Tag: British boxing

DJayBoxing Award

It is that time of the year where we look back over what boxing has given to the fans over the past year and we pick our best bits and top performers of 2017 , and i must say what a year we have to choose from .

Fighter of The Year

There have been some outstanding performers this year in the ring . Vasyl Lomachenko has made guys like Nicholas Walters and Rigo quit after taking them apart physically and mentally and ending the year in most peoples P4P top 3 . Terrance Crawford is another who has had an outstanding year becoming the undisputed champion at 140lbs after stopping Julius Indongo , which seen Terrance Crawford finally get the credit he deserves from the boxing world . Another who had a stand out year was Mikey Garcia who started the year with a bang winning the WBC lightweight championship with one of the Knock Outs of the year against Dejan Zlaticanin , made more impressive with the fact that Garcia was coming back from a 2 year lay-off , then in his next fight beat Adrian Broner at light welterweight .

So who is my Fighter of the year ? Well for me it can only be one person and that’s Sor Rungvisai . At the start of of 2017 the man widely regarded as the P4P best fighter in the world was Roman Gonzalez , a four weight world champion who was 48-0 before he met Thailand’s Rungvisai . Many thought Roman would have to much for the challenger but those thoughts where soon dismissed as Rungvisai sent the champion to the canvas early on . Both men battled to the very end but the judges had seen enough to award the Rungvisai the win and give Gonzalez his first ever loss as a pro . Fast forward six months and the pair where at it again in the rematch , again most had picked Roman Gonzalez to get his revenge and again Rungvisai proved the doubters wrong , and this time in emphatic fashion . He didn’t just beat Gonzalez this time , this time he Ko’d the Nicaraguan in emphatic style . Well done Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and i for one cannot wait to see what 2018 brings for him .

Fight of The Year

In 2017 we seen some of the biggest and best fights in years being made , fights like GGG/Canelo Garcia/Thurman even the highly anticipated rematch between Ward/Kovalev but the none of them could hold a candle to my winner .

Back in April we seen Anthony Joshua face his biggest test to date when he took on Former World Champion Wladimir Klitschko infront of a sold out Wembley stadium . The Heavyweight division has not been a division renowned for classic fights in recent memory but that was all about to change . Klitschko now at 42 years old and coming off a 18 month layoff after his shock defeat to Tyson Fury had us all wondering what he had left , well we where not wondering for long . From the off we seen a more mobile Klitschko than in the Fury fight , bouncing on his toes and using the full ring . Joshua was working the jab well in the early rounds but he was being forced to work every minute of every round , something the IBF Champion wasn’t used to . Joshua sent Wlad to the canvas in the fifth as the signs looked to be there that AJ could be on the brink of putting this legend away relatively early but that wasn’t to be the case . Klitschko picked himself up and really started turning the screw on Joshua , who was looking to be feeling the pace . In the Sixth it was more of the same from Klitschko who returned the favour and sent AJ down for the first time in his pro career . The signs looked ominous for AJ who was staggering around the ring and clinging on for the next few rounds , this fight really did look to have swung right round in Wlad’s favour . Joshua did start to stem the flow and as the balance of the fight evened out again it looked as though this one would need to be decided by the judges but that wasn’t to be the case . In the eleventh Joshua had fully recovered , and timed Klitschko coming in with a fantastic upper cut which seen the Wlad go into survival mode , heaven only knows how he stayed up , but he couldn’t survive for much longer as AJ sent him down for the second time , Klitschko did get up but the ref stopped the fight not long after ……what fight …..what a win for AJ .AJ vs Klitschko

Prospect of The Year

For me this is my favourite part , picking a young fighter who has set himself apart from the rest , showing he has the potential to push on to bigger things in 2018 .

There has been one young prospect who has impressed me above all the rest and that is Edinburgh’s Jason Easton . It has been a massive year for Easton (26) with three fights , each harder than the last .The first of the trio was against a Zoltan Szabo and Jason wasted no time in dispatching the Hungarian , stopping him in the second round which is all the more impressive when you think it took Robbie Davies Jnr nine rounds to stop Szabo . Up next was Steve Jamoye for the IBO Intercontinental on the Josh Taylor/Ohara Davies undercard . After a tricky start Jason took control of the fight showing some real grit where other mentally weak boxers might have crumbled , getting his reward by stopping the tough Jamoye in the the ninth round , a win which has seen Cyclone snap up Easton . Jason Defended his IBO Intercontinental title against Josef Zahradnik of the Czech Republic. At a packed Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh the crowd went wild for Jason as he outboxed and outfoxed his opponent whilst protecting a cut above his eye . Jason showed a maturity and that lessons had been learned from the Jamoye fight . When you think of the progression and opponents Easton has took on in 2017 you have to sit back and admire him as there aren’t that many 11-0 prospects taking the kind of fights and learning the kind of lessons he’s learning , i think 2018 could see big things happen for Jason Easton . Easton vs Jamoye MUST WATCH

Trainer of The Year

Trainer of the year is a is a difficult category to judge as there is so many factors to consider across a few subjects . Last year i thought Shane McGuigan had a fantastic year and has also had a very good 2017 but with Carl Frampton losing to Leo Santa Cruz in January , i think that rules him out of this year , had Frampton won then he may well have got the nod from me . This Year a trainer who has impressed me is Derrick James .

Some might think this is a strange choice but when i look at how Errol Spence Jnr and Jarmell Charlo have progressed over the past year i cant see how anyone else comes close . Spence is a superb talent and had been progressing nicely since the olympics but when he got his shot at the IBF Welterweight World Title against Kel Brook in Sheffield , no one really knew what to expect from Spence as this was his biggest test to date but you wouldn’t have known by the way he took the very experienced Kel Brook apart forcing him to quit due a fractured orbital bone late in the fight . Also fighting under Jame’s watchful eye is WBC Light Middleweight Champion Jarmell Charlo who since hooking up with James has looked to assert himself on fights more , and really does look like a killer in the ring with superb KO wins over Charles Hately and Erickson Lubin , both absolutely superb wins .

“When You Work This HardYou Appreciate It More” – Lewis Paulin Interview

“When You Work This HardYou Appreciate It More” – Lewis Paulin Interview

For boxing fans it is easy to be drawn to the very top of the sport , whether it be the glitz of Las Vegas , A massive stadium fight at Wembley or even watching the glamours World Boxing Super Series , following some of the biggest names in the sport . I think it would surprise a lot of armchair boxing fan to find out that some of the best fights actually happen in sport centres and halls all around the country , right on our doorsteps . On December 16 Lewis Paulin will fight for the Scottish Super Featherweight title against Stephen Tiffney in the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley . This fight see’s two lads from Edinburgh go head to head to see who is the best in Scotland and someones “0” has to GO and Lewis Paulin can’t wait .

“With us both coming from Edinburgh we are deffo fighting for bragging rights , we know each other , we are roughly the same age , we turned pro around the same time it makes sense for us to meet now and the winner will hopefully progress on.” 

MTK Scotland have some great card on this year but this “Christmas Cracker” did seem a little a strange as its in Paisley which is West of Scotland but the show is headlined by two fighter from the east coast .

“Yeah it is strange that its in Paisley but to be fair the venues in Edinburgh aren’t that great for boxing , Glasgow area does seem to have the better venues “

“Hopefully it will be busy with i being Christmas time , I know the public response shows there is a lot of people buzzing about this fight so i think it will be a busy show and it should be a good atmosphere”

The winner of this fight could be in a great position to push on to challenge for the British Title which is currently vacant , something that Lewis has thought about .

 ” Of course i have thought about that but i can only look at one fight at a time , hopefully i can dominate Scotland and then push on to the bigger things , but that is deffo a road we would look to go down “

At the start we touched on the Glitz and Glamour at the very top end of boxing but i wanted to know what it was like for guys like Lewis who have to find the right balance of  working there family lives and work around boxing .

‘ It is difficult and it is an issue , unless you have big sponsorship and enough backing  do this full time and you don’t have to worry about working , but we aren’t all as fortunate as that . I do work full time , but my work have been really good giving me time off to travel away to England for sparring so thats helped massively and my sponsors have helped so i am appreciative of that . Hopefully after a big win i hope to get another couple of big sponsors and that would make it more likely i could go full time “

The life blood of any sport comes from the grass roots and in the cut throat world of boxing it is so hard hard to make it as there just isn’t enough money to go round . The landscape is filled with young boxers who just couldn’t get the breaks or funding and regardless of there talent have just gave up on the sport .

“Unless you are one of the lucky ones who have made it to the olympic games its very difficult to get sponsorship , those first few years are very hard . Its once you start to prove yourself thats when more sponsors want to come onboard . Right now i train before work , go to work and then train at night , you don’t get any free time . When you work that hard you will appreciate it more .  

When Lewis was starting out as a young amateur boxed for the famous Meadowbank Amateurs who has brought thru some of the best talent this country has produced , a club which is now under threat due to its home in the Meadowbank Sports Arena going thru a revamp which has seen the club evicted with nowhere to go , I asked Lewis about the full situation .

“I am pretty gutted , the Meadowbank does need refurbished but the club have effectively been made homeless which is pretty poor. The club get a lot of people through the door no they lads have to go train in other gyms which isn’t great . 

“Hopefully they get something set for all the young guys coming through” 

Lewis Paulin vs Stephen Tiffney will take place on December 16 in Paisley . For tickets get in touch with Lewis Paulin through this link or here MTK Scotland .

Full Interview Click Here

Steven Donnell

The Rogue Anthony Joshua

The Rogue Anthony Joshua

I’m sure every man fantasises about being a multi millionaire , I’m sure we would all love to live a life of excess , travel the world , and I’m sure we have all fantasised and dwelled on the illusion that our lives would be trouble free due to our bulging bank accounts . I’m sure that as young boys we all fantasised about being a sports star, for me personally i used to dream of being a footballer , playing in the champions league in front of 60,000 adoring fans , granted i was an average when it came to talent as a young footballer but that’s the great thing about imagination , it doesn’t need any substance and it can defy the rules of reality . Today along with millions of other average Joe’s i go watch all sorts of professional sports and support guys who had the talent and watch them inspire the next generation to dream .

Antony Joshua is all of the above , he is a boxing superstar in the UK , he is a man that has came from humble beginnings to one of highest paid boxers on the planet, a man living all our dreams . A major factor in AJ’s success is the way in which he has been promoted by Eddie Hearn , Hearn has created an image of AJ that everyone can buy into and in doing so he’s created a product that big business will fall over themselves to be associated with , it really is the blueprint on how to make a superstar , but lately is there signs that this facade has started to crack ? .

A couple of weeks ago as Eddie Hearn was in New York seeing the launch of his first Matchroom show in the US when a very a out of character tweet to Tyson Fury from AJ’s verified account said ” @Tyson_Fury get fit you fat fuck” , this tweet flew into the face of the squeaky clean image that Eddie Hearn has tried so hard to project of Joshua , but what ensued next between IFL’s Kugan Cassius and Rogue AJ was actually entertaining and refreshing , have a look .

Then a week or so after this twitter exchange there was something even more bizarre and a bit more sinister to come from Rogue AJ on twitter . Eddie Chambers took to twitter claiming Joshua had sent him a tirade of abuse on twitter , and even a slight undertone of racism , again have a look .

I am the first to admit that this really doesn’t feel like AJ but for me Matchroom and Joshua’s silence has bee deafening . Eddie Hearn went on the defensive and claim it was a fake account , then 5 days later changed his story to he thinks the account has been hacked , but between these tweets Joshua had been active on his twitter posting pictures of his holiday in Dubai . Rouge Joshua has not limited to twitter , this week he took to snapchat and gave his views on Zimbabwean President/Tyrant Robert Mugabe being forced to resign due to pressure from his own people and the international community , a man who has ruled with an iron fist , using torture and greed to force his country into near starvation aswell as promoting Anti White propaganda . Here is what Rogue AJ had to say .

: “Why do they despise Robert Mugabe?” He later posted a selfie along with the caption: “Mugabe… is your view what you’ve been told?

““Or what you have learnt through research? Or what you’ve been programmed to know via media outlets?”

Now i am not one for letting a boxer influence my views on world affairs , especially not one who asked Kugan Cassius if Sri Lanka was in India , but this kind of talk is dangerous and irresponsible and if it is not the real Anthony Joshua , then Joshua and his team should be in the public eye trying to distance themselves from these image damaging comments. There is no doubt that Rogue AJ is far more interesting than the the AJ we have been spoon fed over the years but this race driven undertone doesn’t sit right with me . I do hope this is some hack but as i have eluded to , the reaction of his team does not fill me with confidence .

Steven Donnell

Taylor vs Vazquez – Preview and Prediction

Taylor vs Vazquez – Preview and Prediction

All to often in modern boxing we are being asked to fork out more and more money for subscriptions to boxing platforms such as BT,Boxnation and sky sports as well as a growing number of PPV events on Sky box office or ITV PPV , boxing is becoming a very expensive sport to follow . This weekend will see the latest instalment of Cyclone Promotion and Channel5’s boxing adventure when one of th UKs top prospects Josh Taylor takes on Miguel Vazquez in what should be a great fight and a fantastic night of boxing available to all on freeTV .

What can we say about Josh Taylor that hasn’t already been said . Taylor had a very good ameatur career picking up a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and then took the gold when the Games came to Glasgow in 2014 . Barry McGuigan signed Josh as soon as he turned pro and is convinced that Taylor is heading for a world title , saying in September

‘I don’t want him to be waiting too long. I want to get him into a world title fight within a year.’

And after the Tartan Tornados last fight against Ohara Davies its very hard to argue with McGuigan. Taylor didn’t just outclass Davies , he broke his heart forcing the Englishman to quit . It is hard at this stage to pin point any flaws in Taylor’s style , his footwork is superb, the way in which he glides inside to land his shots and then gets out before anything can come back is fantastic to watch .Maybe you could say that against Davies , Taylor was maybe to keen to get involved in a tear up on the inside , which all the experts had warned against ……then again he took Davies to skool on the inside aswell as the outside . If we want to be hypercritical we could point to the fight in the MGM in Las Vegas where Taylor took on Mexican Alfonso Olvera . Taylor didn’t look his usual free flowing self , Olvera was having some success in spoiling , and that is what Vazquez will come to do ,it will be up to Josh Taylor to find a way to win and win with style in front of his home fans .

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Miguel Vazquez is a very experienced fighter who has shared the ring with some of the best around , with the likes of Saul Canelo Aleverez and Timothy Bradley on his CV . As a former world champion with six successful title defences to his name ,Vazquez will be coming to Scotland demanding respect and looking to cause an upset . Anybody who has seen Vazquez fight would have noticed he does not fight like a Mexican , if you haven’t seen him and are hoping to see the style of Antonio Barrera or Juan Manuel Marquez , i am afraid you are going to be disappointed . Vazquez is a very good counterpuncher who will jab and move and look to work off anything coming his way from Taylor rather than force the fight  . The Mexican uses the full ring very well , is fit and disciplined but With just the 15 KO’s from his 39 wins Vazquez doesn’t have that one punch power , and that will mean Taylor will be able to take more risks without the worry of being cleaned out .

Prdiction:

This is a fascinating matchup which could see the winner move into a great position to challenge for one of Terrance Crawford’s vacated titles . This fight does have potential to become a chess match as Vazquez will look to land single shots and disengage . The fight will be decided on how Josh Taylor closes the gap , as i have no doubt that once Taylor closes Vazquez down , he will land the bigger, better shots . I think that after a slow start Josh Taylor will work the Mexican out and open up a big lead on the cards , i cant see Taylor stopping Vazquez due to the cautious style of the Mexican but i do think after a tricky start Taylor win wide on the cards .

OUR JASON EASTON INTERVIEW

Steven Donnell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linares vs Campbell -Review

Saturday night seen Luke Campbell push Jorge Linares in a way I didn’t think he had in him. The Ex-Olympian really put in a coming of age performance and was unlucky not to bring the titles home.

Linares vs Campbell

From the start as you would expect these two started very tentatively in the first round ,bur even this early you could see the tactics Luke Campbell was going to use to try and and keep the technician Jorge Linares off him . As i said in the preview Luke Cambell has a very good jab to work off , but we could see early that Campbell was also using jab to stop Linares getting close enough to go to work.

In the second round it was a bit of more of the same Jorge looking busy , but Campbell was  doing well  to minimise Linares’s work by good movement and judging distance relatively well ……well that was right to the the off the round when a momentary lapse in Campbell’s concentration let him down . As he was backing off Linares he made the mistake of coming back in a straight line , a mistake a man like Linares will punish given the chance . Linares landed a beautiful lightning quick  combination that sent Campbell to the canvas , although Campbell didn’t look hurt it was a warning for him that mistakes like that , at this level will be punished .

For the next few rounds where much better for Campbell , but without picking up any rounds on 0n my scorecard, but instead of getting his head down after the knockdown , he done the opposite ,Campbell cut out the mistakes and really started to use his jab brilliantly, keeping Linares at bay and really frustrating him as the rounds went buy , after 6 rounds i had 5-1 Linares (plus Knockdown so 6 points up)

Going into round seven and Campbell himself really looked to be growing in confidence . Not only had Campbell stuck to his game plan but he was moving round the ring and following up the jab , landing some nice shots . Jorge Linares was looking more and more frustrated , he just couldn’t get close enough to Campbell to make anything count , and when he was getting close he was being tagged by that Campbell jab . Round eight was more of the same , Campbell was really Starting to enjoy himself in there . I said in the preview that Campbell had never really impressed me since turning pro , well on Saturday he looked like he belonged in there with the best in the division .

Round nine was a close round ,and a round where Linares had changed his tactics . Instead of going for the lightning quick combos , Linares had started landing single shits when inside then getting back out as up until that point Campbell was catching him very regularly . It was a funny round Linares clearly took the early  stages but Campbell had his moments before a decent end to the round for Linares .In round ten we could definitely see Linares’s workrate going up , but Campbell was still in there plodding away with that jab but not as much work coming behind it now. Linares was mixing it up a bit more , but still only looking to land single shots at a time .

Going into the last two rounds Jorge Linares looked to have found a second wind just as Cambell may be starting to feel the pace . Campbell had fought a very well disciplined fight but maybe he was just slowing down ever so slightly which was giving Linares the chance to get inside more regularly , but make no mistake Jorge Linares really needed to up the pace when he did . Going into the final round you could see the respect Linares had for Luke Campbell , both men met in the middle of the ring with raised smiles before going to war for one last round . In the end Campbell went out to try and fight fire with fire , and did have successes in the round but most of the the eye catching stuff came from the champion Linares .

(DjayBoxing Card 7-5 Linares + knockdown 116-113)

So to the score cards we go and after last weeks debacle I’m sure there where a lot of nervous people in that arena Victor Laghlan 113-115 Campbell……Max Deluca 114-113 Linares , Zac Young 115–112 Linares and for me the right man won , god knows where Laghlan got that card from.

Now just before i leave you guys i would like to just say a massive well done to Luke Campbell . The news broke today that his fathert had passed away a couple weeks ago , for that lad to go out there and be that focused and push a guy like Linares to the very limit just shows how strong the lad is mentally .

Steven Donnell