Tag Archives: frank

Posted on 05/17/2018

By: Ste Rowen

Over the next three weeks, 3 of the 4 featherweight champions of the world defend their IBF, WBC and WBA belts. First to take to the ring will be IBF champion, Lee Selby, who stakes his IBF strap against Josh Warrington in a long awaited domestic clash.

The two will meet on Warrington’s home turf, and dream venue in Leeds’ Elland Road stadium. It’s a matchup that’s been long in the making, even before the two boxers moved over to Frank Warren’s, Queensberry Promotions from Matchroom, and in the ‘Face to Face’ programme which brought the two together to discuss prefight, Warrington said the rivalry stemmed from Selby’s disrespect towards the Leeds native,

Photo Credit: Frank Warren Twitter Account

‘In the early days, when the rivalry was building we shook hands and you seemed a bit timid about wanting to shake hands. I respected you from that day because you’d achieved everything. You did nothing from then on but downplayed my achievements…There’s been times when you’ve said, ‘Easy work. I’ll knock him out. Not on my level’ You’ve changed your opinion many times.’

Selby, 26-1 (9KOs) drew on his time when the two fighters were under the same promotional banner,

‘Your promoter at the time bought the titles off me in order to build you up in front of your crowd, otherwise you wouldn’t have had the Commonwealth title…Built you up ready for me to knock you out.’

The Welshman was last out in December on the James Degale vs Caleb Truax undercard when he dominated the previously unbeaten Eduardo Ramirez to a clear unanimous decision. That was Lee’s 4th defence of the world title he won back in 2015 after scoring an 8th round technical decision win over Evgeny Gradovich, a bout he was clearly ahead in before the head clash which ended the fight.

Since then, Selby’s fought away from home, and at Wembley stadium, so he’s not afraid of the hostile environment he’s expected to walk into on the night,

At the press conference earlier this week he said,

‘I should be ready to defend my world title anywhere in the world so it’s only 5 hours up the road from where I live. It’s not so much of a lion’s den…It’s just another defence.’

‘I treat every opponent the same. I don’t train for a certain style or opponent… The guys in Leeds want you to win, but the whole country is backing me.’

Warrington, 26-0 (6KOs) hasn’t fought since October, when he stopped 18-0-2, Dennis Ceylan in the 10th round and the man from Leeds has built a strong record, collecting some solid names, including victories over Rendall Munroe, Patrick Hyland and everyone’s favourite Spanish boxer, Kiko Martinez. Warrington, like at most events in the build for this featherweight world title clash, was once again in buoyant mood,

‘Last few months I’ve really put my body through hell…After all the talk of me and Lee fighting it’s come down to this camp and I’m gonna give it everything…I feel like this is meant to be…It’s come around how I always planned it.
‘There’s no need for anymore talking. On Saturday I get to punch you in the face… There’s no way you can or will be able to prepare for what you’re gonna expect on Saturday night.

Both fighters know that it’s not just a world title on the line on Saturday. Carl Frampton is still looking for someone to fight at Windsor Park in August, and this weekend’s winner is expected to be the opponent. But, with WBC champ, Gary Russell Jr facing off against the unbeaten Golden Boy prospect, Joel Diaz also on Saturday; the rematch of Santa Cruz vs Abner Mares in three weeks’ time, and Oscar Valdez making a steady return from injury since his defence against Scott Quigg two months ago, there’s plenty of options for the man who has his hand raised on the 19th in Leeds.

On the undercard…

Jack Catterall vs Mohammed Kani

The top of Saturday night’s undercard sees Jack Catterall 20-0 (11KOs) come up against 14-1 (0KOs) Mohammed Kani, to defend his WBO Inter-Continental super lightweight belt. Catterall had an impressive 2017 which included a 12-round decision victory over Tyrone Nurse to earn the British title, and he has already fought once this year, knocking out the journeyman’s journeyman, Kevin Macauley 15-163-12, with a body 1st round body shot.

His opponent, Mohammed Kani, also a southpaw, will be fighting outside of France or Monaco, for the first time in his pro career, a career that faltered slightly when he dropped an 8-round decision to fellow Frenchman Laid Douadi 14-0-1.

Speaking to ‘British Boxers’, Warrington didn’t seem to concerned with his opponent,

‘I’ve had a lot of southpaw sparring and orthodox so it’s not an issue. I know I’ve prepared for this fight no matter who they put in front of us so, I’m confident of putting another loss on his record on Saturday.’

Nicola Adams vs Soledad del Valle Frias

Two-time Olympic gold medallist, Nicola Adams will fight in her first schedule 10-round bout, in just her 4th fight when she takes on 13-11-4, Soledad del Valle Frias a former three-time world title challenger.

Adams, so far has only gone as far as 4 rounds and although she’s taken on a relative veteran of the female boxing scene, Nicola is just taking it as any other fight. Speaking to BBC she said,

‘This is another step up for me on my professional journey to a professional world title…My camp has gone perfectly and I can’t wait to fight in a football stadium for the first time.

Ohara Davies vs Christopher Sebire

Ohara Davies makes his first return to the ring since linking up with Frank Warren, after cutting ties with Matchroom at the end of last year.

Davies, 16-1 (13KOs) is schedule to fight the unbeaten, Josh Leather, 13-0 next month, so Saturday’s bout is expected to be a keep busy exhibition for ‘Two Tanks’. His opponent Frenchman, Christopher Sebire 26-10-1 (9KOs) is fighting in Britain for the second consecutive time, losing a 10-round decision to 20-1, Paul Kamanga back in November.

Posted on 05/02/2018

By: Oliver McManus

Hall of Fame boxing promoter Frank Warren inked a new 5 year deal with broadcaster BT Sport this week, bringing the likes of Tyson Fury, Billy Joe Saunders and Terry Flanagan to an audience in excess of 7million viewers and to celebrate the agreement, with 5 being the magic number, we take a look at five of the best under-the-radar fighters under the tutelage of Mr Frank Warren.

Josh Leather – Super Lightweight

We’ll start off with the first of two Leather brothers making their mark on the British boxing scene and Josh Leather, at 13-0, has already made sizeable waves boxing out of Imran Naeem’s gym up in Stockton.

A prodigious amateur talent, Josh made the move into the paid ranks back in 2013 with the backing of Warren from the beginning – quickly repaying the promoter’s faith with a full arsenal of attacking grit and flashy punches.

Last year proved to be the making of the Guisborough-born sharp-shooter as a sixth round TKO against Philip Sutcliffe Jnr on the undercard of Josh Warrington – Kiko Martinez, earned him the IBF Inter-Continental title and wide plaudits from those within the game.

The attention of the wider public would come in Newcastle, in November, with a ferocious battle against Glenn Foot that could easily have won Fight of the Year, whilst the scorecards were questioned by some, Leather showed heart to get back up from a rocking shot in the 2nd before rallying with relentless pressure in the final quarter to earn him the points victory.

2018 will prove to be a big year for Leather as boxing looks to make a big bang up North and Josh will certainly be part of the revival – a rematch with Foot is on the cards but, regardless, he’ll be in cracking fights all over the place.

Tamuka Mucha – Welterweight

A new signing for 2018, it will be interesting to see what route Frank Warren and Tamuka Mucha go down after a scheduled fight with John O’Donnell was beset with injuries and postponed no less than three occasions.

With 17 fights under his belt – 16 victories – since turning pro in 2012, Mucha is certainly at the point in his career where he’s capable of a step-up, the Zimbabwe-born, Berkshire-resident, has already proven himself at a domestic level by knocking out Erick Ochieng in the 6th round – not an easy feat – before outpointing Tommy Tear (11-0) 99-93 in February 2016 to cement his reputation as one to watch.

Since then Mucha has stayed active and kept on improving – particularly with a nice victory over Paddy Gallagher towards the back-end of ’16 – but 2017 proved to be a frustrating period in Mucha’s boxing career.

A narrow points loss (57-56) to Serge Ambomo who, now, comes with the “can bang” warning label set him back a step before the tumultuous nature of THAT clash against John O’Donnell left Mucha in limbo.

This year will be about shaking off those cobwebs, getting back in the ring and doing what he does best – THROW BOMBS!

Harvey Horn – Flyweight

Harvey Horn brings into the professional game a quite prestigious amateur career, despite still being just 22!

The former World Series of Boxing representative, Horn hails a strong fan-base with a 300-strong army attending his first home WSB bout, with standout honours including the U22 European Championship and a WSB victory over Nico Hernandez (2016 Rio Bronze medallist).

A technical fighter who thrives on taking his opponents past their comfort zones and into the later rounds, Horn pulled off two victories in as many months between December and February by beating Denis and Patrik Bartos (no relation).

5ft2 and a southpaw, the flyweight holds all the aces when it comes to style with the young London fighter having advanced significantly under the guidance of Mark Tibbs; what has proven to be most appealing on the eye, perhaps, is his fighting stance.

Sounds a weird thing to notice but it’s always nice to see a youngster take to the centre of the ring and execute their own game-plan to perfection – I remember watching an amateur bout of his against Serge Neumann a couple years ago on YouTube and being impressed with his constant work-rate and willingness to step back for a second before landing the punch, instead of rushing.

2 and 0 as a pro, Horn has the poisoned chalice of being an imperious European talent in one of the lighter weight classes, meaning match-making will always be a nightmare, but what a fighter!

Joe Maphosa – Flyweight

Another one of those tricky flyweights is Joe Maphosa, slightly taller than Horn at 5ft4, who has maintained an exquisitely regular profile in the boxing ring with six professional fights since his debut in May 2017.

Snapped up by Warren straightaway, Maphosa has kept busy by boxing on various undercards, and has continually built up experience with four consecutive points victories – 16 rounds of vital learning for the 24 year old – with the flyweight having not lost a single round.

Again, a GB amateur squad member and WSB fighter, Maphosa has the requisite amateur experience to warrant an expedited journey up the pro ranks and the determination to reach the top is far from lacking.

Indeed the star is capable of fighting at fly and super-fly, with a delightful patience ensuring he’d be a challenge to all who enter the ring with him – a strong front foot, followed up by combinations of hooks to the body seem to be his trademark move and it was nice to see Joe turn up the heat in the fourth round of his last bout and secure the stoppage.

I think it’s safe to say Smokin Joe is on track to catch fire any time soon…

Jordan Thompson – Cruiserweight

Transitioning from the tennis court to the boxing ring certainly doesn’t sound easy but it’s a switch Jordan ‘Troublesome’ Thompson has made with relative ease – when aged 16, Thompson was in the Top 10 of British tennis but has said he “wasn’t accepted”. Well tennis’ loss is boxing’s gain, so I’m not complaining!

Eight years later, the muscular physique of Thompson has seen him home with an unbeaten ledger of eight victories and six knockouts.

The early stages of his professional career saw him drop all of his first three opponents before further punishment would see the referee wave off the contests – a troublesome right hand was earning a reputation to be feared.

Three fights in 2017 saw Thompson scheduled for 10 rounds before stopping Michael Pareo in the first round – it was a scintillating performance from the Manchester-man that saw him drop his Belgian counterpart on three occasions and showcase his power to full effect.

Mild mannered, Thompson always comes across as relaxed and calm when out of the ring and often looks relaxed in it too – tougher challenges will surely come in 2018 for the cruiser prospect but you’d back him to deal with them in his stride, as well.

And there we are with our top five boxers to keep an eye on from Frank Warren’s stable and with that five year BT Sport deal, there’ll be plenty of opportunity to keep an eye out on these guys as they make their journey to the top!

Posted on 04/11/2018

By: Ken Hissner

Marshall Kauffman’s King’s Promotions return’s to the Sand’s Event Center Friday night with their second show in a week. It’s been a year since southpaw Frank De Alba, 22-2-2 (9), of Reading, PA, had his last fight in defeating Ryan Kielczweski, 26-2 at the Sands Event Center in Bethlehem, PA. On Friday he will return to the Sands Casino in the main event taking on O’Shaquie “Ice Water” Foster, 12-2 (8), of Houston, TX, over 10 rounds in the Super Featherweight division.

De Alba’s last two fights have been cancelled out to the disappointment of his loyal fans. He is on a five fight win streak since losing to Omar “Big O” Douglas, then 15-0 at the Sands in 2015. That was his only ten rounder and Friday will be his second. His opponent is a former national amateur champion with over 100 amateur fights and was in the 2012 Olympic Trials.

The co-feature features Cruiserweight Luther Smith, 9-2 (8), of Bowie, MD, takes on ever dangerous Elvin “KoKo” Sanchez, 8-3-1 (6), of Paterson, NJ, over 8 rounds. Welterweight Craig Callaghan, 17-1 (7), of the UK fighting out of Houston, TX, takes on Cesar Soriano Berumen, 28-37-2 (17), of Iztacalco, MEX, over 8 rounds.

Featherweight Juan Sanchez, 5-0 (2), of Allentown, PA, takes on Vincent Jennings, 5-4-1 (4), of Grand Rapids, MI, over 6 rounds. Welterweight Jesus Perez, 3-0 (1), of Reading, PA, takes on Anthony Sonnier, 3-0 (2), of Seattle, WA, over 6 rounds.

Welterweight Denis Okoth, 2-0-1 (1), fought a week ago at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia scoring a mild upset defeating Philly’s Rasheed Johnson, 3-1. He takes on Philly’s Greg “Lil Greg” Jackson 8-5-1 (2), over 4 rounds. Featherweight Martino Jules, 3-0 (0), of Allentown, PA, takes on Phillip Davis, 1-1-1 (0), of Worcester, MASS, over 4 rounds. Super Welterweight Laured Stewart, 3-0 (2), of Guyana fighting out of Sydney, Australia, takes on James Robinson, 4-9-4 (1), of York, PA, over 4 rounds.

Posted on 02/24/2018

Frank Warren’s 2018 kicked off with an emphatic bang last night as his brightest prospects made decisive statements at York Hall, Bethnal Green, to lay the foundations down for an enthralling 2018.

Photo Credit Box Nation Twitter Account

The Untouchables featured three mouth-watering fighters in title bouts as Anthony Yarde defended his WBO Inter-Continental and European titles against Tony Averlant, Daniel Dubois looked to retain his Southern Area strap against DL Jones and Zelfa Barrett took on Ronnie Clarke for the vacant IBF European Super Featherweight belt.

Light-heavyweight Yarde was the headlining act for his 15th professional fight and was up against a durable Averlant, who’s a fair bit better than his 26-9-2 record suggests, in a scheduled 10 rounder. An obvious step-down from, Yarde’s previous opponent, Nikola Sjekloca this was all about putting in a performance in order to set-up exciting clashes against fellow Top 25 opposition for the duration of 2018.

Averlant was looking to prove he had what it takes to compete at the European level with the 33-year-old having fallen short at every other opportunity, most notably from a crunching body shot courtesy of Juergen Braehmer back in 2013.

The fight didn’t start off quite as you’d expect with Yarde opting to patiently sit back and wait for Averlant to approach him before unleashing a handful of heavy right-hand punches against the body of the Frenchman. Movement from Yarde was the prime skill displayed over the opening three minutes as he evaded the shots of Averlant and did well to cut off the ring for his opponent.

That momentum and unfamiliarity of style continued into the second round with Averlant goading Yarde into an opening attack before landing his own series of shots on the WBO #2 – Yarde seemed relatively unfazed and hit back but, nonetheless, Averlant seemed to be a trickier test than many anticipated with Yarde reluctant to be drawn into a firefight.

Order was restored with the bell to mark the beginning of the third round with Anthony Yarde giving reason to his Beast nickname, unloading on his opponent with thunderous shots to both head and body. Often with his hands down by his side, Frank Warren’s prospect slammed his right hand into the head of Averlant, following through with his whole body, reddening the face but no real combination shots to add to the pain.

A quiet fourth and fifth round followed with Yarde undoubtedly dominating but just wearing down Averlant as opposed to seeking to expel him from the ring – the sixth round saw him step the fight up a notch with a plethora of body shots, similar to Juergen Braehmer’s tactics, fatiguing the ribs and solar plexus before a slaughtering shot at the ropes dropped Averlant on the 90 second mark. Mere seconds later and the Frenchman was down again, he hung on until the end of the round but Yarde was ready for the kill.

Averlant had proven to be as durable as can of baked beans but with blood in the water, Yarde wasn’t going to mellow on the Frenchman and battered the body so bad you could order it at your local chippy! Survival mode kicked in for Averlant but his spirit never died regardless of the sheer bombardment coming his way.

With the referee reluctant to stop the fight and Yarde look set to bounce Averlant out of the ring, the French corner pulled their man out at the end of the 7th round to give Anthony Yarde the win AND an enhanced ranking with the WBO. He retains the European and Inter-Continental version of their titles so the only question left is ‘who’s next?’.

Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois was looking to explode into 2018 with a convincing win over his unbeaten Southern Area rival DL Jones who was going into the contest with 8 wins and a single draw – coincidentally that draw came against Dorian Darch, Dubois’ last opponent.

Weighing at his second heaviest career weight Dubois was still the lighter man as his 36 year old opponent weighed in at 110.2kg (243lbs) and behind that stocky frame was a fighter looking to cash in on his career high payday (reported to be near £15,000).

The first round proved to be the hardest of Dubois’s professional career with DL Jones looking to hold for the most part whilst trying to swing in from a crouched position – at times it was reminiscent of a wrestling bout but Jones was successful in subduing outlandish levels of power beheld by Dubois.

Dubois adjusted well into the second round as he begun to tee off against Jones by the ropes, aiming for the body of the Sheerness-born opponent. Visibly frustrated was Triple D but he kept the jab popping into the face of the former army veteran.

Biding his time before eventually unleashing an uppercut followed by a flurry of body punches, Dubois was picking off his challenger with ease whilst never really clicking into gear before relaxing in the third round and letting his natural power come through.

Pinning Jones against the ropes around the halfway mark of the third, Dubois shellacking his man with punishing jabs to the head along with big right hand overhead hooks – three, four in a row – enforcing the pain on Dave Jones. The smile on his face failed to mask the buckle in his legs and a concussive right uppercut-straight combination saw him collapse to the canvas.

A third round knockout for Daniel Dubois to make it seven wins, seven early baths, saw the 20 year old retain his Southern Area title and we’ll see him back out at the O2 on April 14th as he looks to make 2018 his year.

On paper the toughest fight for the three main protagonists came as Zelfa ‘Brown Flash’ Barrett faced Ronnie ‘The Shark’ Clark for the vacant IBF European Super Featherweight championship; Clark, the former British title challenger, represented the biggest step up for Barrett, 19-0.

Determined to steal the limelight from the start, the green-haired Shark gained the best of a tentative opening first round with neither boxer willing to impose their fight plans and both struggling to connect with anything clean and that rhythm followed into the second portion of three minutes with Clark doing well to pressure Barrett against the ropes but failing to ask serious questions of the 24 year old.

Voices from some corners described Barrett as “drawn” during the weigh-ins and public work outs and that started to show as the fight progressed with the, relatively big, super-feather finding it tough to adapt to the southpaw stance of his more experienced opponent.

The fourth round seemed to spark something into the Shark who was now finding the body of Barrett with increasingly alarming consistency to the extent that after switching to the head and landing with a sharp uppercut, the Dundee-man simply smiled.

Relaxed but effective best described the fighting style of Ronnie Clark but by no-means was he in the clear as his Mancunian opponent kept his head moving and shots firing – if not necessarily connecting – to make the first four or five rounds still 50-50.

Barrett was pressing his case across the opening minute of the sixth, upping the tempo and attacking Clark with real grit and gusto but, in a sudden switch, was hit by a stunning, straight, left-hand jab countered by a right hand uppercut that sent his body to the canvas, his teeth to the crowd and his head to the clouds.

From that moment Clark pursued Barrett in relentless fashion, throwing bombs for the remaining 90 seconds in a round of pure hell for the pre-right favourite; whilst Barrett regained his composure during the break between rounds, the only punch of note in the seventh was a left hand from the youngster that was deflected well by Clark.

Into the middle-to-late rounds we went and they seemed to mirror the opening three, after some scintillating rounds of boxing both men needed a breather. When the fight ignited again, around the ninth round, Zelfa managed to find a good flurry of shots to the body of Clark as he began to edge his way back into the fight from a shot which, to be fair , would have stopped many a lesser fighter.
The healthy flow of punches continued into the 10th round of super-featherweight action with both men exchanging leather, Clark trying to drive Barrett back towards the ropes but the Mancunian firing in with repetitive shots of his own.
Championship rounds are the ones that win fights and Barrett was aware of that, making a strong start to the 11th as he kept Clark in sight and having, by far, the better of the exchanges in terms of work rate and consistency but the more eye-catching skills were coming from the man from Scotland.

With both fighters wanting to seal the win the 12th round was always going to be an absolute belter and so it proved with both men giving it their all, sapping their energy with combinations from both men in a phone-box competition marred only by the Barrett’s gum shield dropping out. Clark kept the right hand leads flowing into the body of Barrett whilst receiving the full artillery from his opponent. Clark was static but sensational, Barrett lucid but lacklustre.

To the scorecards it went with no-one in the venue able to confidently predict the outcome; 116-111, 116-111, 114-114, a majority decision to the NEW IBF European Super Featherweight champion Ronnie Clark, but by five?

Also on the card we saw Nathan Gorman stamp his authority over Morgan Dessaux to move to 12-0 in the heavyweight division; Archie Sharp stopped Ivan Ruiz Morote in the 7th round to improve his record to 12 wins, no defeats, in the super-feather weight class; Ryan Garner returned to the ring after 6 months out with a points decision over Lesther Cantillano, The Piranha goes seven without defeat; in the super middle division, Umar Sadiq beat Yailton Neves comfortably to go to 2-0; Hamza Sheeraz obtained the same record at super-welter; Boy Jones Jr went 8 rounds in the lightweight division but enhanced his record to 15-1-1 whilst Harvey Horn moved to 2 and 0 in the flyweight division.

Posted on 02/21/2018

By: Oliver McManus

Billed as The Untouchables, Frank Warren presents his first night of boxing in 2018, coming from the iconic York Hall, Bethnal Green, and broadcast live across BT Sport and BoxNation; initially slated for a February 10th date at the Copper Box Arena, the card suffered a setback when headliner Zolani Tete had to withdraw from his WBO Bantamweight defence against Omar Narvaez following an injury to his leg and, then, Bradley Skeete’s opponent withdrew, resulting in us here on the 24th!

That’s the pre-preview complexities done with and now onto the so-called Untouchables of which Anthony Yarde, Daniel Dubois and Zelfa Barrett are touted as – realistically only Yarde and Dubois can lay some claim to such a title but, nonetheless, let’s take a look at the stacked card of action coming our way;

Anthony Yarde has the honour of headlining for the first time in his career and will be facing off against, Frenchman, Tony Averlant in a defence of his WBO European and Inter-Continental titles that he’s held since last year.

Having moved up to Number 3 in the WBO rankings and Number 7 within the IBF, Yarde has captured the attention of the world and will be looking to make a statement in his 15th professional bout, will Averlant be the 13th consecutive Yarde opponent to be stopped within the distance?

Averlant brings with him, across the Thames, a 26-9-2 record with losses scattered all the way across his record – the most recent being in September 201D6 against Dominic Boesel for the WBA Continental and WBO Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight titles, but he’s fought at full European level twice before.

Two inches taller than Yarde, Averlant undoubtedly marks a drop in quality from Nikola Sjekloca – who was Yarde’s last victim, via fourth round TKO – but the Top 75 fighter brings his own unique set of challenges to the explosive power of Frank Warren’s hot prospect;

A left hand that can best be described as enthusiastic will be his main asset, Averlant will look to keep that in Yarde’s face as often as possible in order to disrupt his game-plan, countering it with repetitive right hand jabs. Should Averlant be able to put Yarde off his rhythm then the key will be to keep popping shots into his face as that’s the only way he’ll be able to scupper the expected outcome.

As for Yarde there is no secret that he’s one of the Warren fighters hotly tipped to go all the way and capture a world title within the next 18-24 months and it’s clear to see why given the attributes he possesses;

The muscular stature of the Hackney-born fighter is imposing with the tattooed physique of Yarde looking more reminiscent to that of a cruiserweight as opposed to light-heavy and his hand powers stands further testament to that statement – power personified, Yarde became the first man to stop Sjekloca and has shown no mercy throughout his career as exemplified in his fight with, the vastly underrated, Chris Hobbs back in May last year.

Power isn’t his only asset, however, with the footwork off The Beast being arguably his best skill and one which is far more useful than one-punch knockout power – it’s one thing to knockout an opponent but it’s another to out-skill and embarrass the man.

Should The Beast come through this fight unscathed then 2018 will be set up as a big year and surely the quality of opponent will take a significant step-up after this card – Frank Buglioni for the British title and Karo Murat for the European strap, are just two of the names in the mix.

Daniel Dubois is the next of Warren’s “Untouchables” in a Southern Area heavyweight defence against DL Jones – who’s last fight was a draw against, Dubois’ previous opponent, Dorian Darch – in a contest that provides a plateaued quality of opponent ahead of a calendar year that has promised opponents of constantly-increasing calibre.

Dubois has long drawn the scorn of critics hell-bent on dismissing the 20 year old as nothing but a hype job owing to the destructive nature in which he’s dispatched the six previous men to have entered the ring with him in the paid ranks.

Scuppered twice by last-minute withdrawals – David Howe withdrew from Dubois’ debut fight and an unbeaten Mexican did the same for Triple D’s first title fight for the WBC Youth Heavyweight title – but has still shown raw power despite the opposition.

When fighting Darch, Dubois matched Anthony Joshua’s performance TO THE SECOND by dispatching the Welshman after 51 seconds of the second round against a game, front-footed fighter.

In Jones he faces an unbeaten man looking to protect that 0 – a factor which always brings out extra grit in a fight – who should have won against Darch, but for a points deduction and a flash knockdown in the 2nd;
The Kent-based boxer looks impressive with a 6’5”, 245lbs (112kg) frame but, in spite of his size, lacks any significant power to trouble, even, journeyman such as Tomas Mrazek and Jiri Svacina – Dubois’, on the other hand, already has elite-level power.

46 rounds across his eight fights – all going the distance – has been evidence of Jones’ high work-rate which should be the key test for Dubois in attempting to break-down someone who’s gone eight rounds before and has strong stamina.
Frank Warren has already gone on record as being keen to get his protégé out again as soon as possible with an eye to getting him either on the 14th April World Title double-header at the O2 or the Selby-Warrington undercard on the 19th May.

For Dubois to attempt, at least, to silence his critics he will need to show more of his impeccable dynamism (he’s not called Dynamite for nothing) but, more specifically, his footwork that has impressed the likes of, former World Champion and GB Amateur coach, Richie Woodhall.

Having already imposed his right-hand jab to perfection and drawing comparisons with Lennox Lewis as a direct result, he’ll be looking to pop out the left-hook to effect more frequently at York Hall after punishing Darch with it last time out – all eyes are on Dubois with no-one really expecting Jones to cause an upset so the question is, just how good will Daniel look?

Our final in-depth preview takes a look at the third and final title fight on the bill as Zelfa Barrett battles it out with Ronnie Clarke for the IBF European Super Featherweight title with the winner of this 50-50 domestic dust-up securing a Top 15 world ranking as well as eeking their way closer to a challenge of Kenichi Ogawa’s short tenure as World Champion (unlikely but, hey, stranger things have happened).

Initially slated to face Ivan Ruiz Morote from Spain who is ranked around 350th in the world by BoxRec, the change in opponent means Zelfa Barrett now faces the most credible opponent of his 19 fight professional career.

Clarke, a former British title challenger, represents a whole new array of problems for Barrett who’s yet to be fully pushed to the limit and The Shark has already thought this year – making an outing against Dean Evans on the 3rd February – so is fully fight-fit and ready to launch an assault against Brown Flash’s perfect record.

Despite being 33 the best of Clarke is far from on the other side of the hill with, arguably, his best career performances coming in 2016 when he successfully beat Jordan McCorry for the Scottish Area super-featherweight title and narrowly lost to Martin Joseph Ward for the British version. Two years on and this is his first return to title level but his performances have been convincingly consistent to warrant such a match-up.

Typically a defensive fighter, the Scotsman is a rugged boxer who’s hard to break down so could test Barrett by taking him into the championship rounds – let’s not forget that Barrett has only gone 10 rounds once so is still a relative novice over that distance.

Having said that, Clarke is the first and, so far, only opponent to have dropped Ward in thanks to a scintillating over-head left-hand which goes to prove he’s by no means a one trick pony and if Zelfa decides to take his foot of the gas then, boy, he could be in for 10 rounds of hell.

For Barrett, then, the key is to stick to his basics – work the jab and not let his opposite man settle into any sort of rhythm. Against Chris Conwell last year, for the English title, Barrett was at his most impressive when he was oozing with confidence and able to be light on his feet, working that ramrod left hand into the body and head of the 31 year old whilst remaining fluid enough with his movement to avoid getting tagged.

Boxing at range is what he’s best at so it would be dangerous to get involved into a phone-box fight where he could, unnecessarily, be dragged into danger. Range can often be mistaken for a sign of timidity but for Barrett it allows him to dictate the pace of the fight whilst unloading his stinging left hand hook into the ribcage of his opponent.
Although initially I said this was a 50-50 fight, if you’re going to lean towards someone then it should be Barrett because, on his day, he is easily the best super-featherweight in Britain and to have such a unique combination of lucidity, defensive awareness yet powerful precision and explosive movement ensures a very successful career for the young man – on the proviso, of course, that he comes through this testing bout.

Also on the card; heavyweight Nathan Gorman looks to move to 12-0 following his win over Mo Soltby for the WBC International Silver title back in November whilst Boy Jones Jr (14-1-1) looks to make it four wins on the trot following his loss to Craig Poxton for the Southern Area Super Featherweight title back in February; Archie Sharp continues his ascent of the same weight division by attempting to move 12 and 0 with Ryan “The Piranha” Garner looking to go 7 without defeat in the paid ranks, also in the Super-Featherweight catergory. Umar Sadiq, Harvey Horn and Hamzah Sheeraz are all taking part in their second professional fights at York Hall and will seek to round of a successful night for Frank Warren’s brightest stars.

Posted on 11/20/2017

By: Ken Hissner

Reading’s southpaw super featherweight Frank DeAlba, 22-2-2 (9), returns for his fifth appearance at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem, PA, Tuesday night. It’s a Marshal Kauffman King’s Promotions 10 bout event over USA FOX Sports 1. Doors open 6:30pm.

DeAlba will take on Ivan “Bam Bam” Najera, 17-3 (8), of San Antonio, TX, for the UBF International super featherweight title. “Everything is good. I put in a hard 8 week camp,” said DeAlba.

The co-feature will have unbeaten welterweight Mykal Fox, 14-0 (4), of Forrestville, MD, taking on Marlon Aguas, 9-1 (6), of Quito, ECU. Lightweight Victor Vasquez, 8-3 (3), of Yonkers, NY, takes on Ricardo Garcia, 14-0 (9), of the Dominican.

There will be about five boxers on the card from nearby Allentown. Top area prospect super featherweight Joseph Adorno, 4-0 (4), of Allentown looks to extend his knockout streak taking on Jahaziel Vasquez, 1-5, of Monterrey, MEX. Allentown featherweight Juan Sanchez, 3-0 (1), takes on James Early, 2-1 (0), of Seat Pleasant, MD. Allentown’s bantamweight Harold Lopez, 1-0-1 (1), takes on Jerrod Miner 1-0 (0), of Philadelphia, Allentown’s super bantamweight Hector Bayanila, 1-0 (1), takes on Jose Elizondo, 2-3-1 (0), of Reynosa, MEX. Allentown’s featherweight Martino Jules, 1-0 (0), takes on Weusi Johnson, 2-6 (0), of Wilmington, DE.

Featherweight Marcus Bates, 7-0-1 (6), of DC, takes on Antonio Rodriguez, 11-19-1 (5), of Durango, MEX. Heavyweight prospect from Brooklyn, NY, making his debut is Michael Polite Coffie who takes on Ralph Alexander, 0-1 (0), of Lanham, MD.

Posted on 11/15/2017

By: Oliver McManus

Boxing returns to Belfast in a couple of weeks’ time with Carl Frampton returning to the ring for his first fight in Northern Ireland since February 2015.

With two World Title fights on the bill, it’s hard to decipher who the real headline act is but a cracking night of action is guaranteed on Saturday 18th. Promoted by Frank Warren and live on BT Sport & BoxNation, the card features Zolani Tete, Jamie Conlan, Paddy Barnes, Darryll Williams and, of course, The Jackal himself.

Jerwin Ancajas defends his IBF World Super Flyweight against, Belfast’s own, Jamie Conlan; Ancajas has been steadily building up his profile in the Asian hemisphere, having captured the title back in September last year against McJoe Arroyo – since then he’s made two defences against Jose Alfredo Rodriguez and Teiru Kinoshita, to move his record 27-1-1.

Jamie Conlan will be in his first fight for 8 months, his last runout saw him take the vacant WBC International Silver title to move him up to 4th in the IBF Rankings and 3rd with the WBO. 19 and 0 with 11 knockouts, Conlan has already won the Commonwealth Super Flyweight Title as well as an array of Continental belts but gets his first World Title shot at the age of 31.

Conlan will be facing his first southpaw since, journeyman, Elemir Rafael way back in January 2012 so he could find it tricky to deal with Ancajas’ cagey nature in the opening rounds but will look to get on the front foot quickly, establishing his open stature and giving room for his sharp, snappy, right hand.

Ancajas, known as Pretty Boy, has built a growing reputation based on a patient fighting blueprint with deceptive knockout power. With a strong, powerful, right hand jab, he’s capable of keeping his opponent at length before turning on the fast, flashy, footwork to throw a trademark left hand hook.

His movement is unquestionably better than Conlan who has often been criticised for being “flat-footed”, and Ancajas’ lucid body movement could prompt flush air-shots from The Mexican.

Nonetheless Conlan always comes ready for a scrap, a brawl, and is never afraid to just let shots fly if he feels the heat start to crank up – home advantage is nothing to be sniffed and with 11,000 Irish fans roaring him on, you could do worse than put your money on the 11/4 priced amateur legend.

Carl Frampton is next up, he’ll be facing Horacio Garcia – a fringe fighter from Mexico, with a 33-3-1 record. Scheduled for 10 rounds, this will be the 30 year old’s first bout since his majority decision loss against Leo Santa Cruz in their second encounter.

With Frampton’s previous fight cancelled after his opponent, Andreas Gutierrez, suffered facial cuts and broken teeth the night before their clash, this will be his first bout under MTK management and with promoter Frank Warren.
Although The Jackal, with a record of 23-1, narrowly missed the weight for that postponed battle, he’s decided to stay at the Featherweight division and a convincing win against the 27 year old Mexican could set him up for an instant return to World level and, indeed, a tantalising trilogy with Santa Cruz.

Horacio Garcia seems an uninspired choice of opponent given that he’s never competed at anything higher than regional level – he’s challenged twice for NABF titles but never taken home the belt. Consider that less than 4 months ago he was outboxed over 8 rounds by Diuhl Olguin (at the time 11-6-3) and it’s clear that Garcia is already on the downward slide.

Carl Frampton will be looking to go through the motions once more and shake off any ring rust that he may be suffering; having reduced his sparring workload by ½ in order to prevent lasting brain injuries, any competitive rounds under his belt will always be useful but the 2-time World Champion will want to utilise his fast, flying hands, to make a statement to the rest of the division.

Having already conquered the Featherweight and Super Bantamweight divisions, should Frampton come through this with ease and go on to avenge his sole loss, we could see him attempt to become Northern Ireland’s first ever three-weight World Champion and capture the crown of the Super Featherweight division.

Also on the card is the WBO World Bantamweight Title fight between, the champion, Zolani Tete and, challenger, Siboniso Gonya; Tete was installed as champion following Shohei Omori’s transition to Super Bantamweight, having already captured the interim title against Arthur Villanueva in April this year.

Born in South Africa but fighting in the United Kingdom, Last Born has quickly been adopted by the city of Liverpool as one of their own – in no part hindered by his explosive power and all-round cheeky nature.

Fighting from a southpaw stance, Tete has been with Frank Warren since March 2015 and has been described as a “modern day road warrior”. With a come-forward style, the two-time World Champion has a fast fighting nature and utilises two quick straight jabs before unleashing a sharp under-hand hook.

Not one to be involved in boring, slow fights, Tete has on occasion literally jumped around the ring and is as evasive as he is powerful with opponents finding it near on impossible to connect with any real power shots – from his 25-3 record, the Eastern Cape fighter has suffered just one knockout defeat, to Moruti Mthalane in the 5th round way back 7 years ago.

Since then his jaw has more than improved to the point where he is, in my opinion, the number one bantamweight in the world.

Siboniso Gonya, on the other hand, is a relative novice to the fighting world with a mere 12 professional fights consisting of 11 wins a singular loss – incurred against Thabo Siswane, a point’s decision against the overwhelming favourite.

Since that defeat 4 years ago, Gonya has fought for, and defended, the WBA Pan African Bantamweight Title on 3 occasions with the two defences coming by way of knockout. His last fight came in April against, former World Title challenger, Immanuel Naidjala and having overcame the roaring away crowd in Namibia, Gonya took a unanimous decision over The Prince to prove his pedigree.

And that’s the thing because despite the fact literally no-one will have heard of Siboniso Gonya before, he is a very good fighter who’s definitely worth of a shot at Tete’s title; the fact it’s going to domestic dustup only adds to the intrigue and Gonya is going to throw some shots in the early stages before, I suspect, eventually falling fowl to Zolani Tete’s superior power and movement.

Also on the card and getting an honourable mention is Darryll Williams (16-0) who defends his English Super-Middleweight title against Birmingham’s Lennox Clarke (15-0-1), having come through to sensational fights with Jahmaine Smyle in April & July of this year. Clarke is 18 months younger at 26 but has no real names on his record thus far – although both men share a 1st round knockout over Richard Horton – despite that though, this fight feels like a 50-50 because both men will be giving it there all. A real burner in Belfast, bring it on!

Paddy Barnes features in his 5th professional fight, he’ll be attempting to gain his first ever knockout against an as-yet unnamed opponent slated for his first defence of the WBO European Flyweight title that he won against Silvio Olteanu back in June. By his own admission, his last outing against Juan Hinostroza was not a vintage performance from the Olympic bronze medallist and The Leprechaun will be looking to shake off some rustiness before building to a potential World Title shot towards the back end of 2018.

A thrilling card that promises not to disappoint, the SSE Arena is going to be absolutely bouncing come Saturday 18th with 11,000 Irishman cheering on their hero Carl Frampton as well as revelling in two, top-class world title clashes.

Posted on 07/21/2017

Gritty Brooklyn Fighter Frank Galarza seeks to reset Career by Signing with Main Events

by: Eric Lunger

Frank “Notorious” Galarza signed with Main Events promotions, it was announced yesterday. The Brooklyn native, 31, was on track as a super welterweight contender, posting an undefeated record (17-0-2, 11 KOs) until he ran into Jarrett “Swift” Hurd in November of 2015. Galarza was stopped in the sixth round by a brutal Hurd uppercut, a punch that has become something of a trademark for the Accokeek, Maryland fighter.

[Photo courtesy of Frank Galarza and Main Events]

In September of last year, Galarza’s career went sideways again as he dropped a ten round majority decision to crafty veteran Ishe Smith. Trying to start fast, Galarza walked into a trap in the second round and was unable to close the deficit, at least on two judges’ cards.

Now the “Brooklyn Rocky,” as Galarza is known, is seeking to reset his career by signing with Kathy Duva’s Main Events. “I am just one of those fighters who will never turn down anyone,” Galarza said via press release.“I will fight anyone. I wanted to work with Main Events because I have seen what they have done in the past. I like the way they move their fighters.”

The thirty-one year old boxer knows it is time to make the leap from contender to champion. Away from the ring, Galarza is a new father, as well as a man who believes in giving back to his community. In 2014 he founded Youth Fighting Forward, helping young people reach their goals through boxing, education, and job training. A serious person as well as serious contender, Galarza hopes to make his mark in an already loaded division, against the likes of Erislandy Lara, the Charlo Brothers, Jarrett Hurd, and Demetrius Andrade.

For more information on Youth Fighting Forward, visit frankgalarza.com/youthfightingforward.