gurenteeing ppv sales are massive with a well choreographed  left hook as the pair squared up, no the worst bit for me was Tony Bellew ,a man who was skooled by Chilemba started shouting “I’m the money fight” and then went on to talk about Hayes CV and shout he’s a world champion,due to his hostage WBC cruiserweight world title , it shows the shamelessness of the guy when he win a vacant title then defends it against a Doorman in Flores and now moving up to fight Haye so his titles safe and out of the reach of any mandatory challenger at cruiserweight, TONY BELLEW IS NOT A LEGIT CHAMPION 

I will be taking no further notice of this circus roadshow until fight night because to be quite honest Bellew/Haye are making a fool of the sport and it’s fans ,this is a massive mismatch let’s not butter it up I give Bellew next to no chance and after his WWE antics over the past few months I look forward to seeing him look a fool,laying on the canvas at Hayes feet ,the only down side is all we will hear from Haye is how good a win it is but hey it’s well worth it .

Dino @DJayboxingblog

Haye vs Bellew circus