Cleverly & Welsh Boxing

This week has seen Nathan Cleverly jump ship and join Matchroom sports after a long spell under Frank Warren promotions. This could be a good move for Cleverly after defeat to Sergey Kovalev in August of last year, which saw him lose his light-heavyweight world title.

Eddie Hearn and Matchroom have a number of quality Welsh boxers that they work with including Lee Selby, who's the current featherweight European champion, Gavin Rees, who's won nearly every title there is and he is also involved with prospect and Prizefighter champion Chris Jenkins. This move made sense for both Eddie Hearn and Nathan Cleverly as it allows Hearn to take big time boxing to Wales, with big names to sell out venues. It also gives Cleverly a chance to box in front of his home crowd with fellow Welsh boxers, whilst getting exposure on SKY sports.

Cleverly has decided that he's going to now campaign at cruiserweight and believes he will be better at the weight after spending years of trying to get down to light-heavyweight. There’s plenty of big fights for Cleverley at cruiserweight. The fight everyone wants to see is the rematch between Nathan Cleverly and Tony Bellew who fought before at light-heavyweight, in Liverpool. On that occasion Cleverly won but it was close and a quality fight. It’s definitely one that I'd like to see again and  I'm sure they'll get it on soon. It makes sense as they both now fight at cruiserweight and are both fighting under Matchroom. Add to that the fact they really don't like each other, the fight sells itself.  Big domestic fights like this are what the fans want to see.

Cleverly will make his matchroom debut in Cardiff on May 17th. It’s on a packed card, full of big domestic fights. I'm delighted to see that Gavin Rees and Gary Buckland will have a rematch for the British title just months after their first encounter, which was an all-out 12 round war and a massive fight of the season contender. On that occasion Gary Buckland got the decision but it's a fight that could've gone either way. I thought Rees had done enough but the judges thought otherwise. Big respect to Gary Buckland for taking the fight again straight away, it shows he's a real fighting man.
Also on the bill is highly regarded prospect and current English Super middleweight champion Callum Smith who will face Welsh boxer Tobias Webb. This is a good fight for Smith at this stage of his career and on paper it looks like a step up with Webb's only defeat coming to Rocky Fielding in the Prizefighter final. Webb will come to win but I personally believe Smith will have too much skill and power for Webb but that's the beauty of boxing, everyone has an opinion.
Lee Selby faces the possibility of fighting for a world title eliminator on the bill as his mandatory opponent for the European title doesn't seem to want to fight after being made a number of offers. So the route to world title looks likely for Selby who's destined for big things. Selby believes he can become the best featherweight on the planet.

This looks like a another cracking bill for Wales and boxing fans, it's good to see big time shows going to cities across the UK giving fans an opportunity to watch fighters in their local towns.
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Chisora v Fury 2 Who wins?

This week saw the announcement of Tyson Fury v Dereck Chisora 2. Who's going to win this one?
I think this is such a hard fight to call. It’s a genuine 50/50 domestic heavyweight dust up. The last time they fought, Chisora wasn't in a good place physically or mentally and he and got out boxed by Fury. Fury is still unbeaten in 22 contests and has 16 KO's to his name, Chisora on the other hand has lost on 4 occasions and won 20 times, with 13 KO's.
Ever since Chisora lost to David Haye in 2012 at Upton Park he has looked a totally different fighter, he has put together 5 back to back victories, 4 of them coming by knockout against a high level opposition. Another big difference in this fight compared to their first encounter is that this one is a world title eliminator and the first was for the British title. Although Chisora's European Belt is on the line this time, the stakes are extremely higher. A shot at the WBO world title against the long reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko awaits the winner.
You can make an argument for both fighters. Fury is the youngest of the pair and like I said he has yet to taste defeat. He genuinely believes he's the best in the world but he's not fought at world level yet.  Chisora has mixed it in higher class, he has fought the likes of David Haye, Klitschko and Helenius. In his last contest Fury looked heavier than he should've done but he had a number of personal problems in the week leading up to the fight. He still managed to get the job done. There's such a lot riding on this fight, I believe both fighters will be mentally and physically at their best. Its career defining for both men, although I can't see Chisora coming again if he does lose, whereas Fury is only 25 and has not lost.
There's so many different ways the fight could go.  Fury could just out box Chisora completely like before, however, I don't believe he will. It’s certainly not the same Derek Chisora and If Chisora does get inside and push Fury back then it could be interesting.  Chisora's bob and weave style can be more than affective against such a tall opponent like Fury, who's 6ft 9!
People have their different opinions and with this one and that's what we all love about boxing. When you get genuine fights that you can't call you don't need any bad blood to sell the fight, it'll sell itself as people want to see the outcome. So who do you think will win this one?
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No Punch, No Pay

What the majority of ignorant boxing fans don't seem to understand is that if a boxer doesn't box through injury, or an opponent pulling out etc, then one, it's frustrating for the fighter, and two, they're not getting paid.

It's not like you're average 9-5 where if you take a day off sick you get sick pay. Its not like footballers who get paid to spend months on the injury table , or sat on the subs bench. I don't get why people find necessary to give boxers abuse for not fighting because they're injured?

I agree that it's frustrating for fans that have bought tickets, booked hotels or time off work to come and watch, but you have to think of how frustrating this is for the boxer himself. He doesn't want to be injured, he wants to be fighting and getting paid.

It's like when people were saying that Adam Booth cut David Hayes eye a week before his pay per view clash with Tyson Fury last September. People can have their conspiracy theories but Haye wouldn't duck out of that fight a week before after putting his body through months of torture and sacrifice. Think about paying all of the cost for his sparing partners, then to pull out of a fight that would've paid him five million pounds. You'd have to be seriously messed up in the head to do that.

I know people that think the shoulder injury that followed this prior to the scheduled rematch was fabircated but let's be honest David Haye's been fighting as a pro for over ten years now. Every punch he's thrown over the years has taken it's toll on his shoulder and its finally given way. Its not his fault that his shoulder gave up on him in the lead up to a massive fight like this.

You do have to feel for Tyson Fury who isnt going to be getting paid either. It cost him his biggest pay cheque to date and you can't begin to imagine how frustrated he must have been with the whole situation. He even claimed that he was retiring from the sport it got to him that much. That didn't last long!

This week Paul Smith Jr had to pull out of his fight against Welsh boxer Tobias Webb, the fight was scheduled for tonight in Liverpool. Paul suffered aninfection in his elbow that came from nowhere.People have been giving him stick on twitter but yet again why would he train his bollocks off for weeks just to pull out a few days before the fight, unless he was genuienly injured? He's been over to LA with the rest of the Gallaghers gym fighters and trained at the Wildcard, which I'm sure wasn't cheap. Why would people slag him off for an injury that's come out of nowhere and that he's no control over? Think of the boxer, he's in agony, frustrated and isn't getting paid.

I can assure you that the boxer is losing out more than you, even if you have bought tickets, hotels and booked time off work. You can still go and watch the boxing even if that fight isn't on? It's not as if the whole show's been called off?

Also this week the boxing board have stripped Derry Mathews of his commonwealth title. Derry has been out with a hand injury that required surgery so has been unable to defend it. It's not as if he's refused to fight. He's been unable to fight. This surely can't be right? This is unreasonable from the powers that be. Derry fought for the title and now they're taking away something that he has worked hard for because of an injury. I believe Derry should've been cut some slack and given the time to recover and defend his belt, he is the champ after all.  

Era of the Junior: Eubank, Collins and Chavez Jr

Steve Collins and Chris Eubank, two of the most respected warriors to step into a boxing ring in recent times. Both men were involved in massive fights in the super middleweight division which included two fights against each other that Steve Collins won on both occasions.

Both of these warriors now have sons that are looking to make an impact in the boxing world. Steve Collins Jr is a cruiserweight and Chris Eubank Jr campaigns at middleweight. Steve Collins Jr looks as strong as an ox but he looks raw and his lack of amateur experience has shown in his two professional contests thus far. It looks unlikely that he will go on to emulate his father’s achievements in the sport, but he's also reportedly a keen rugby player and could find success there.

Now Chris Eubank Jr may look like the real deal to the casual boxing fan, but he’s really just living off his dad’s name. He even uses the same ring entrance tune as his father in ‘Simply the best’. I think he should live in his dads shadow and make his own name. He is currently 13-0 with 8 KO's which at a glance is an impressive record; however, if you look closely he has been matched very carefully so far. He usually gets a weight advantage or faces an opponent that gets little notice. Any opponent with a name has been past their best. He should be looking to step up in class by now. After all you have to beat the best to be the best.

It's not as if everyone is running scared of Eubank Jr, in fact they are queuing up to beat him. The likes of James DeGale, Billy Joe Saunders, Gary O'Sullivan and Adam Etches are itching at the chance to get stuck into him but he doesn't appear to want those fights. If he was as good as he and his dad make out he is, then they would jump at the chance to face these fighters. He should stop strutting around the ring with arrogance as if he's the best thing since sliced bread and take a proper fight. I personally don't think Eubank Jr will win a world title like his father, the real Chris Eubank. In fact, I doubt he'll win a British title unless he grows a pair and mixes it with the best of our fighters at domestic level.

If you are a deluded Eubank Jnr fan and fancy a flutter, you can get 7/2 for Chris Eubank Jr to win a world title before 2020. I’d advise you to keep your money firmly in your pocket. Chris Eubank Snr has got more chance of winning another world title than his son has.

His arrogance shows in the fact that he's made a twitter account and hasn't bothered to follow a single person, despite having over 80,000 followers, whereas most boxers use twitter to interact with their fans and fellow boxers but not Chris Euabank Jr, he's too good for everyone.

Whilst on the topic of boxers living off their dads names I talked in a recent blog post about Julio Cesar Chazez Jr being shown favouritism by the WBC governing body. I say again, this clearly has something to do with his dad Julio Cesar Chavez being a boxing legend with an astonishing 115 fight career.

The difference between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Chris Eubank Jr is that Chavez Jr has already mixed it at the highest level and is a quality operator inside the ring, with fifty one fights and only one defeat at the hands future hall of famer Sergio Martinez.

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TKO TIPS

My picks from tonights boxing 8th March 2014 (Live on Boxnation)

Kevin Satchell v Isaac Quaye- Kevin Satchell Decision 4/6

Kevin Satchell has only managed 2 KO's in his 11 wins and is facing Isaac Quaye from Ghana who's never been stopped despite losing on 4 occasions. 

Paul Butler v Oreste Bernabe- Paul Butler KO or TKO 2/5

Although Bernebe's record suggests he's never been stopped. If you look closely at his record every time he's stepped up he's lost. I don't believe he's been in with anyone like Butler and he's never been 12 rounds whereas Butler has on 2 occasions. I believe Butler will break him down in front of his home crowd and stop him in the second half of the fight.

Leo Santa Cruz v Cristian Mijares- Leo Santa Cruz Decision 7/4

Although the bookies believe that Leo Santa Cruz will stop Cristian Mijares I think that the experienced Mijares will go the distance as he's only been stopped once in 58 fights and has always mixed at a high level.

Saul Canelo Alvarez v Alfredo Angulo- Canelo by KO or TKO 4/6

Coming off a defeat to the pound for pound best Mayweather I believe that Canelo is going to make a statement against Angulo in this all Mexican fight.  Angulo's style is made for Canelo and can see him stopping him between rounds 7-10.

£5.00 on the selections above returns £46.35 @ Coral 

Please note that these are my personal picks and I'm not suggesting that they're going to win you a fortune or to put your mortgage on them but something for the people that fancy a flutter on the boxing.

James DeRailed by WBChavez

Yesterday, a spanner was thrown into the works of the super-middleweight division by the WBC governing body. There were reports that Mexican fighter Julio Cesar Chavez Jr has been placed into the number one spot for a shot at Sakio Bika’s WBC crown, ahead of James DeGale MBE.

If these reports are correct, then it’s not fair. DeGale is the current WBC silver champion and was set to fight Badou Jack in an eliminator with the winner to face Bika. This was until Badou Jack was stopped in the first round against Derek Edwards, on Friday night. DeGale kept his focus on Saturday night and went on to stop Gervorg Khatchikian in the eleventh round, in a defence of his WBC silver title. It appeared that in doing so, he had earned himself a mandatory spot to challenge Bika in his next fight, live on Channel Five.

Also on Saturday night, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr fought in a rematch with Brian Vera for the vacant WBC Continental Americas title, which he won with a promising display, all three judges scoring it in favour of Chavez Jr.

It looks as though the WBC is showing favouritism towards Chavez Jr, as he's the son of Mexican boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez. If this is the case then it's harsh on James DeGale. He was set to face Marco Antonio Periban in an eliminator but the Mexican didn't want the fight, then Badou Jack lost and this looks to have derailed DeGale's route to a world title, for now anyway. I think the majority of boxing fans would agree it is wrong, whether they're a fan of DeGale or not. The bottom line is he deserves his shot.

I believe the fairest scenario would be to set up a final eliminator between James DeGale and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr with the winner getting to face Sakio Bika. DeGale was meant to be fighting for an eliminator in the first place. He shouldn't be completely shafted out of the picture because the WBC is favouring Chavez Jr.

If the WBC awarded DeGale his well-deserved shot and he was victorious against the current champion Bika, which I believe he would be, then how about a massive domestic unification fight down the line, with the winner of Froch v Groves 2? Could you imagine Froch v DeGale or Groves v DeGale 2 with three world titles on the line? I can, now there’s a thought.

If James was given his well-deserved shot then they'd probably have to make Chavez Jr the mandatory challenger for his first defence, or something along those lines. As it stands though, it looks as if Chavez Jr is going to get the shot ahead of DeGale.

I know a lot of boxing fans that aren't too keen on James DeGale, they either don't rate him, or find him arrogant. I admit he's not to everyone's taste and hasn't always been in the biggest fights since the loss to George Groves, but you can't deny he has a ridiculous amount of skill and talent. Let's face the facts, you don't win an Olympic gold medal and get awarded the MBE if you're not an exceptional boxer!

I hope the WBC sees sense, and either gives DeGale the shot, or sets up an eliminator against Chavez JR. Let's be honest, you wouldn't want to be screwed over the way James Degale has in any way, shape or form, would you?

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Burns & The Lightweight Division

Over the past few days, since Ricky Burns reign as WBO lightweight champion came to an end when he suffered defeat to the talented American Terrance Crawford, there has been a lot of speculation as to where Burns will now go in his career and question marks surrounding the future of big time boxing in Scotland.

I like Burns; he’s one of my favourite fighters. I have always admired his grit, determination and massive heart, as well as his boxing ability, but he was lucky to still have his world title prior to Saturday night. He has been fortunate to retain it in his previous two defences. His last outing was against Raymundo Beltran, who broke Ricky's jaw in the second round, dropped him in the eighth and for all money it seemed as if Beltran had come into the lion’s den and taken Burn's title. The judges scored the contest a draw. Beltran had been robbed. You have to take your hat off to Ricky Burns for fighting ten rounds with a broken jaw which later required surgery but he could count himself lucky to still have the belt around his waist. The fight before this was against Jose A Gonzalez, an extremely skilful Puerto Rican fighter. He gave Burns all sorts of trouble throughout the fight but ended up retiring on his stall in the ninth round with a reported injured wrist. I believe the real reason he quit was the sheer grit and fight from Ricky Burns broke his heart, because let’s face it if you were three rounds from winning a world title you wouldn't quit on your stall? Would you? Burns wouldn’t that’s for sure

All things said and done I don’t believe this will be the end of Ricky Burns, neither will it be the end of big time boxing in Scotland. I don't think it would be wise for him to pursue the rematch with Crawford straight away either. He was clearly out boxed by the American whose style is all wrong for him. Ricky should regroup and have a couple of big domestic fights. He’s at a weight that is one of the most exciting domestically, full of quality, entertaining fighters. There are endless fights that could be made. Just to name a few you've got Anthony Crolla, Derry Mathews, Kevin Mitchell, Gavin Rees, Gary Buckland, John Murray and also the likes of Olympic champion Luke Campbell looking to announce himself in amongst the best domestically in the near future. The possibilities are endless for Ricky moving forward from his defeat to Crawford. He may no longer be world champion by he is still number one in Britain and I'd love to see him in with any of the fighters named above, all of which I’m sure would fill any arena in Scotland.

Maybe the fight that would make the most sense at this time would be Gavin Rees? He is coming off a split decision defeat in an all action war for the Londsdale belt against Gary Buckland, in Wales in February. Although the fight could have gone either way and despite not getting the decision, Rees showed that he's still got an awful lot to offer the sport, even at the age of 33. Personally, I thought Rees had done enough to win but the judges thought otherwise.

Elsewhere in the lightweight division, Tommy Coyle could be possibly facing London's Kevin Mitchell in an IBF eliminator. The prize for the winner is a fight against Mexican champion Miguel Vazquez for the title. Tommy Coyle showed last week in Hull that he's got a massive heart along with giant bollocks. He overcame an extremely tough test in Daniel Eduardo Brizuela from Argentina, in a defence of his IBF international title. This fight is as good as they come and if you haven't already seen it I recommend that you give it a watch. With plenty of knock downs and point deductions this fight is surely a fight of the year contender!

Manchester's John Murray is back and looking to take the division by storm. He stopped John Simpson at the weekend on the undercard of Burn's v Crawford. This is his second fight back since an 11^th round defeat to Brandon Rios in 2011 for the WBA lightweight title. John Murray likes the thought of facing fellow Mancunian Anthony Crolla in Manchester this April which I'm sure would be a quality fight for the fans and a good clash of styles.

I'm sure you all agree there are a lot of massive fights to be made in the lightweight division and that if you matched all the domestic fighters I've named in this article it would make for some amazing fights. The majority of them fight under the same leading promoter Matchroom so why not make them happen?

I personally think that there should be some kind of lightweight tournament put in place like the Super six, the top eight lightweights in UK all sign up to fight each other in ten round fights over eighteen months or so. The top two at the end fight in a world title eliminator. In the meantime they are all involved in massive domestic fights that will fill arenas all over the UK and provide classic fights for the fans. That way no one can avoid anyone. Everyone would be winners. The fighters, the promoters and us, the fans. Who wouldn't want to see Buckland v Rees 2? Burns v Crolla? Mitchell v Murray 2? Coyle v Mathews 2? And in time to come chuck Luke Campbell in to the mix! The possibilities are endless and I believe this is the best way to make sure the best fight the best in the division. They use a similar format in Premier League darts where the top 10 play each other in different venues across the nation and there's a league table and I believe this could work with the lightweight division and I'm sure it would fill venues in all the big cities!

So Eddie Hearn you fancy making this happen?

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Boxing is a Business.

Time after time on twitter and boxing forums I see deluded boxing fans either moaning about the level of fighter an up and coming prospect is boxing or about a certain fight being on SKY pay per view.

These so called hardcore, avid boxing fans that claim to know so much about the sport and the politics that are involved really know nothing. The first thing that people tend to forget is that professional boxing is a business. Everyone involved is there to do a job the promoter, the judges, the referee, the trainers, the ring girls, the managers and last but least the fighters who put their bodies through weeks of sacrifice and torture in training camps for your entertainment. As much as I’m sure they love the sport and want to win titles I can assure you they're fighting to earn a living and put food on the table for their families.

When so called boxing fans question why an upcoming prospect is fighting what is known as a journeyman, a tough, durable boxer who comes to trick their way through fights and survive and earn their money and give the prospect rounds and experience for 4 and 6 round fights before gradually stepping them up the rounds and level of opposition it does my head in as if these people knew anything about boxing business and how it works then they wouldn't slag off boxers and promoters behind the computer.

I believe this is a learning process that every fighter should go through, no matter the expectations surrounding them coming from their amateur experience as professional boxing is a whole different game and fighters shouldn't be made to run before they can walk.

This was shown when Vasyl Lomachenko took on Salido for the WBO world title last night in only his 2^nd professional outing and came up short on a split decision. There was a massive expectation that the Ukrainian fighter who had an exceptional amateur record of 396-1 and everyone thought he would go on to make history, even the bookmakers had him 1/7 on to beat Salido but he got old manned and Salido's experience showed although he didn't make the weight and couldn't retain his title.

This is proof that every fighter regardless of their amateur record should have a number of learning fights building up the rounds and experience before being thrown in the deep end. This why I respect promoters like Eddie Hearn who has a number of exceptional fighters in his stable that came through our London Olympic squad that include gold medalist Luke Campbell and Anthony Joshua and he is moving them along at the right rate in terms of opposition and rounds, even if Anthony Joshua has been making easy work of the opponents put in front of him people shouldn't slag off Eddie Hearn for this as Joshua's opponent last night went 9 rounds with Dereck Chisora under a year ago and is an experienced pro.

You expect question marks over opponents from deluded boxing fans but it really bugged me last weekend whilst watching the show in Hull where Luke Campbell boxed Scott Moises over 8 rounds and the experienced commentator Jim Watt claimed that Luke Campbell was better off having world class sparring rather than his fight with Moises. Baring in mind this was only Campbell's fifth professional contest and he was in an eight rounder against Moises who is quick on his feet and recently lost a close decision to Mitchell Smith and was there to give Campbell some rounds and earn his money but it annoyed because Campbell has had world class sparring with the likes of Ricky Burns and Kevin Mitchell leading up to the fight with Moises but this was an opportunity for him to put what he's learnt into action under the lights and build up the rounds against a durable opponent although he did stop Moises in the final round I just thought someone that's so involved in the sport would know better.

Why's that fight pay per view? Why should I pay another £15 on top of my Sky Sports subscription for one night of boxing? But let's be honest there's only one maybe two fights at a push that are worthy of pay per view and there's a reason these massive fights require an additional fee. For an example Froch vs Groves last year, a massive domestic world title fight in Manchester where Froch's purse was seven figures and George Grove's purse was a reportedly a hefty £500,000. So who's going to pay these two if that fight wasn't PPV? Sky aren't going to front that kind of money for one fight so it makes sense for a fight with such demand to be PPV and that's just the main event, who's going to pay the boxers on the under card? The Judges? The legendary Michael Buffer the MC who I can assure you doesn't come cheap! The ticket sales aren't going to cover it and all these people need to be paid before Matchroom get their cut and they're in the sport the same as everyone else and that's to get paid. After all boxing is a business. 

Let's be honest there's only a number of fights that are worthy of PPV at the moment in this country, to name a few in my opinion they are Froch vs Groves 2 (obviously as it's going to be one of the biggest fights in British history) Brook vs Khan, DeGale vs Groves 2 and Scott Quigg vs Carl Frampton.

I once had someone say to me that there should be a purse limit so people didn't price themselves out of fights but what a load of bullshit that is. If you're at the top of the top in a lonely, brutal sport then there shouldn't be a limit on what you get paid to step in the ring and fight. It's the same when people moan about Wayne Rooney getting paid £300,000 a week. I agree to a certain extent that no footballer should be earning that kind of money for what they do but then you can't blame them that their exceptional talent got them to the top of their game and they are reaping the rewards so it's the same with boxers. There shouldn't be a limit on the reward when the risk every time a boxer gets in the ring is so high. Boxers can get injured at any level but higher the level higher the risk so this warrants a higher reward it's simple. Try telling Mayweather that there's going to be a limit on his purse. Didn't think so. 

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