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Archive for January, 2007|Monthly archive page

Ossie Duran v Contender Reid

In Boxing, British Boxing, Contender Series on January 31, 2007 at 4:33 pm

OssieRugged former Commonwealth champion, Ossie Duran continues his Stateside career next week when he faces veteran of Contender Series 1, Jonathan Reid. From memory Reid was the first to depart the show, despite entering as arguably the most decorated of the group.

To British fans, Duran is well known from his time based here. Tough, good reach and decent ability he has a victory over Jamie Moore, though Moore retired injured in truth Duran was on top when the fight was stopped, and his recent defeat to Bradley Pryce a surprise given their respective form a the time. Read the rest of this entry »

Danny Williams Last Chance Saloon

In Boxing, British Boxing on January 31, 2007 at 3:33 pm

DannyDepending on to whom you speak; Danny Williams is a vast underachiever or a fighter who has earned far more than his talent and fragile self-belief would suggest he should have done. There is no in between. Knockout victories over Kali Meehan, Mark Potter and Mike Tyson – did I really just put Iron Mike in the same sentence as Mark Potter – sparkle alongside triumphs over Michael Sprott, Julius Francis, Matt Skelton and Audley Harrison. Read the rest of this entry »

IBF, Hatton and the r-word

In Boxing, British Boxing, Sports on January 30, 2007 at 2:28 pm

BenRabahWith the abdication of the three belts he won beating Kostya Tszyu, Carlos Maussa and Luis Collazo behind him the irony of the IBF’s threat to withdraw light-welterweight champion Ricky Hatton’s belt wont be lost on the wider boxing public. It’s hard to malign Hatton for preferring to fight Jose Luis Castillo in June before his mandated obligation to Ben Rabah or Lovemore N’Dou, who contest a final eliminator soon, but surely Hatton soon has to stick rather than twist. Read the rest of this entry »

Hatton Making Excuses

In Boxing, British Boxing on January 30, 2007 at 1:08 pm

HattonManchester iron-man Ricky Hatton told the BBC this week that the disappointment expressed over his recent performance versus Juan Urango, and before that Luis Collazo, was unfair. Calm and personable out of the ring, Hatton is clearly irked by the commentary on his recent ring form, although he conceded the forthcoming contest with Jose Luis Castillo would encourage him to stay within sensible reach of 140 pounds – something he’s constantly denied had any bearing on his performance. Read the rest of this entry »

UFC – Will it suffocate or galvanise boxing?

In Boxing on January 29, 2007 at 4:22 pm

BoxingI remind myself that long before the slide toward ‘Entertainment’, wrestling was a legitimate sport around the globe, and for fans of the sweet science concerned by the growing popularity of MMA and UFC perhaps that shared history provides comfort. Boxing can survive without a monopoly on fans of combat sports. Read the rest of this entry »

Hamed, Tyson and YouTube

In Boxing, British Boxing, Mike Tyson on January 28, 2007 at 9:08 pm

HamedAs a late-comer to the YouTube party, I was intrigued to monitor to whom I would gravitate in my first taste of archive footage of the sport I love. For this writer, boxing is about more than knockout power and the slug-fests, to give them their playstation generation tag, for which the sport appeals to most fans. Read the rest of this entry »

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Vital or A Knee Jerk? The Return of Big Brother

In Boxing, Sports on January 28, 2007 at 8:56 pm

KneeThe return of giant Ukrainian Vitaly Klitschko caused something of a rumpus in boxing circles this week, fresh from Samuel Peter’s emergence as a contender from the ranks of pretenders it would seem the WBC, the over-valued leader of the sanctioning bodies and one of the sport’s biggest problems, reinstated the former champion as mandatory challenger to Oleg Maskaev. Himself of Soviet birth and clearly, at the age of 75, looking for the biggest pay-day his belated ascension to the heavyweight throne can garner him. Read the rest of this entry »

Boxing Returns to Sweden

In Boxing on January 28, 2007 at 8:27 pm

As a country that fathered former Heavyweight boxing champion Ingamar Johansson, who beat Floyd Patterson to win the title before losing in a rematch – as well as flattening proud British hope Henry Cooper amongst others, Sweden is long overdue a return to professional boxing. 37 years on from the last card staged there, and having witnessed the growth of elite level boxing in Denmark in the intervening period, the wider boxing industry should welcome the return of the Scandinavians to the squared circle. Read the rest of this entry »

Coma to KO with Jorge Castro

In Boxing on January 28, 2007 at 8:16 pm

Jorge CastroAs a veteran of 144 contests you would think there could be little left to prove or pursue in a fighter’s career, but following a car crash that threatened to paralyse former middleweight champion Jorge Castro (130-11-3) returned from months of rehabilitation and a 20 day coma to exert revenge over Jose Herrera, the last man to beat him on his last comeback, one far too hasty following his crash.  Read the rest of this entry »

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