Indholdsfortegnelse for Vol.82 No.01 i Boxing News

I HAD AN American female boxer of the 1990s crying with gratitude at being remembered, for having the chance of a walk down memory lane, and better still, to have her story retold in a magazine, more than 20 years after her last fight. When Margaret McGregor’s story was published in Boxing News, her friends and family bought every copy they could online, and when their magazines arrived from across the Atlantic, they arranged a group meeting with her so she could autograph them. It was just a fun little gesture by people who already knew her, but they also knew what she had done and that she deserved a bit of fuss. McGregor thought she’d been forgotten, and for a foreign boxing journalist to get in touch again after…

MOST THINGS go in cycles, and boxing is no different. For example, America dominated the heavyweights for so long, but now you guys over in the UK have the strength in numbers (even if a certain Ukrainian has beaten most of them!). And heavyweights were the figureheads in German boxing for a time, too, with the Klitschko brothers (also Ukrainian, but based in Germany) dominating the division for a decade post-Lennox Lewis. Klitschko fights in Germany were always huge affairs, and German fans were by then accustomed to big-time boxing, with the likes of Henry Maske, Graciano Rocchigiani, Sven Ottke, Dariusz Michalczewski and others proving massive attractions in the 1990s – and I was fortunate to be a part of that, when I fought Maske and Rocchigiani. Fighting in Germany…

OLIVER FENNELL TWO things Mike Tyson struggled with, even at his ferocious best, were a confident opponent and a large height disadvantage. Mike at 5ft 10in almost always gave up height, but Tyson Fury, at 6ft 9in, is another level entirely. And did we mention confidence? Mike did knock the belief out of many a foe, but his own confidence could dim if he didn’t. Fury is durable and adaptable. It’s easy to remember Steve Cunningham dropping him and see Mike going one better, but that was a less experienced Fury, and possibly a complacent one. Prime for prime, with both fully switched on, I see Fury outboxing Mike early, and even if he endures a couple of scares, he’ll be composed enough to ride them out and take over…

PERHAPS the best time to interview a boxer for an upcoming fight is when he is focusing on someone else’s. Teofimo Lopez, training in Miami for his upcoming match against Shakur Stevenson on January 31 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, was getting ready to leave his residence with his dad, Teo Sr, to catch the Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul spectacle in that city. The Lopezes were well aware that the next big fight show they would attend would be their own. They were also well aware that I was on a deadline and could not put this interview off any longer. Once again, their level of cooperation was exemplary. Fifteen months ago, the Lopezes gave me a firm commitment that they would attend a Sunday afternoon boxing banquet…

TALK ABOUT defining moments. Josh Kelly plans to seize his chance on January 31, when he faces Bakhram Murtazaliev for the undefeated Russian’s IBF super-welterweight title. Glory in Newcastle would be a dream come true for the supremely gifted Sunderland star and for his home city, which has yet to salute a world champion. His intriguing confrontation against a fear inducing champion comes 10 years on from the time Kelly was partying it all away months before the Rio Olympics. Having been a quarter-finalist at the 2015 World Championships and won bronze at the European Games, he appeared to have the potential to be a British great, only to hit the booze instead of the punchbag, and leave the door ajar for Cyrus Pattinson. After Kelly’s weight ballooned by 30lb,…

A VERY happy New Year to all ex-boxers and EBA members. This of course is my first column in the new-style Boxing News Monthly. As before, I shall attend EBA meetings and functions when I can, but I still need people to supply updates from their EBAs and to send me newsletters – and ask me any queries they may have, which I’ll always do my best to answer. This column has always been reader-led, and I’m very grateful when people take the time and trouble to contact me. And you don’t have to be an official, or committee member. If you’ve got some news about your Association, I’m always delighted to receive it. So, I was very pleased to get a report from Richard Vaughan on Bournemouth EBA’s annual…

WHERE....... Co-op Live Arena, Manchester WHEN............................. Saturday, January 24 WATCH ................................... DAZN from 7pm WHILE MOSES ITAUMA wrecked Dillian Whyte in short order in August, it was undoubtedly against a pale imitation of the Whyte who once operated firmly among the top tier of the world’s heavyweights. Itauma’s win, then – as impressive as it appeared on the surface – did not in itself prove he was superior to the world-rated version of Whyte from years past. The question, as Itauma heads towards his January 24 date with durable fringe contender Jermaine Franklin, is whether he’s better than the Dillian Whyte of November 2022 – or even the Anthony Joshua of April 2023. For those two men, on those two dates, are responsible for the two defeats on Franklin’s 24-2…

UK & IRELAND JANUARY 15 RADISSON BLU HOTEL, GLASGOW Tyler Jolly vs TBA; Cassidy Todd vs TBA; Charles McDonagh vs TBA; Andrew Meichan vs TBA Promoter: St Andrew’s Sporting Club Tickets/information: standrewssportingclub.com / 0141 810 5700 Broadcast: n/a JANUARY 24 CO-OP LIVE ARENA, MANCHESTER Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin; Willy Hutchinson vs Ezra Taylor; Liam Davies vs Zak Miller; Shakiel Thompson vs Brad Pauls; Nathan Heaney vs Gerome Warburton; Aqib Fiaz vs Jordan Flynn; Alex Murphy vs Josh Holmes; Nelson Birchall vs Ryan Griffiths; Aadam Hamed vs Kasey Bradnum; John Joe Carrigan vs Danny Costello Promoter: Queensberry Tickets/information: queensberry.co.uk Broadcast: DAZN JANUARY 30 DOUBLETREE HILTON HOTEL, GLASGOW Colin Cairney vs Jitender Thakur; Taylor Gough vs Jake Osgood; Ally Black vs TBA; Sohaib Mohammed vs TBA; Jack Richardson vs TBA; Will…

NONITO DONAIRE continued his remarkable late-career form, even in defeat, as he pushed WBA bantamweight champion Seiya Tsutsumi to a split decision. Donaire was bidding, at 43, to become the oldest bantamweight titleholder in history, which would have broken his own record he set at 38. Donaire made the better start, taking command of the centre of the ring over the first three rounds, jabbing strongly and finding the target with straight rights and left hooks to the body. Tsutsumi was circling and looking to dart in with attacks, but had little success until he upped his pace in the fourth. Tsutsumi then began moving in behind his jab and firing rights, and looked to be building some momentum until late in the round when a right uppercut buckled his…

THERE is no mention of Mizuki Hiruta on pound-for-pound lists. In truth, the unbeaten Japanese WBO super flyweight world champion barely gets a mention at all – even in her own country. Her amateur career was solid, if slightly underwhelming. Hiruta lost in the opening round of the 2018 World Championships, and after leaving the Japan Self-Defence Forces, she turned professional in 2021 with little fanfare. But she won the vacant WBO title in just her fourth fight with a unanimous points decision over fellow Japanese fighter Kanako Taniyama in Tokyo in December 2022. Six months later, Casey Croft was stopped inside a round. The American only just made it out of the first minute. Very quickly, Mizuki Hiruta was up and running in the professional ranks at the highest…

IT TOOK barely five out of the scheduled eight rounds for Frankie Jones’ face to start showing battle scars. Not that a bleeding nose and puffy eyes would stop the pint-sized Plean puncher from motoring forward. Daring to step up from his natural flyweight limit to take on Hackney bantamweight Terry Toole, their Birmingham non-title affair ended in a painful lesson. Jones had arrived on just 48 hours’ notice to save the show following Dai Dower’s withdrawal. Leading the post-fight outcry for a change in career strategy, ringside reporter Frank McGhee wrote: “Frankie Jones, the craggy, blue chinned little toughie from the coal mines of Lanarkshire, who holds the British Flyweight title, must stick to tackling men his own size.” This is just one of the stories retold in The…

AS WE GET older, we’re tempted to say: “Age is but a number.” But, guess what? This is actually starting to become a reality in boxing. I’ve never known a time when so many fighters past the age of 40 were performing well in key fights – and sometimes winning them. This reminds me of back in the 1950s when people would marvel at the career of a Dutch welterweight named Bep van Klaveren. It seemed van Klaveren had defied the ageing process. Way back in the 1920s and into the 1930s, van Klaveren was winning fights in Britain. He won fights in South Africa and boxed to a draw in pre-War Germany. Van Klaveren won the European lightweight title with a 15-round points victory over Londoner Harry Corbett in…

ANTHONY JOSHUA finally brushed Jake Paul to one side in what I understood to be a pretty awful fight from both men. I didn’t watch it, and I am glad I didn’t. Hopefully this has killed off these types of silly fights, although somehow I doubt it. So, what now? It looks like Jake will be indisposed for some time while his broken jaw mends, and hopefully we won’t see him in the ring again. As for AJ, the drums are beating for him and Tyson Fury to finally get in the ring together – but who really cares now? Both men are well and truly past it and neither are the best in the world now – arguably not even the best in the UK! Yes, I am sure…

TERENCE CRAWFORD’S retirement announcement last month shook up the boxing world. But, as Crawford said in a slickly produced retirement video, he walks away as a great champion with nothing to prove, even referencing the Frank Sinatra hit: “I did it all – my way.” Crawford said he gave boxing every breath he had: “Every ounce of my heart.” He’s 38 years old, with a record of 42-0 (31) and a champion in five weight classes: Lightweight, super-light, welterweight, super-welter and finally super middle, when he jumped up two divisions to beat Canelo. Nothing to prove, indeed. So many fighters have announced their retirement and then come back. I believe Crawford is one of those who will stay away. He has achieved generational wealth. He’s done it all. As he…

BOXING has a funny way of building bonds between people who, in any other industry, would likely never even cross paths. From an outside perspective, it is strange, for instance, to imagine a 32-year-old American moving to the UK – staying in Luton, of all places – and developing a relationship with a Londoner in his mid-60s. But this is exactly what has happened. The story becomes slightly less peculiar, however, when it is revealed that the American is a heavyweight boxer and the Brit a renowned coach who often refers to himself as a “heavyweight specialist”. Any guesses? The mystery duo, of course, is Jermaine Franklin and Don Charles, who have joined forces ahead of the former’s clash with Moses Itauma in Manchester on January 24. But when Boxing…

MOVING into television has, by his own admission, been the healthier choice for Mark Kriegel. For more than four decades, Kriegel has been one of boxing’s most respected and recognisable voices in print, producing long-form features and essays that blended reporting with psychology, history and an unmistakable authorial voice. Yet to a generation of modern boxing fans, the New Yorker is just as familiar as a broadcaster – the thoughtful presence on ESPN’s fight-night coverage during the network’s partnership with Top Rank. Kriegel became an integral part of that programming, particularly through his sitdown interviews with fighters. These were rarely standard promotional conversations. Instead, they felt like part one-on-one interview, part therapy session, shaped by his ability to put fighters at ease and persuade them, often at the most pressurised…

Boxing New Classic From Vol. 1, No. 1 September 11, 1909 JAMES JACKSON JEFFRIES, ex-boilermaker, retired champion heavy-weight, and now wealthy farmer, has come out of the quietude to regain for the white section of Americans the world’s premier honours, and is taking the baths at Carlsbad. As was only natural, a deal of controversy has arisen as to the possible chances of J. J. J. to get back to condition after a lapse of just over five years, his last contest having taken place on August 26th, 1904, when he put Jack Munroe away in two rounds at San Francisco. Andy Kohlers, our American correspondent, deals with Jeff’s chances of “ coming on ” again, but as there is a big, a very big, likelihood of Promoter Hugh McIntosh…

QUIET THUNDER BOXING NEWS, JANUARY 30, 2004 The cover story on the then-tabloid format BN in the last week of January 2004 was Jim Brady’s report on Arturo Gatti’s vacant WBC 140lb titlewinning effort against Gianluca Branco. The newsline was not Gatti regaining a world title six years on from the end of his previous reign, but how this had come on the back of Gatti’s iconic trilogy with Micky Ward, and was – perhaps inevitably – a tame affair by comparison. 'Thunder' Gatti boxed rather than brawled and took a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Italian. Brady was not impressed by this 'new' Gatti. TEMPTING FATE BOXING MONTHLY, JANUARY 1990 The ninth edition of BM proved wonderfully timed, in hindsight. Mike Tyson was again the cover star and…

WHERE ............ M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool WHEN............................. Saturday, February 7 WATCH ................................... DAZN from 7pm SAUDI ARABIA has its critics, but Nick Ball is not one of them. The Liverpudlian has fond memories of Riyadh, where his three biggest fights have taken place, and where he won the WBA featherweight title. The sawn-off Scouser had already come to the attention of Riyadh Season powerbroker Turki Alalshikh with a series of exciting performances in the UK, and Ball continued that form when invited to perform in the Middle East. “Riyadh’s been great to me, to be fair,” says the 28-year-old. “I won my title there and the shows are next level – but it’s good to be back.” Ball is referring to his next assignment being at home – almost literally…

AT THE start of 2026, Japan has five male world champions. This is down from the unprecedented 10 of two years ago, but is still impressive for a country which mostly operates in the lower weight classes. Many international observers ask what is the secret of Japan’s success, especially in recent years? The Japanese boxing system is sustained by five pillars: (1) a link between pros and amateurs, (2) the club system, (3) influential promoters, (4) the number of shows, and (5) the number of boxers. Let’s look at each of these in turn: 1. Link between pros and amateurs Japan’s five brightest active boxing stars and their professional records are as follows: Naoya Inoue, 32-0 (27); Junto Nakatani, 32-0 (24); Kazuto Ioka, 32-4-1 (17); Takuma Inoue, 21-2 (5) and…

*all records after the bout DECEMBER 14 HOLIDAY INN NORWICH NORTH Tommy Petchell (Ely) 5-1 (0), 145lb w pts 6 Jake Osgood (Carlisle) 2-79 (1), 150lb Referee: Mark Bates 60-54 Michael Webber-Kane (Great Yarmouth) 15-1-1 (2), 142lb w pts 4 Liam Macmillan (Hull) 2-4 (0), 147lb Referee: Rocky Israel (Sean McAvoy scored 39-37) Cullum Faherty (Norwich) 4-0 (0), 135lb w pts 4 Mark Butler (Brighton) 3-25 (1), 140lb Referee: Rocky Israel (Sean McAvoy scored 40-37) Eryk Ciureja (March) 3-0 (0), 112lb w pts 4 Chris Liddell (Blackwood) 5-5 (0), 125lb Referee: Sean McAvoy 40-36 Richard Smith (Chatteris) 1-0 (0), 152lb w pts 4 Dale Arrowsmith (Hyde) 6-146-5 (1), 154lb Referee: Sean McAvoy 40-36 DECEMBER 17 INDIGO AT THE O2, GREENWICH, LONDON Giorgio Visioli (Aldershot) 10-0 (6), 135lb w ud 10…

EVENT OF THE MONTH THE ANNUAL South Wye Police ABC show was much more than a night at the boxing. For the majority of the 500-strong crowd, it was a Christmas party; a chance to dress up and enjoy singers, a magician and boxing at the Sports Hall at Hereford Sixth Form College. For the boxers, it was a chance to represent their country. “We are on the border and to have England against Wales works well for the public and the boxers,” said club manager Vince McNally MBE. Stars who have passed through the city’s Sixth Form College on the club’s shows include the McCormack twins, Pat and Luke, Sandy Ryan and Delicious Orie. Orie regularly helps out at South Wye following his retirement from professional boxing and was…

JULIUS FRANCIS and Mike Tyson in January 2000 was arguably the first of the great novelty fights. “Don’t call it a fight,” Frank Warren asked. “Call it an event.” We did, and it certainly was. It was sold-out at the Manchester Evening News Arena, front and back page of the daily papers and on the television news for the best part of a week. Tyson was not even acting bad – that would come a few months later when he returned to fight Lou Savarese in Glasgow, tangled with Warren, pushed the referee out of the way and danced in a kilt on a 50-grand car. In Manchester, Tyson was in fine form – mannered, calm, and focused. The antics were left to his hypeman Steve Fitch, aka Crocodile [pictured…

THEY SAY change is the only constant, and nobody embodies that more than Tyson Fury. The heavyweight division stands, at the start of 2026, on the verge of monumental change. There is a sense that, 12 months from now, things will look very different. The same names and faces who have defined a decade may be gone, replaced by a different set of characters. The heavyweight championship of the world, unified anew this past summer, may again be split four ways (a process which, thanks to the WBO, is already under way). The accepted king (regardless of the sanctioning bodies’ eccentric interpretations of the word), Oleksandr Usyk, remains undecided as to what his next move will be, or when he will make it, or if he will make one at…

“VOODOO – you know, the word voodoo,” says Jeamie TKV, when I ask him to spell what he’d just said. No, it wasn’t a word that sounded like voodoo. It was voodoo. It’s not a word you tend to hear very often when conducting boxing interviews with blokes from North London. Nor would you expect, when sitting down with the British heavyweight champion, to end up discussing military coups, murder plots and Congolese wrestling. Not Congolese voodoo wrestling, anyway. “In Congo, they do voodoo wrestling; it’s a bit different,” says TKV, with more than a dash of understatement. “They do witchcraft. “In boxing, you have your trainer in your corner; in wrestling, you have a witch doctor. Whoever’s is more powerful wins the fight.” But this is wrestling – it’s…

STEPPING down the concrete stairs and through the storied doors of Liverpool’s Everton Red Triangle (ERT) gym, the first thing that hits you is the silence. No chatter, no thump of leather, not even the familiar creak of the big bag. But the fighters aren’t missing – they’re in the back office, where Paul Stevenson, the gym’s latest custodian, is preaching. Bandages wrapped around knuckles, they cluster around the glow of his monitor. Today’s lesson from the archives: the 1970 bantamweight title rematch between Ruben Olivares and Chucho Castillo. “When you’re a hammer, every problem looks like a nail,” Stevenson smirks, just as the two Mexicans start trading with bad intentions in the 12th round. Much like the vintage footage, ERT is steeped in its past. Medals from a century…

WORLD Paulo Aokuso LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT Sydney, Australia 9-0 (4) Age: 28 Height: 6ft Reach: 72½in Promoter: No Limit Boxing Trainer: Horrace Uelese Debut: April 6, 2022 Last fight: w ud 6 Shukhrat Abdullaev, December 17, Sydney Next fight: TBA Amateur accolades: Representing Queensland Academy of Boxing, alongside his younger brother Austin (now also an undefeated pro), Aokuso competed in the 2020 Olympics, where he exited in the last-16 bracket. He turned pro the following year under No Limit. Professional progress: Aokuso won a regional title on his pro debut and has beaten a good selection of veteran opposition. The 30-8-1 former New Zealand champion Robert Berridge was seen off in two rounds in just Aokuso’s second fight and, most impressively, the Australian scored a unanimous decision over Cuban contender Yunieksy Gonzalez…

A GLANCE at the Boxing News middleweight rankings for July 1977 reveals the British scene was in a very healthy state. Alan Minter was the European champion at the time, with Kevin Finnegan reigning supreme as the British champion. The two men were partway through their tremendous trilogy of British title contests, with Minter having won both times when the pair met in 1975 and 1976 – on both occasions by a single round. After Minter vacated, Finnegan picked up the vacant title by stopping Frankie Lucas in seven rounds at the Royal Albert Hall in May 1977. Then Finnegan defended against Minter, in September 1977, and Alan won yet again in another tight contest. The two men shared 45 rounds of unbridled ferocity and skill. The No.1 challenger was…

EVERYTHING is on course for an all-Japan blockbuster between Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani, both men having won their fights on Riyadh Season’s Night Of The Samurai. However, enthusiasm for the Far East superfight might now be just a little muted. Inoue boxed beautifully in retaining his undisputed superbantam title against Alan Picasso, but this was the second successive contest in which the ‘Monster’ has had to go 12 rounds without scoring a knockdown. And in the other half of this doubleheader, Nakatani, in his debut at 122lb, barely got past Sebastian Hernandez via a unanimous but close decision. The fact that both men won is, one supposes, the most important thing. But it seems fair to say that what the boxing trade had wanted, in an ideal world, was…

CALLUM SIMPSON had one of the standout years in British boxing – until the event that came just five nights before Christmas, when he was relieved of all three belts he’d amassed over the preceding 16 months. In June, he’d added the European super-middleweight crown to the British and Commonwealth titles he already owned, coming through a Fight of the Year contender against Italy’s Ivan Zucco in what was a stirring conclusion to his promoter Boxxer’s relationship with Sky Sports. Simpson was one of Boxxer’s flagship names as they relaunched on the BBC, but while he thrilled the terrestrial television audience with another fan-favourite effort, the Barnsley man ultimately left the First Direct Arena without his titles and with a first defeat on his 18-1 (13) record. The 29-year-old had…

BRITISH RANKINGS HEAVYWEIGHT No weight limit 1. Daniel Dubois | Greenwich 2. Lawrence Okolie | Hackney 3. Fabio Wardley | Ipswich 4. Dereck Chisora | Finchley 5. Martin Bakole | Airdrie 6. Richard Riakporhe | Walworth 7. Moses Itauma | Chatham COMMONWEALTH CHAMPION 8. Joe Joyce | Putney 9. Hughie Fury | Manchester 10. David Adeleye | Ladbroke Grove CRUISERWEIGHT 200lbs/14st 4lbs 1. Chris Billam-Smith | B’mouth 2. Jack Massey | Marple 3. Viddal Riley | Tottenham BRITISH CHAMPION 4. Aloys Youmbi | Penge COMMONWEALTH CHAMPION 5. Cheavon Clarke | Gravesend 6. John Hedges | Takeley ENGLISH CHAMPION 7. Aurel Ignat | Wembley 8. Pat Brown | Manchester 9. Lucas Roehrig | London 10. Ellis Zorro | Bromley LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT 175lbs/12st 7lbs 1. Callum Smith | Liverpool 2. Joshua Buatsi |…

THIS STORY was nearly a tribute to the career of Rosie Eccles. Eccles admits she came “very close” to retiring last summer, after a horror spell of injuries. She could have walked away with two Commonwealth Games medals, having won silver on the Gold Coast in 2018 and gold in Birmingham four years later. But the prospect of competing in Glasgow this summer and making more Welsh boxing history kept the 29-year-old from Chepstow in the sport, and she hopes to compete again soon, having resumed sparring before Christmas. Eccles hasn’t boxed since a controversial loss in the 2024 Paris Olympics. First, she broke her back – and that was followed by knee surgery. She said: “During the rehab, it was slow and demoralising, and the Commonwealth Games kept me…

ARE PUNCHERS born or built? Is raw power a gift, or can it be earned through grit and grind? The Fight Lab series dives into this age-old debate and much more, delivering evidence-based insights for coaches, fighters, and fans alike. From decoding natural talent to designing the perfect fight camp, we’re breaking down what it truly takes to build a beast in the ring. Led by your resident strength and conditioning (S&C) coach, Rhys Morris, PhD, Fight Lab is a new column dedicated to the science and practice of boxing performance. Each instalment explores key topics across sport science, S&C, and coaching strategy, challenging outdated methods and offering practical guidance for those working at every level of the sport. Whether you’re in the corner, on the canvas, or behind the…