Summer Rumble 2

After the success of the first Summer Rumble and just like every great movie, the sequel is almost upon us. Forget about Harry Potter or how rubbish the new Spider-man film looks this summer's Blockbuster belongs to Phil Jeffries and Neil Fannan.

Put the Oscar on the back burner and polish up the gloves for the 2nd addition of the finest North East summer attraction. The Summer Rumble 2 is sure to get the juices flowing and head's ringing inside the ring and an expected sell out crowd at the Rainton Meadows Arena September 18th at the crack off Noon.

Top North East talents David Lake and Craig Dixon are set for their return follwing impressive displays at the first Summer Rumble, these two fighters alone is well worth the admission fee with many more top duels to be announced.

Ticket Hotline 0191 564 0202 Or 0774 7611 020

Tickets from £30 with Ringside seats from £50

Presented by Phil Jeffries & Neil Fannan

http://www.olympiangym.com/  

Courtesy of North East Fight Scene http://www.northeastfightscene.co.uk/

To avoid disappointment get your tickets before they sell out.
The October 21st showcase for Team George has already sold out, A massive thank you to everybody that is taking part or anyone that has bought tickets for this event Courtesy of Phil Jeffries for the brave little boy. to find out more information check out our Team George page. And a big personal Thank you to Phil Jeffries, Neil Fannon, North East Fight Scene and everyone involved in North East Boxing from everyone at Silver Dukes.

British Boxing at it's Best, The Supporting Role

By Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
Slotted in between the main events was a four round lightweight contest
featuring Enfield’s unbeaten Chris ‘The Flash’ Evangelou and Rotherham’s
Jon Baguley.

A cracking all action fight in which the young Londoner was able to
showcase his exceptional talent to yet another big crowd. Don’t get me
wrong it wasn’t all one way traffic from Evangelou, Baguley didn’t come to
make up the numbers.

For four round the pair went for it a hundred and ten percent, just as I
said Evangelou is an exceptional talent and it showed. His work rate and
quality of punches were the telling difference that earned him a tidy
49-47 points victory.

Remember the name Chris Evangelou, I predict that this youngster is going
to be huge and it’s just a matter of time before we see him in
Championship action.

The main support bout for Fury-Chisora see Kilburn’s Ashley ‘Treasure’
Theophane defend his British Light Welterweight crown against former
European and IBO World Lightweight Champion Jason Cook.

Cookie starts fast and takes the fight to the champ in the fist couple of
rounds. Throughout Cookie looks well in control and lands some cracking
big rights. Ashley fought well but Jason was far more active and landed a
lot more shots.

The fourth was a much closer round, both men upped their work rate and
added even more venom to their punches.

More of the same in the fifth, which was already heading towards being yet
another round for Cookie even before Ashley was deducted a point for yet
another low blow, his fourth in two rounds!

Round six was a much closer affair as Ashley started to up the pace and
take the fight to Cookie. Some nice back and forth action ensued, Ashley
started to turn the style on and land some peaches.

The tide starts to turn in the seventh, As before the pair went at it
hammer and tongs for the full three minutes. The highlight of the all
action round see Ashley land a cracking right, quickly followed by a crisp
left-right to which Cookie countered with an equally venomous right. First
clear round for Ashley in my book, but was it to be too little too late?

Round eight sees ‘Treasure’ pile on the pressure and at times looks
extremely dangerous, especially when he started picking his shots. The
venom in these shots was clear for all to see, the tide now flowed a
hundred percent in his direction. An easy round to call in the Champ’s
favour.

Ashley dominates round nine, great action throughout the round but the
highlight comes with just seconds left on the clock. Ashley rocks Cookie
with a huge right followed by a salvo of exocets. Somehow Cookie survives
until the bell.

Starting the tenth in the same vein as the previous round Ashley stalked
his quarry before launching a series of big shots, that culminated in a
huge right that sends Cookie down - and out with just forty three seconds
on the clock.

Great performances from both fighters, I have to admit by the midway point
I thought Ashley had well and truly blown it, I was wrong.

It was another great performance by the reigning champ in the fight that
preceded Theophane-Cook. Southern Area Light Middleweight Champ Ryan Toms
defended his title in emphatic style against the normally oh so classy
Newmarket prospect ‘Phat’ Pat McAleese.

From the off this looked like would be one helluva fight, and it was. The
early exchanges were fantastic evenly matched affairs but as the round
progressed Ryan switched tactics and started to really add some power to
his shots.

Early in the second Ryan lands a peach of a left, quickly followed by
another. Pat comes back with a cracking double handed flurry. As the round
progresses Pat changes tactics and starts to box, and box beautifully.
Ryan though smelled blood and starts to really load up his shots.

The third was a real lively affair, Pat again boxes beautifully but Ryan
steps it up and targets the body. As the round progresses Ryan seems
content to pick his shots, again targeting the body with venomous lefts.
After yet another big body shot backs the Newmarket man up and lets rip
with a powerful double handed flurry. Pat does well to recover from the
onslaught to survive the round.

After various big exchanges in the fourth Ryan lands another big left to
the body, Pat sinks down and takes the count. As soon as the count’s over
Ryan is all over Pat like a rash and again lands a big left to the body,
Pat goes down for the second time. As the fight resumes the writing is on
the wall and it comes as no surprise when Ryan lets rip with yet another
vicious left to the body. ‘Phat’ Pat goes down for the third and final
time, as the referee waves the fight off at the two minutes and forty four
second mark.

It may have been a short fight but it was a right royal dust-up. Ryan Toms
looks ready to move up and have to say judging on this performance British
Champion Prince Arron should be the next target in his sights. Now that’s
a mouth watering prospect for the new season.

Heading up the Championship bouts support card see Sheffield based Qatari
Kid Galahad in action against Mansfield based Latvian Pavels Senkovs.

Nice little work out for the talented Kid Galahad as Senkovs is no walk
over. For five rounds Galahad barely got into second gear as he out boxed
the game Latvian. The final round see Kid Galahad shift up a couple of
gears and go in search of a stoppage finish. Big double handed flurries
rained down on the Latvian exile for virtually every second of the final
three minutes.

Excellent performance by Kid Galahad to earn a shut out 60-54 points victory.

Now having read this far you will have a good idea that this show was a
bit of a blinder, and that there were some awesome performances. Now if I
were to say to you that my performance of the night wasn’t Tyson Fury,
wasn’t even Ashley Theophane or Ryan Toms but was three fight veteran
Peter Vaughan you’d probably laugh, that is unless you were at Wembley
Arena on Saturday night.

Peter Vaughan was served up as the sacrificial lamb for hot Light
Middleweight prospect Phil Fury, but as everyone soon found out this was
no lamb but a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The first couple of rounds there was some great action, and most coming
from young Vaughan who seemed intent to make his mark. By the third
Vaughan was well in his stride and picking his shots. It wasn’t all one
way traffic and there was some good toe-to-toe action midway through the
round, but Vaughan’s high tempo work rate and accurate punching secured
him the round, as the pair before, easily.

More of the same in the fourth, but come the fifth Vaughan shifted up a
gear and really went to town, mixing it up with solid body shots and big
right hands. Fury responds with some big shots of his own but nowhere near
the level Vaughan was dishing out. At this point I have Vaughan five
rounds up and looking to cruise to victory.

The sixth goes more or less the same way, but Vaughan digs into his well
stocked arsenal of punches and starts letting rip with big rights followed
by rib cracking hooks or explosive uppercuts.

Fury obviously realised his precious ‘O’ record was in serious danger as
he shot out to take the fight to Vaughan in the seventh. Big mistake
Vaughan catches the advancing Mancunian with a huge left and so started
yet another round dominated by the young upstart Vaughan.

The eighth and final round was a cracker, Fury needed a knockout to keep
his record unblemished and he knew it. This was by far Fury’s best round
but again he was out boxed and out foxed by the excellent Peter Vaughan,
who was magnificent throughout and thoroughly deserved the victory.

I was little surprised that referee Bob Williams scored it 78-75 as
Vaughan had won every single round by a country mile, that’s not just my
thoughts but that of the amassed press corps seated around me.

Waltham Abbey’s Phil Gill was next up, against Sheffield based Qatari Mo
Khaled.

It took Gill a couple of rounds to get to grips with the awkward Dominic
Ingle trained fighter’s switch hitting style, so Khaled took the first
couple of rounds comfortably.

Once Gill had him sussed he was able to land big rights at will. Khaled
switched tactics and drew Gill in, big mistake that’s where Gill is at his
best and boy did he make the Qatari exile pay for that mistake.

At the end of six excellent rounds I had Gill ahead by one round, although
in all honesty the third could have gone either way so wasn’t really that
surprised when referee Bob Williams held both hands aloft and declared it
a 57-57 draw.

Yet another top class bout preceded Gill-Khaled, this time Luton based
Bulgarian Bobby George (Boris Georgiev) faced Manchester’s Tamao Dwyer.

Again it was a cracker, albeit quite one-sided. Right from the start
George turned on the style and played to the gallery. As early as the
second round George would look up to his many supporters after a
particularly slick bit of work, no surprise really he made it look so
easy.

Round after round he plain out boxed Dwyer, picking his shots before
letting rip with a flurry of crisp double handed flurries.

George turned up the heat in the fourth and really went to town on the
head of Dwyer, so much so that by the end of the first minute he’d opened
up a cut over the left eye of the Mancunian. Referee Bob Williams was
quick to notice the widening cut and called for the doctor, who declared
the cut too serious to continue and handing George his second TKO finish
in three pro outings.

I arrived at the Wembley Arena just as debutant Lee Markham’s bout,
against the ubiquitous Matt Scriven, was about to start.

It took a round or so for the youngster to settle down, but once he turned
on the class and picked off the more experienced Scriven with ease. Late
in the third Markham really shook Scriven and it looked like a stoppage
finish was on the cards. In the final stanza Scriven used his vast
experience to keep out of trouble against the clearly talented youngster.

After four excellent rounds Lee Markham earned his first pro win by a
shutout 40-36 points margin.

My final words on this most excellent (yes I know I keep saying excellent,
but the bouts and the event were very much just that) event is I have
covered many events, on both sides of the Atlantic, but this was my first
Hennessy Sports event. If this is the level of quality of all Mick
Hennessy promoted shows I can’t wait for the next, as this was quality
from start to finish.

Back to the Garage for Del Boy

And we’re back, after taking a week off to absorb all that this fight season has thrown at us we are back with a bang and a new British and Commonwealth champion in the shape of Tyson Fury.

Fury v Chisora was billed to be a grudge match to rival DeGale v Groves and all the bad blood that went into the build up nicely set this one up.

All the trash talk was over and mutual respect between both fighters emerged after just the first round and both boxer’s continued to touch gloves at the end of each round. The opening rounds to the fight were slightly subdued with Fury trying to keep Del Boy at distance with Chisora reminding Tyson why he was champion with big swinging right hands giving Fury something to think about.

Tyson’s chin stood the test in the 2^nd round courtesy of Chisora’s right hand but it was hard to give Del Boy many other rounds apart from the 2^nd. Without being overly heavy handed Fury stuck to his game plan well and bullied the champ for the most part of the fight using his size and weight advantage much like the great Wladimir Klitschko.

Fury was my pick before the fight and although he never really released his full power Tyson boxed clever and seen a lot of Chisora’s bombs coming.

There was talk of the winner firmly putting their name on the Klitschko hit list with many boxing heads believing Chisora would be victorious including Wladimir himself. Granted Chisora was inline twice to face a Klitschko so maybe many of you thought he must be better than he really is. The Heavyweight division is a little thin in present times but I am glad for Chisora that he never fought a Klitschko judging by his struggle against Fury last night.

I feel it will be difficult for Del Boy to bounce back from this set back as the only other real British Heavyweight out there is David Price who fights John McDermott on bonfire night in a final British title eliminator.

Fury v Klitschko would be a better fight with Fury’s size, it is not very often a Klitschko is the smaller man but maybe Tyson lacks the power to really cause Wladimir or Vitali any great problems. It is however looking more likely that Fury will fight the winner of Price v McDermott and if all goes according to plan the new boxing season could well feature 6ft 9” Tyson Fury v 6ft 8” David Price for the British and Commonwealth title which I believe would bring more interest from the Klitschko brothers and I feel would ultimately result in a David Price v Wladimir/Vitali Klitschko in the not too distant future.
　
All the credit for now has to go to Tyson Fury, he knew he was underdog last night but it did not hold him back one bit from the early goings in the 5^th round Fury started to flow which meant bad news for Chisora who simply could not land a telling shot or get through the defence of Fury.
　
A good night for Fury and British boxing and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Fury.

Oshunrinde And Smyle Go Face To Face Ahead Of 31st July Showdown

Earlier today Dollis Hill, London, based American Super Middleweight Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Oshunrinde and Leicester’s Jahmaine Smyle came face to face for the first time ahead of their highly anticipated rematch, which headlines the Graham Earl promoted ‘Renaissance’ event at Liquid Nightclub, Gordon Street, Luton, on Sunday July 31st 2011.

The big punching duo’s first encounter, at York Hall in January, lasted a mere seventy one seconds before referee Kieran McCann stopped the bout due to a bad cut above Smyle’s right eye, declaring the bout a technical draw and stating the cut was due to accidental clash of heads.

Oshunrinde and his coach, TRAD TKO Boxing Gym’s Barry Smith, were outraged, claiming there never was a clash of heads and the cut was caused by  Oshunrinde’s solid jabs and big hooks and should have been declared as a TKO in their favour.

Speaking at Graham Earl’s House of Champions Gym in Luton Oshunrinde said, “It feels like redemption don’t it, yeah. It’s less than two weeks away, you can call it redemption but really I’m setting the record straight on a bad refereeing decision in January.

I’m feeling pretty good, I’m ready to rock and roll. When I beat him the first time I wasn’t in tip top shape, but now I feel like I am peaking really, really well.

Training’s going really, really good. Everything is right and coming into play, and I feel good.

I’ve been getting great sparring, been sparring great guys like Cruiserweight Mitchell Balker and this really good young kid that’s just turning over, he’s making his pro debut, Frankie Buglioni. He’s very good, he’s had an illustrious amateur career. He’s surprised me because he’s actually give me good sparring.

For this fight I’ve been sparring six and eight rounds to make sure I have the fitness. You always see me training , I always put a hundred and ten percent in because I’m trying to improve.
It didn’t go four rounds last time, I’m not going to make any predictions, other than a win. I don’t want to seem to cocky so I’m just going to predict the win and just box like I do in training.”

Jahmaine Smyle just sat smiling as Oshunrinde spoke, when he’d finished Smyle responded by saying, “I can’t wait to get in there. I’ve trained hard, I’ve been training for this for six weeks like.

I’m really looking forward to this, I can’t wait to get back in there. I’ve had good sparring, it’s all good, I’m ready.

The last one I only got caught by three shots before I got cut and they stopped it, under that new rule. It wasn’t a punch that did the cut, he caught me with the side of the gloves.

I’ve had some tough fights, that wasn’t one of them. I got through to the semis of Prizefighter, I think I had a tough draw, my last fight was a close fight, I thought I won it but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

All I know is I’m going to win, one hundred and ten percent. I’m not saying I’m going for a knockout, if it comes it comes, you know what I mean, I’m going to box him, I’m going to work him. I’m going to beat him.”

Graham Earl has put together an exciting undercard, to support Manny Oshunrinde versus Jahmaine Smyle II, featuring Graham Earl Promotions big banging stars Terry Holmes and Joe Hillerby as well as debuts for local lads James Smith, Danny Mulhern and  and Tom Little.

Tickets, priced £30, for the Graham Earl Promoted ‘Renaissance’ event at Liquid Nightclub, Gordon Street, Luton on Sunday July 31st 2011 are available on-line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or in person at Graham Earl’s House of Champions Gym, Unit 11 Hitchin Road Industrial Estate, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU2 0DZ

The Other Stars of the Show

Rocky Fielding continued his winning ways in his hometown last night with another valuable 6 rounds under his belt. A points win over tough guy Jamie Ambler moves Rocky’s Professional record to 7-0. The Light Heavyweight Prizefighter champion we and truly put his name amongst the Liverpool elite last night and long may it continue. Following in the foot steps of fellow Liverpudlian and stable mate Tony Bellew Rocky has his sights on conquering the Light Heavyweight division.

You may be cynical and say he’s along way off European or world glory yet but at only 23 years old Rocky has the credentials be make a big name for him and I would not doubt domestic honours beckon.

Callum Johnson did not disappoint in his first bout under new trainer Joe Gallagher going the scheduled 4 rounds with Lee Duncan and coming away with the W. Still very much a toddler in the professional ranks but with a Good professional outlook Callum Johnson is a name you will be hearing plenty in the near future.

Much to his credit and commitment to the cause Callum is said to be heading straight back into the Denton Gym tomorrow and plans to be back in the ring come September, “watch this space”
　
Another successful Liverpool prospect found there’s not a great deal to this winning lark is Middleweight Joe Selkirk. 7-0 Selkirk made light work of Birmingham’s Terry Carruthers claiming a first round TKO win.

Selkirk barely gave us time to admire his skills but what we did see was a deadly left hand and a right hand that seemed more than capable of playing the support act. Another young hopeful from Liverpool at only 25 years old and yet another fighter from Liverpool to keep an eye on. I fear I may have to leave my North East surroundings and move to Liverpool just to keep up with the talent that is emerging from the fine sporting city.

Tragic end for Cook

Hopes of regaining his WBO Super Featherweight title for Nicky Cook were dashed before any real punch was thrown last nigh in Liverpool. What looked like a back spasm seen Nicky Hit the canvas three times in 90 seconds in his bid to regaining his former strap.

From the first body punch from Burns it was clear to see something was seriously wrong with Cook, instead of that everlasting smile you would associate with the man from Dagenham there were grimaces of excruciating pain. Nicky Cook much to his credit continued and I was begging for the referee to stop the fight there and then as cook was trying to fight one handed protecting his injured back.

Unable to throw a punch himself cooks efforts were futile but should be applauded not booed. The towel was thrown in not a moment too soon and Cook was carefully ushered back to his corner by a doctor before a stretcher played taxi and Cook was immediately taken to hospital.

Early indications were a ruptured disc near the spinal column and it has been said Nicky will have x-rays today to find out the extent of the damage.

A tragic way to leave a fight and I’m sure I speak for every boxing fan when I say we wish Nicky Cook a speedy recovery and hope this will not be the last time we see him in a boxing ring although it is looking entirely possible.

Ricky Burns being the Scottish gentleman that he is showed great respect to Cook, applauding as he was taken away and sending his regards post fight.

This is a great shame for boxing as a whole, Nicky Cook was hoping to relight his career whilst Ricky Burns was trying to prove to the British public what a worthy champion he is.

The celebrations put on ice but I’m sure it won’t be long until Burns is Back in England to show us all just what a special talent he truly is.

Once again we’d like to send our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Nick Cook and to all his family.

A Boxing Lesson From Tony Bellew

Many may say the bombs were duds in the opening affair of Frank Warren’s Master card in Liverpool last but sheer boxing skill was in abundance in the opening bout of the final domestic show of the season.

Possibly the most eagerly awaited fight of the night was the rematch between ‘Bomber’ Tony Bellew and home run hitter Ovill McKnezie in which the first fight give us plenty to write home about with knock downs like they were going out of fasion and everyone loves a stoppage win.

Like many rematches this one to most pundits did not live up to the hype and some of the Liverpool faithful had their patience tested in the middle rounds but surely I am not the only one that seen some pure boxing skills on show where a very capable and dangerous fighter in McKenzie was made to look seriously average by a trunk full of talent in Tony Bellew.

In the first fight both fighters felt their opponents best shots and had brief encounters with the canvas so surely the tactics were going to be different in the second coming, and different they were. Mckenzie had shorts bursts in the first round that reminded us why we simply could not live without this fight happening again but Bellew’s defence was more than up for the task of fending off any attack from McKenzie.

Other than in maybe three rounds McKenzie did not produce a great deal and Bellew boxed clever and notched up the rounds without much trouble at all. Bellew showed good foot movement and controlled the fight with his left hand from all angles; great head movement From the Bomber frustrated Mckenzie. A reserved Ovill Mckenzie for a great deal of the fight simply could not throw his own bombs with Bellew’s right hand a constant threat, Bellew kept fainting the right hand just to let McKenzie know it was still there and boy did McKnezie know it.

The corner of McKenzie began to run out of ideas by the 8^th round and rather than give advice the simply said “right you’re getting boring now” just the words of encouragement a boxer needs when you’re already way behind in a fight. In Bellew’s corner however the plan was simple “give him a boxing lesson” and the Bomber obliged.

Not the great spectacle we were all hoping for and with Nathan Cleverley at ringside Jim Watt certainly wanted more from Bellew and felt he was not doing his claims for a world title any good and to that I say how?

Boxing a perfect fight? Working the perfect game plan? Having your opponent afraid to throw a telling punch? Fair enough it may have been unpleasing to the untrained eye but there was plenty on show to interest Nathan Cleverley and Frank Warren knows Tony Bellew sells tickets.

Everyone has seen Tony throw his bombs and knock opponents out but last night his showed his great defensive skills as well as offensive skills and not only does he posses power he’s not easy to hit.

Bellew v Cleverley makes perfect sense to me and another domestic world title fight will do wonders for British Boxing. In hindsight a massive congratulations to our new Light Heavyweight British champion Tony Bellew, now he has two titles to polish but I am sure he will not mind one little bit.

Building on Prizefighter Success Rocky Fielding

The unbeaten 23 year old is all set for his ring return since being crowned Super Middleweight Prizefigter champion in his home town of Liverpool tonight. Rocky’s success in the Prizefighter competition prompted Frank Warren to sign up ‘Rocky from Stocky’.

Michael ‘Rocky’ Fielding told the Liverpool Echo that penning a contract with Warren was an easy decision to make as it allows him to follow in the footsteps of some of his boxing heroes. Hardly surprising Fielding jumped at the chance to sign for Frank Warren who record speaks for itself. Warren hosts the domestic show of the year at the Liverpool Echo arena tonight with no less than 4 titles on the line from British to world titles on display.

“Going back to when I was a kid, I used to watch all the big shows and Frank Warren was the main man so I think he’s the right person to go with. I watched fighters like Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton and Amir Khan on Frank‘s shows so I‘d love to be able to get to where he helped them to one day” said Rocky.

Jamie Ambler is the man trying to spoil the welcome home party tonight in a 6 round contest.

Also on the card tonight are rotunda stable mates Tony Bellew and Joe Selkirk who Rocky has been around since his amateur days and said he always wanted to be on the same card as them.

Tony Bellew puts his Light Heavyweight Commonwealth title on the line whilst trying to claim the British title and Rocky had this to say “As an amateur I was on shows with the other lads from the Rotunda like Bellew and Selkirk and wanted to get back being on the same shows as them. It will be bit like an old Rotunda show tonight and it will be a good one, especially with Bellew fighting for the British title. I can't wait to sit back and watch him win it”.

Interview - Kevin Mitchell On This Weekend’s Showdown With John Murray

By Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

At long last the highly anticipated showdown between Dagenham’s ‘Mighty’ Kevin Mitchell and Manchester’s John Murray will finally take place this weekend, albeit in Liverpool and not the ExCel in London which was to originally host this career defining fight.

As I am sure most of you are aware the fight was supposed to have taken place this past Saturday, but due to Kevin being unwell for a few days recently the bout was hastily rescheduled and added to the Ricky Burns versus Nicky Cook WBO World Title fight card.

Since my return from America I have spent quite a bit of time with Kevin while he has been training at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town. I was there throughout his training camp for the ill fated Katsidis fight and of course I’ve been there for Kevin’s  camp for the John Murray bout.

Even though the training and sparring sessions have all been behind closed doors, thanks to Kevin’s coaches Jimmy and Mark Tibbs trusting me I have been lucky enough to have been at the TRAD TKO for every single session.

I don’t want to give too much away about just how well Kevin’s training has gone, but will just say I’m not normally a betting man but I’m seriously thinking of popping down to Paddy Powers and putting a few bob on our Kev.

Anyway before I do say too much about the camp, and get myself in trouble with Jimmy and Mark or gym owner Johnny Eames, it was after his final sparring session that Kevin and I sat down to chat about this weekend’s fight.


Rio - Your fight with John Murray has been put back to this weekend, why was that and how has that affected you and your preparation?

Kevin - I had a virus and had to be out of the gym for a couple of days, I didn’t want to make any mistakes like I did last time so spoke with Frank (Warren) as I wanted to get the virus out of the way.

A couple of days later the virus was gone and I felt good enough to get back in the gym.

I was straight back in training and sparring, I walked through twelve rounds easy and felt strong and sharp so the fight was back on again for a week later, but in Liverpool.

I feel bad for the other kids that were on the show, especially Billy Joe (Saunders) as he’d been here training alongside me. Same with Billy Morgan and Eddie Hussein, these kids have been down here training every day now they’re stuck without a fight. I’m Gutted for them that they didn’t get to be on the show.

I’m also gutted for the fans that I’m not fighting in London now. They’re a great crowd and I’m sure some will come up to Liverpool.


Rio - It’s now an away fight, and not that far from John Murray’s home, does that make any difference to you?

Kevin - I’ve been everywhere, I’ve been to Italy, Russia, I’ve been to America. I’ve been all over the world boxing so Liverpool’s not going to be a problem for me.

I know it’s an away fight now but I’ve been up there a few times and know a lot of people up there, the Smith brothers and all the people I met when was at the Murray camp.

I’ve got a lot of good friends up there and  know that when I step out on the stage there’ll be plenty of people there supporting me.


Rio - This is one of the few genuine 50/50 fights to take place this year - the winner of it is likely to be the one that wants it most - so just how much does Kevin Mitchell want it?

Kevin - If I’d won the last fight, like I should have done, this fight would have been looked at as a mismatch and shouldn’t be happening as Kevin’s beaten Katsidis up, but I got beat and everyone’s saying it’s a 50/50 fight.

Look at Murray and his last fight. In my eyes it’s more like a 90/10 fight in my favour.

He’s a good fighter, he’s good at what he does domestically. He’s fought names, but not at the top of their game, they’ve all been past it. You know like John Thaxton. Thaxton was a brilliant fighter in his day but  not when John Murray fought him.

He’s never been in with a top class fighter, I took Carl Johanneson when he was at his best and beat him, it was a hard fight and he got well beaten up by me, and I was just a young kid.

I’m now a twenty six year old man and this is a big fight for me. I’ve been training for this now for over two months and I’m not losing this fight.


Rio - You just mentioned training, to me you have looked totally different in camp, to what you did in camp for the Katsidis fight, you look sharper and more focused, everything. But how do you think it’s been going?

Kevin - Well you have been here for both camps to be fair. You’ve seen me train at both camps.

For the Katsidis camp I was useless in here, I was crap, turn up with no head on my shoulders as if I was in a dream land, I was crap. This camp I’m flying, everyone can see it. I’m sparring brilliant against them, everything’s gone brilliant.

These camps aren’t easy, they’re hard, but I enjoy them. I’m just looking forward to getting in there and smash him to bits.


Rio - That’s really good to hear, so you feel ready for the showdown with John Murray this weekend.

Kevin - Yeah perfectly, the last fight I wasn’t relaxed, I was nervous. When you’re prepared for something, you’ve got a job to do, you’ve got to be prepared you’ve not got to worry that something will go wrong.

When you are fully prepared, like I was for the Prescott fight you know that he has got no way out of that ring before the twelve rounds are done, unless I knock him out.

I will tell him (John Murray) the same thing it’s a twelve round fight and the only way you’ll get out early is when I knock you out.

There’s only two ways he’ll fight this fight, come out and stick it on me and get beat up or come out and try and lure me into a fight, by boxing and trying to counter punch me. Personally I think he’ll come out and box for two or three rounds and try and counter me which suits me as he’s going to get beat up and knocked out, he’ll be smashed to bits.

I had three rounds in the Katsidis fight before he took me out, for the first two rounds I played with him, if you see his face after, his was battered mine wasn’t  and I didn’t get hold of him really so you can imagine what I am going to do in twelve hard rounds to John Murray when I’m prepared.


Rio - So the Kevin Mitchell we’ll see on Saturday will be more like the one from the Prescott fight?

Kevin - Most certainly I’m just going to box for the whole fight. You’re going to see one hundred percent boxing, boxing and boxing. Lots of switching, mix and match it, box and fight, fight and box and some countering. You’ll see a world class performance from me on the 16th July.


Rio - For the winner of this fight it looks like it will lead to a full World title shot.  Does that add any additional pressure?

Kevin - No, not at all, I really want that World title shot. I’m going to win this and get that title shot, I can’t wait.


Rio - Not that long ago it was said that the winner on Saturday will face Ricky Burns for the title, is that still the case?

Kevin - Well I think that was something to hype it up a bit, Ricky fights at Super Featherweight. Maybe I’m wrong I don’t know, when I win this fight maybe he’ll step up I don’t know.

We’ve done a few rounds sparring here at the TRAD TKO Gym, he’s tough and he’s fit. Good spars, the first was a good even spar, the second spar was a bit tight, it was a good hard twelve rounds, which goes to show how fit he was.

He’s a brilliant talent, I’m a big fan of Ricky Burns, he’s done it the hard way and come out on top.

Rio - OK, so when you win this fight who do you think the opponent is likely to be?

Kevin - Brandon Rios and Frank (Warren) did say another name but I can’t remember who it was. I’m not fussed I’m happy and grafting hard.

I’m going to win this fight and then beat Brandon Rios or whoever for the title that’s for sure.


Rio - Just want to go off subject for my last question and ask what were your thoughts on the Klitschko-Haye fight?

Kevin - I didn’t think David seemed right at all, he strolled a bit. He was outsized, I don’t think he was outclassed, it was a size matter.

I’d like to have seen Dave go in there and have a punch up rather than look for the knockout. Dave lost on points so that’s the way it is on the way he done things.

You’ve got to respect the guy he went in there and with a World Class Heavyweight and stayed the twelve rounds.

I’d like to see him come back, drop down a weight. I sent him a message last week and said if ever he wants to call me and have a chat or get away from all the crap. I know what it’s like to get beat when everyone is expecting you to win.

I really do hope that he comes back from this as he’s a world class fighter.

Rio - Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me yet again and good luck on Saturday.

Kevin - My pleasure as always.


Kevin Mitchell versus John Murray, for the WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight title will feature on Ricky Burns’ defense of his WBO World Super Feathweight crown against Nicky Cook at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on Saturday 16th July 2011.

Tickets, priced at £50, £80 and £100, are available on 0844 8000 400 or www.echoarena.com