Indholdsfortegnelse for 25 September 2025 i Boxing News

FIGHTERS such as Frank Bruno and the late (how strange to be saying that) Ricky Hatton were at the forefront of British boxers with huge followings. Yet there was a time when British boxing fans didn’t necessarily have to be rooting for any particular home boxer in order to be engaged by a forthcoming fight. It was a time when the fans just wanted to see good fights, regardless of the boxers’ nationality. International bouts between non-British fighters were attractions. All the better, of course, if a British fighter was involved in a big fight – but it wasn’t deemed to be essential. That was a different time, of course, and I’m not sure if an international fight that didn’t involve a Briton would be a viable option for a…

96 The age of the building, which was opened in 1929 by the Duke and Duchess of York (hence the name). Owned by Tower Hamlets Council, it originally operated as a public bath house. It still has a pool today, as well as a general fitness gym, but has long been synonymous with boxing events. 76 Number of years boxing events have been hosted by York Hall. The first was on March 31, 1949; the North East London Amateur Boxing Association championships. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals were all held on the same day, deciding the regional champions from flyweight to light-heavyweight. 880 Number of boxing shows staged there, according to BoxRec. The actual number is higher when you factor in shows outside of the authority of the British Boxing…

OUTSTANDING GOOD FAIR DISAPPOINTING RUBBISH Reporters’ star ratings for main events and undercards are based on in-ring entertainment, competitiveness and whether overall expectation was met INDIO, CA SEPTEMBER 20 WHOLE SHOW LIVING up to his growing reputation as one of boxing’s most exciting as well as most talented fighters, Oscar Collazo blazed through some stiff resistance to overwhelm Jayson Vayson in seven furious rounds at the Fantasy Springs casino. Collazo, making his third defence of the unified WBA ‘super’ and WBO 105lbs titles, had a shaky moment or two in the second round when Vayson landed heavy right hands. There was also a moment of discomfort in the fourth when the Filipino challenger banged in right hands to the body. But Collazo kept coming, bringing relentless but educated pressure. And…

LEICESTER SEPTEMBER 20 WHOLE SHOW LOCAL hero Leicester’s Ryan Hearst (5-1, 154lbs 6oz) epitomised his promoter Carl Greaves’ attitude with a determined performance against Manchester’s teak tough Dan Booth (8-15, 3 KOs, 156lbs 6oz) as he returned from 18 months of inactivity that followed his first career loss, at this same Mattioli Arena venue. Hearst produced the busier and better work throughout, impressing bystanders against a wily competitor. The only blot on his copybook was a severe talking-to from referee Kevin Parker during the second round for talking back, but he still won by 40-36. Ever-improving Leicester-based Dubliner Joe Mooney (4-0, 156lbs 2oz) never looked in trouble against Sheffield’s Owen Durnan (4-34-1, 152lbs) prevailing 40-36 on rferee Ryan Churchill’s scorecard. Leicester debutant Mark Ahondjo (242lbs 3oz) looks a star in the making…

THE NAME may not be all that familiar, but unfortunately the plight is – that of the ageing ex-boxer who’s fallen on hard times. Jerry Jones, today aged 65 and blind in one eye, has only quite recently seen his “rough, rough days” of homelessness come to an end. Jones, who boxed some top contenders back in the 1980s and 1990s – including Ray Mercer, Carl Williams, Michael Bentt, Bruce Seldon, Zeljko Mavrovic (“the best I ever fought”), Alexander Zolkin, and Alex Garcia – spent around seven years on the streets of Washington DC and Maryland. After these what can only be imagined as hellish times, Jerry finally managed to find an apartment, a year or so ago, and as he says today, he is now “smiling again”. Often thrown…

MEN BEST BOXER AIBEK ORALBAY THERE were several contenders. Only 20, Uzbekistan southpaw Javokhir Ummataliev beat Norbek Oralbay, Olympic silver medalist last summer, on his way to 80kgs gold, and Kazakhstan had outstanding gold-medal winners in Makhud Sabrykhan (55kgs) and Sanzhar Tashkenbay (50kgs). We go for Aibek Oralbay. Quarter-finalist at heavyweight in Paris, he had a hard route to super-heavyweight gold in Liverpool. The Kazkah survived a last-round onslaught from Cuban legend Julio Cesar la Cruz to reach the final, where he walked through some solid shots from Uzbek southpaw Jakhongir Zokirov to outlast him in the final round and win a split decision ion that left his country on top of the medals table. BEST BOUT ALEJANDRO CLARO FIZ (Cub) vs SAMET GUMUS (Tur) Flyweight quarter-final EVERY round, hard…

HOW ABOUT this for a horrible coincidence – Ricky Hatton was already supposed to be this week’s cover story, even before the heartbreaking news of his death. Each edition of Boxing News is sketched out well in advance. There are always plenty of moving parts, but we always like to have at least a rough idea of what’s on the agenda in the coming weeks – which fights are on the calendar, what content to build around them, who writes what, and so on. Usually, the live events schedule dictates what our cover stories will be. In an ideal world, a big fight will give us two weeks of obvious covers – the preview and the report – and the big fights will be nicely spaced apart. But the boxing…

BOXING NEWS writer Thomas Gerbasi passed away on Monday last week (September 15), aged 57. Tom was one of the most experienced and respected of active fight sports journalists, with his loss being keenly felt not only among his peers in the boxing media but also in MMA and wrestling. He wrote for numerous boxing media outlets and was Editorial Director for the UFC. This reach across combat sports made him the perfect fit for a story I commissioned last month, recalling the night when boxer Butterbean knocked out a wrestler, Bart Gunn, in a real fight. Tom interviewed Butterbean for the piece and applied his deep knowledge of both sports to perfectly contextualise a sensational outcome and its controversial background. Just two days before his death, Tom and I…

THE EAST END has always had fight in its veins. From pubs thick with smoke and Cockney patter to markets that thrummed with energy, this was London’s working-class theatre. A knees-up, a hustle, a grin with a busted tooth. And then came the fight game. At first bareknuckle, staged in pubs as a quick way to scrape together money. But soon it grew, boxing gyms packed with Irish, Jewish, and Cockney voices, echoing through alleyways and estates. Repton became a cathedral of amateurs, its fighters chiselling out a reputation that travelled far beyond Bethnal Green. Terry Spinks. Maurice Hope. Frank Bruno. Later, the darker folklore – the Kray twins, ‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser, Lenny McLean. Names that gave the East End its myth; names that made boxing part of its DNA.…

OUTSTANDING GOOD FAIR DISAPPOINTING RUBBISH The star ratings indicate how well the writer believes the fighters match up, the fight(s)’ contextual significance, and how good the fight(s) will be BOTH SHOWS THERE are not many things that have not yet been seen, done or attempted at York Hall, but Neilson Boxing and TM14 Promotions have teamed up to put on an unprecedented two-night event there this weekend. While there have occasionally been boxing promotions on consecutive days at the fabled East London venue, never before have they involved the same promoters. Neilson Boxing and TM14 will set up there on Friday and deliver a full bill of fare, leave everything in place, and then return for another on the Saturday. Titled Avenge At York Hall: Part 1 and Part 2,…

GLASGOW SEPTEMBER 18 WHOLE SHOW BOXING in Scotland returned as the St Andrew’s Sporting Club launched its season at the Radisson Blu Hotel. Earlier in the week, British boxing mourned the loss of one of its most charismatic icons, Ricky Hatton, while Scotland approached the anniversary of Mike Towell’s tragic passing in 2016. Ring announcer Craig Stephen shared a little-known story that connected the two: in the days following Towell’s death, Hatton quietly organised an appeal at one of his own shows, raising £50,000 for Towell’s family. Before the evening commenced, the hall rose in silence for the solemn ringing of 10 bells. The Towell tragedy also led to the closure of the 1314 Boxing Club in Dundee, where both Richardson brothers had once trained. Nine years later, with the…

CHELTENHAM SEPTEMBER 13 MAIN EVENT HOMETOWN favourite Louis Bacon (2-0, 153lbs) topped a Neilson card at Cheltenham Leisure Centre as he shut out Doncaster’s Sam Kirk (0-18, 153lbs) in Bernard Oyet’s copybook. Bacon punched with authority and stalked the more experienced Kirk over the duration. Southpaw Anton Esson (4-0, 3 KOs, 145lbs), also boxing in his hometown, stopped Swindon debutant Benito Hrynkiewicz (142lbs) in just 35 seconds of a scheduled four-rounder. The pair exchanged and Benito soaked up a lot of left hooks and appeared hurt. Third man Rocky Israel intervened promptly. Another first-timer was on the winning side of a one-rounder as Gloucestershire’s Amali Davis (142lbs) stopped Harwich’s Kasey Bradnum (1-34,136 lbs) at 2-25 of the first in a mooted four. Kasey was in survival mode from the off and…

ROTHERHAM SEPTEMBER 20 WHOLE SHOW BARELY a month passes without the Magna Centre hosting professional boxing, so it was a case of familiar surrounds for this eight-bout offering, which featured a sprinkling of Yorkshire prospects – all but one of whom came away with wins. Popular Hull ticket-seller Ted Jackson (4-0, 1 KO, 164lbs 2oz) took all six rounds in a watchable affair against Southampton’s Harley Collison (3-4-2, 164½lb) who, despite having his nose bloodied, stuck doggedly to the task. Sheffielder Adam Geelan (163lbs, 14oz, 3-0-1), however, endured the first blemish on his record after having to settle for a 38-38 share against stubborn Leeds opponent Joe Hardy (5-37-1, 167lbs 11oz). Bradford super-lightweight Mohammed Subhaan (10-1, 3 KOs, 138lbs 5oz), meanwhile, took his wins tally to double figures. The boxer who calls…

WE ALL know about the gigantic heavyweight champion of the world with links to Morecambe, but few will realise that there are actually two of them. I have previously written about some of the iconic venues used for boxing in this country, many of them for close to a hundred years, and have mentioned the King George’s Hall in Blackburn, the Ulster Hall in Belfast, the Town Hall in Walsall and the Borough Hall, Hartlepool. Another one, the Winter Gardens, Morecambe, closed in 1964, but there are plans to revive this wonderful old building and I hope one day a professional boxing ring might be found in there once again. The building, constructed in 1897, was first used for boxing in 1928 and for the next 36 years it proved…

European rankings HEAVYWEIGHT No weight limit 1. Oleksandr Usyk | Ukr WORLD CHAMPION 2. Agit Kabayel | Ger 3. Daniel Dubois | UK 4. Lawrence Okolie | UK 5. Fabio Wardley | UK 6. Anthony Joshua | UK 7. Filip Hrgovic | Cro 8. Murat Gassiev | Rus 9. Dereck Chisora | UK 10. Richard Riakporhe | UK CRUISERWEIGHT 200lbs/14st 4lbs 1. Chris Billam-Smith | UK 2. Michal Cieslak | Pol 3. Aleksei Papin | Rus 4. Badou Jack | Swe WBC CHAMPION 5. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk | Pol 6. Robin Sirwan Safar | Swe 7. Huseyin Cinkara | Ger 8. Mateusz Masternak | Pol 9. Firat Arslan | Ger 10. Sergey Kovalev | Rus LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT 175lbs/12st 7lbs 1. Dmitry Bivol | Rus WORLD CHAMPION 2. Callum Smith | UK 3.…

PERHAPS it was the short hooks, the heart, the laughter, the generosity of spirit, the joy of owning Las Vegas, the ease at drinking 10 pints of Guinness. Perhaps it was everything, and perhaps it was just because Ricky Hatton was one of us. The hero, the fighter, the son, the brother, the dad – perhaps it was also all those things. It could have been the tears at 3am after Manny Pacquiao or the evil glare he gave Floyd Mayweather at the end of their press tour; both images linger. I can still feel him in my arms at that late hour after losing to Manny. That will last. Ricky could hate and he could cry, don’t worry about that. There were extremes to the man in the fat…

I AM DEEPLY saddened to hear about the passing of Ricky Hatton. He was not only a great fighter inside the ring but also a brave and kind man in life. We shared unforgettable moments in boxing history and I will always honour the respect and sportsmanship he showed. Ricky fought bravely, not just in the ring, but in his journey through life. He truly had a good fight, and we are all blessed to have been part of his wonderful journey. My prayers and deepest condolences go out to the Hatton family and all his loved ones. May the Lord give you strength and comfort in this difficult time. May he rest in peace. Manny Pacquiao FOES TO FRIENDS WE WENT from foes and bitter rivals at the elite…

CHRIS EUBANK JR was in full attack mode at last week’s press conference announcing his rematch with Conor Benn. The pair will once again meet at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, on November 15 in a rerun of their enthralling dustup last April, won by Eubank via unanimous decision. Eubank spent the following few days in a hospital bed, recovering from not only his hellacious battle with Benn but also severe dehydration. The former world title challenger has nonetheless agreed to meet Benn at middleweight for a second time, while also promising to again keep below a 170lb rehydration limit for his second showdown with a rival who had previously fought no higher than super-welter. At last Wednesay’s media meet, the outspoken Brighton man accused Eddie Hearn, Benn’s promoter, of attempting…

WHOLE SHOW VERY FEW fighters would happily step into the ring with Sean McComb, most of them acutely aware that, whatever the outcome, their night would almost certainly be ruined by a nightmarish spate of awkward exchanges. In that sense, fighting the tricky southpaw is perhaps not unlike reconnecting with a selection of distant relatives – you know there will be very little common ground but believe that, if productive, the suffering could eventually prove worthwhile. Either way, Ben Crocker should be given ample credit for taking on the Irishman. He remains unlikely to solve the puzzle that awaits him on Saturday, but credit is nonetheless what he deserves. For McComb (19-2, 5 KOs), meanwhile, their super-lightweight encounter, which will headline a GBM Sports card at the Park Community Arena,…

WOLVERHAMPTON SEPTEMBER 19 WHOLE SHOW THE ONLY six-round bout on the bill on this Black Country Boxing show at The Hangar saw former English welterweight title challenger and popular local Jermaine Osbourne-Edwards (12-2, 1 KO, 165lbs) return to winning ways after suffering a couple of reverses. He duly dominated proceedings, dropping Warminster’s Paul Cummings (3-91-1, 1 KO, 162lbs) with a left in the third before going on to take the 60-53 decision of Newark’s Kevin Parker. Wolverhampton’s JP Harty (1-0-1, 128lbs), cut above the left eye when heads bashed, was denied a second successive win. He had to content himself with a 38-38 share of the spoils at the conclusion of a 100mph four-rounder refereed by Birmingham’s Peter McCormack against York’s Ethiopia-born Mohammed Wako (1-7-1, 130lbs), who most certainly came to…

BARNSLEY SEPTEMBER 13 WHOLE SHOW WELL-RECEIVED wins for two of the South Yorkshire scene’s longest-unbeaten prospects should set them up for bigger challenges to come. Joe Hayden and Dempsey Wale both had their arms raised at the Metrodome following convincing wins. Doncaster’s Hayden (19-0, 2 KOs, 144lbs 2oz) broke down India’s Rajesh Kumar (16-8-1, 7 KOs, 140½lbs) six rounds into their scheduled eight. The southpaw’s pace and the accumulation of punches became all too much for Kumar with 1-03 gone in the second round, leaving the visitor unable beat Mark Downing’s 10-count. Wale (14-0, 1 KO, 142½lbs), from nearby Brampton, was in with Mexican Benito Sanchez Garcia (17-11-3, 5 KOs, 13 ½lbs) on this Carl Greaves promotion and got through a solid workout to register a 60-54 verdict from Jamie Kirkpatrick…

I RECENTLY gave the happy news that Mug’s Alley – Merseyside Former Boxers Association’s monthly newsletter – was starting up again after a brief hiatus. And this week I was delighted to receive the first “comeback” issue. Well done to Terry Kavanagh, who stepped down as Editor owing to other commitments but agreed to take it on again when no-one else was available. The front page has a photo of the Liverpool Stadium Memorial Stone, and inside regular contributor Robbie Robinson (a former pro lightweight from Liverpool who now lives in Australia) recalls a sparring session between two Merseyside favourites no longer with us – Pat Dwyer and Joe Lally. “It wasn’t just a spar. It was one of those rare gym battles that people talk about for decades,” he…

Sep 26 THANANCHAI CHARUNPHAK vs ARNOLD GRANDE Suanlum Night Bazaar, Bangkok Sep 27 SEAN McCOMB vs BEN CROCKER Park Community Arena, Sheffield DAZN Tysie Gallagher vs Ellie Hellewell (British and Commonwealth super-bantamweight titles) Shakiel Thompson vs TBA NIKLAUS FLAZ vs PETER DOBSON Kissimmee Events Center PROBOX TV SOL CUDOS vs KIM CLAVEL Theatre St-Denis, Montreal (IBF strawweight title) Tamm Thiebeault vs Cristina Mazzotta Amanda Galle vs Alondra Yamile Hernandez Mendoza LAYLA MCCARTER vs LILIANA PALMERA Deportivo Juan Jaramillo Frias, Cuernavaca, Mexico EIMANTAS STANIONIS vs JABULANI MAKHENSE Zalgiris Arena, Kaunas, Latvia Oct 01 BRANDON GLANTON vs MARCUS BROWNE Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos DAZN Richard Commey vs Ray Seitzhanov Dan Azeez vs Sulaimon Adeoson Oct 03 UMAR DZAMBEKOV vs ARTEM BRUSOV Chumash Casino, Santa Ynez UFC Fight Pass Oct 04 CRISTOBAL LORENTE…