BELFAST BOYS

Frampton and Conlan do what’s asked of them

ROAD TO THE TOP
The routes of Lewis, Bruno and co

AUGUST 20 2020 THE WORLD’S BEST FIGHT MAGAZINE EST. 1909

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JIMMY ISAAC
CABLE CHAMBERLAIN
Steve Bunce By Don McRae
pays tribute

JOHN
DUDDY
By Thomas Hauser

PITTERS VS SUGDEN
HOWARD WINSTONE
FIGHT CAMP III

UNDER PRESSURE Whyte takes

£3.99 VOL. 76 NO. 34
on Povetkin as
pay-per-view makes
its return to boxing
Available in newsagents, or order at
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 Contents August 20, 2020

14 WHYTE vs POVETKIN
Previewing a dangerous test for the WBC No. 1 contender

Photos: GETTY IMAGES

UNMISSABLE HIGHLIGHTS

>> 18 EARNING YOUR SHOT >> 4 EDITOR’S LETTER

How Dillian Whyte’s journey compares The current importance of pay-per-view
to those of other top British heavies
>> 8 THE BUNCE DIARIES
>> 24 ISAAC CHAMBERLAIN Paying tribute to the late Jimmy Cable
Don McRae catches up with the
comebacking cruiserweight >> 22 PITTERS vs SUGDEN
The storied British light-heavyweight
>> 30 CARL FRAMPTON crown is up for grabs in Redditch
“The Jackal” continues on his quest to
become a three-weight world champion >> 32 FELIX CASH
The Commonwealth middleweight king
>> 34 JOHN DUDDY
Thomas Hauser on the life and career
of the popular Irish middleweight
18 impresses in stopping Jason Welborn

>> 40 AMATEURS
Sad news as Nemesis closes its doors

SAVE £££ WITH A SUBSCRIPTION >> 42 THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

Marvin Hagler vs Bennie Briscoe,
For more details visit Ivan Robinson vs Arturo Gatti and more
WWW.BOXINGNEWSONLINE.NET/SUBSCRIPTIONS
>> 46 60-SECOND INTERVIEW
‘I STARTED BOXING AT 22 WHEN
I WAS EXPECTING MY DAUGHTER.
SHE GAVE ME THE DRIVE’
Shakan Pitters

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 3

 EDITOR’S LETTER

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EXPECTATIONS:
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HERE has been boxing returned. Even so, it remains a harder to predict – than it would have or call 01959-
something of a tough sell in a world counting its pennies. been if staged in a bouncing arena, as was 543-747.

T honeymoon period
in boxing as the
sport rallies against
a coronavirus
pandemic running
riot all over the
world. Old rows have
been forgotten and
that nagging feeling
of discontentment
has eased. Almost
everyone working
Matt inside the sport
Christie understood that we
@MattCBoxingNews had little choice but
Editor to take small steps
before attempting to
run again.
But this weekend, after three
Matchroom events on consecutive
weekends were broadcast on Sky Sports
Mix (a channel available even without a
Sky Sports subscription) Eddie Hearn takes
boxing back into the pay-per-view world
when Dillian Whyte fights Alexander
Povetkin on Sky Sports Box Office. Simply,
if you want to (legally) see the biggest fight
since lockdown, you will have to pay for it.
As Hearn knows better than anyone,
the moment an event has a price tag
attached to it you’re inviting potential
criticism from the consumer. Whyte-
Povetkin was not deemed worthy of the
Box Office treatment by critics when it
was originally announced. But now – five
months after the world was plunged into
a dark inertia – one can argue it is if you
compare it to the action we’ve seen since
Whyte and Katie Taylor (who goes
in against Delfine Persoon in a rematch
of their savage June 2019 slugfest) are
not the first truly big names to fight this
summer but they’re the first to do so in
planned, five months ago.
Whyte has been through a lot in the last
13 months. There have been the brushes
with UKAD, the split with his trainer Mark
Tibbs, the rows with sanctioning bodies
l THE next issue
will be in shops
on August 27
and available
anything approaching competitive fights. and the legal wrangles with the media to download on
The likes of Carl Frampton and Joe Joyce who Team Whyte felt had been unfair. August 25.
(both on BT Sport) have fought in recent One wonders if there have been too many
weeks. Any faults those two exhibited distractions. But he’s a fighter who rarely The
against inferior opposition were forgiven lets down the paying public and for that Podcast
– both by the public and rivals unable reason alone, this weekend’s contest is Returns!
to capitalise. Daniel Dubois, without an one plenty will deem worth shelling out
opponent at the time of writing after Eric for. How it performs could govern the l THE OPENING
Pfeifer pulled out, will likely experience immediate future of the sport. BELL, the Boxing
similar levels of leniency when he comes Promoters will know that pay-per-view News podcast,
back next week. Dress rehearsals are fine is one of the few options they’ve got to be is back and
in the short-term but the sport needs profitable. Eddie Hearn can’t keep hosting completely free
show-stopping events if it’s to thrive. extravaganzas in his garden that cost a to listen to.
Whyte-Povetkin is not that exactly. Some fortune. Frank Warren isn’t in a position l Alex
will say it would have been perfect as to indefinitely bankroll a steady stream of Steedman hosts
another free-to-air offering that would domestic events, either. Not only will the alongside Matt
really draw a huge TV audience and in novelty wear thin, but there are only so Christie and
turn boost the sport’s profile. But then many of those fights that can be made. every week
those saying that will not be footing the No one should presume boxing is back there will be
bill to stage it. and flying high again. The journey is just important
For Whyte and Taylor, these are not at the start. interviews as
dress rehearsals. The pressure will be Pay-per-view, more so now than ever we tackle the
enormous. Not only does Whyte have before, might be the only feasible way to biggest subjects
to win to secure his long-awaited world ensure the best fights get made. Money in the sport.
title shot, the event itself must deliver. It must be generated alongside them.
will be interesting to see how Whyte in This is the entertainment business. A l Listen via
particular copes. We’ve seen him emerge business where so many are now realising, Apple, Spotify
from several crises in boxing rings, often with ticket sales a long way off, that efforts and all major
reacting to the cries from the crowd to to regain profits have to be made sooner podcast
haul himself out of them, but he’s yet rather than later if they’re to survive. platforms.
to experience an environment like this.
Follow us and keep up to date l New episode
And it’s that alien atmosphere that makes
@BoxingNewsED BoxingNewsOnline every Thursday.
this a better fight on paper – or at least

4 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net

 GUEST COLUMN

FIGHTING WITHOUT CROWDS IS FINE

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

LONG WAY BACK:

But Dogboe
believes he can
get there

As fighters we train our minds to ignore the crowd, it is not a difficult situation to fight in

IGHTING in exactly what happened. I have to give just knew exactly what you were the future and I’m looking forward
‘The Bubble’ a lot of credit to my coaches, Barry dealing with. to that.

F wasn’t that bad

last month. The
week of the
fight, fighters
Hunter especially. They kept me in
my zone.
Chris Avalos has been around for
some time. When I was coming up
It wasn’t that difficult because I’ve
been doing this for some time. You
have to be open to change at some
time in your life. I’m not growing
I’ll definitely be a better fighter
for those losses. You’ve seen my
comeback fight. We just have to
keep on improving. Take each fight
don’t really do he was one of the hottest prospects younger, my mind is always open. as it comes and keep on improving.
much. You just around. He fought Carl Frampton, I’m also learning as I’m going along We are aiming high. But we just take
kick back, rest Leo Santa Cruz, Oscar Valdez, a lot the way. I’m becoming more mature it one step at a time, one day at a
and relax. Do of the top names. I by the day. time.
what you have would hit him and I After the losses to For what’s next, from what
to do, thinking would think to myself, ‘I’VE HAD Emanuel Navarrete, I’ve heard I think, God willing, I’ll
about the fight.
For fighters
‘Right this guy’s still
standing.’
SLEEPLESS I think the most
important thing was
fight some time in September. As
for becoming a two-time world
Isaac
Dobgoe
you train Sometimes I found NIGHTS, I being truthful to champion? God willing. There are
lots of great things coming my way
Former WBO
your mind
and yourself
myself loading up and
Barry was telling me JUST HAD TO myself. I had to be
truthful to myself. and right now I’m just taking it all
champion to ignore the
crowd. Just
to take my time, let
everything flow off
FLUSH IT ALL Not be in self-denial
or anything. I had
in, just bracing myself for when
that time comes. I know that I’ll be
so that you don’t get sucked into the jab. Everything OUT’ to be truthful. I had a world champion again. I have no
everything that’s coming out from just went to plan. to accept the fact I doubt about that.
outside of the ring. Funnily enough The first step of everything lost. The man beat me. He has my It’s been activated, I should put it
you could hear noise coming out of [with the new training set up] was respect. I had to accept everything. that way. It’s been activated. So right
the speakers, I think it was coming being mentally stable, mentally That was the only way I could really now we just have to go through the
from the ESPN app, I think they’ve comfortable. Coming off two let everything flood in and then just motions. Just spend more time in
got something called ‘Hear me consecutive losses and dealing with flush it all out. It was just a gradual the gym, learn as much as I can, be
Cheer’. You could people saying, some personal things, it was more get process. I’ve had some sleepless consistent and just stay on the ball.
‘Hello, hello.’ It was pretty cool. that aspect right before everything nights, I’ve had so many things, but It feels good to be back. I feel
I felt excellent, I listened to my else. Barry is an experienced man, hey, that’s not important. That’s in wonderful. We had a great reception,
coaches. What they told me, that’s he’s a man with a lot of wisdom. He the past. The focus right now is on great feedback. It feels amazing.

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 5


LETTERS
LETTER OF THE WEEK
SCORING MIX-UP
JOHN EVANS’ article on Harry
Simon in the August 13 issue was
absolutely riveting. I always liked
Simon’s boxing style and I remember
going to watch him box when he fought
Kevin Lueshing at Crystal Palace. My
close friend, Harold Lederman, was
one of the judges that night. Previously,
Harold’s daughter, Julie Lederman, had
judged Simon’s fight with Winky Wright.
When the MC read out the scores after
that bout, the result was announced as a
majority draw. However, Julie noticed that
they’d read her score incorrectly. She had
Simon winning, which in turn saw Simon
win the decision overall.
Mike Hills
WOMEN’S BOXING
MATT CHRISTIE made some excellent
points about women’s boxing in his
Editor’s Letter in the August 13 edition.
There is no doubt that female boxers
Photo: AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES
6 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020
can put on exciting fights. One that
immediately springs to mind is Katie
Taylor vs. Delfine Persoon at Madison
Square Garden. I have also had the
pleasure of seeing Christy Martin fight
live. She was involved in some brilliant
fights. Having said that, I would always
prefer a big fight between two top men
to one involving the best women. I’m
sure most boxing fans would agree. That
makes things like equal financial reward
very difficult, as in my opinion, I believe
that fewer people would pay for a top
women’s fight than would pay to see a
top men’s fight. That just happens to be a
fact of sporting life right now and seems
unlikely to change anytime soon.
Chris Strange
GENDER EQUALITY
I THOUGHT that Matt Christie’s editorial,
‘The Quest for Equality’, in the August
13 edition was great. There was a good
ON TWITTER ON FACEBOOK
@BoxingNewsED www.facebook.com/boxingnewsonline
discussion within it, and it was pleasing
to see the magazine giving focus and
thought to these issues. Personally,
I would definitely be in favour of
three-minute rounds for women.
Tom Pearson
EVERY BOY’S DREAM
I’VE just finished co-writing North-
East boxing promoter Steve Wraith’s
book. It covers his experiences of being
involved in the pro game, which aren’t as
glamorous as one would imagine. It really
highlights the hard work and dedication
that has to go into being a promoter.
Steve has brought a lot of boxing back to
the North East. Along with the likes of Reg
Long, Neil Fannon and Mal Gates, he is a
real unsung hero in the area who rarely
sees the spotlight when the shows are
broadcast. The book, Every Boy’s Dream,
is now available on Amazon.
Jamie Boyle
www.boxingnewsonline.net
 ON INSTAGRAM EMAIL POST
boxingnewsonline bn.ed@kelsey.co.uk Boxing News Letters, Kelsey Media, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Maidstone, Kent, ME18 6AL

10 COUNT
THE PANEL
2004 OLYMPIC GOLD
MEDALLISTS
DO YOU EXPECT WHYTE-POVETKIN TO BE A BOUT Alexander Povetkin (pages 14-17) was the
WORTHY OF THE PAY-PER-VIEW PLATFORM? super-heavyweight champion at the Athens
Games 16 years ago. Who were the other winners?

1. ODLANIER SOLIS (HEAVYWEIGHT)

A gifted but temperamental Cuban who won a trio of
World gold medals in addition to his 2004 Olympic
triumph, Solis went on to unsuccessfully challenge
Vitali Klitschko for the WBC heavyweight title as a pro.

2. ANDRE WARD (LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT)

Following his victory for America at the 2004 Olympics,
Ward turned over and proceeded to become a unified
Chris Dave Carl Scott champion at super-middleweight and light-heavy,
McKenna Allen Greaves Quigg before retiring as the unbeaten pound-for-pound No. 1.
Sports Heavyweight Promoter and Former WBA
journalist contender trainer champion 3. GAYDARBEK GAYDARBEKOV (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
I’m sure if it turns I’m not sure about I just don’t think Pay-per-view is Gaydarbekov denied Gennady Golovkin an Olympic
out to be a slugfest a fight that’s truly we should be down to your own gold medal by defeating him in the final in 2004.
with knockdowns worthy of pay-per- staging pay-per- interpretation. The Russian, who never became a professional, also
galore then view because you view fights in the Ordinarily it might competed at the 2000 Games, where he captured silver.
everyone involved never know how current climate. not be worthy
will say ‘you get a fight is going to I understand that of PPV but we’re 4. BAKHITYAR ARTAYEV (WELTERWEIGHT)
what you pay for’ play out. But it’s money needs living in strange Like Gaydarbekov, Artayev remained an amateur
but let’s be realistic a fight between to be made and times. In this throughout his entire career. The quality Kazakh was
the recipient of the coveted Val Barker Trophy in 2004,
– it’s an interim two Top 10 I understand climate, it’s exciting
awarded to the outstanding boxer at the Olympics.
title fight between heavyweights and that shows are and will be good
a heavyweight is an interesting not making any to to have that
5. MANUS BOONJUMNONG (LIGHT-WELTERWEIGHT)
contender and a matchup. money, but it ‘big fight feeling’ Although Boonjumnong only had a short and
faded force. PPV Both have the seems wrong again. Eddie Hearn undistinguished spell as a pro in his mid-30s,
should be reserved capabilities to end somehow with so deserves credit prior to this the Thai medalled at two Olympic Games.
for elite fights and the fight early but much uncertainty for managing to He secured gold in 2004 and silver four years later.
if Whyte wasn’t I think Whyte wins out there to put stage a fight of this
behind a paywall on points. a price tag on a magnitude at this 6. MARIO KINDELAN (LIGHTWEIGHT)
his standing fight. time. Career amateur Kindelan defeated a teenage Amir
would soar. Khan in the 2004 Olympic final. The classy Cuban also
claimed a gold medal at the 2000 Games, plus three
first-place finishes at the World Championships.
HOW DO YOU SEE THE KATIE TAYLOR-
7. ALEKSEI TISHCHENKO (FEATHERWEIGHT)
DELFINE PERSOON REMATCH GOING? Another fighter who opted against turning
professional, Tishchenko enjoyed a gold-laden stint
Chris Dave Carl Scott in the unpaid ranks. The Russian was victorious at the
McKenna Allen Greaves Quigg 2004 and 2008 Olympics, as well as the 2005 Worlds.
Taylor can win I thought when I think Taylor will This is a fight I’m
8. GUILLERMO RIGONDEAUX (BANTAMWEIGHT)
this one more watching the first make sure this really looking
During an outstanding amateur career, Rigondeaux
clearly and silence Taylor-Persoon time. She’s been forward to. From
garnered two Olympic golds (2000 and 2004) and two
doubters. The fact fight out in New training for a long what I’ve seen of World golds (2001 and 2005). The enigmatic Cuban is
she has had more York that Persoon time and will be the first fight also an ex-unified super-bantamweight titlist as a pro.
time in camp than had comfortably better prepared I expect Katie
Persoon will benefit done enough to than she was in Taylor to be 9. YURIORKIS GAMBOA (FLYWEIGHT)
her greatly. She get the decision. New York last able to make At the 2004 Olympics, Cuba’s Gamboa finished on
should be more I have no idea year. As long as the adjustments top of the podium. The honours continued to arrive
calm and collected about how good she hasn’t over- and win more when he moved into the professional game, where he
with no crowd her preparation has trained, and there’s comfortably this achieved the status of unified featherweight king.
roaring her on and been but all things no reason to think time in another
will be able to back being fair, I will go she will, she’s a tight affair. But 10. YAN BARTHELEMY (LIGHT-FLYWEIGHT)
out of exchanges for a repeat of the professional, she you can’t write One of five Cuban boxers to conquer their field at the
better. I expect she first fight but with should make a off Persoon. It’s 2004 Games, Barthelemy also prevailed at the 2001
wins on points but Persoon getting statement. definitely a ‘pick- World Championships. However, he failed to replicate
more comfortably the decision she em’ fight. his amateur success in the pros.
this time. deserves this time.

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 7

 THE BUNCE DIARIES

SWEET JIMMY
A tribute to T would be hard to
invent the twists,
after beating Wilshire that night in
February was 24 wins in 26 fights.
The image of Cable sitting on the canvas
staring heavily at nothing is still vivid,
the one and
only Jimmy
Cable
I wicked turns, joy
and chaos of Jimmy
Cable’s boxing year
in 1984. Not to
mention the rest of
Just six weeks after the Wilshire win,
Cable was back on BBC television as the
top of the bill at the Royal Albert Hall.
It was April and it was cruel; Mickey
Duff, his promoter, had imported a
still horrible. It was still only April.
Exactly one month later, Drayton was
back in Britain and he did the same
thing to Mark Kaylor, dropping him five
times. In 1986 Drayton won a world title.
his life. Philadelphia veteran – a man with a A week after Kaylor lost to Drayton,
After a quick win thousand rounds of warfare in the gym just six weeks after Cable had lost to the
on cuts in January with Marvin Hagler – called Buster American, Cable was in Toulouse for a
1984, Cable was Drayton. The American looked fifty, vacant European light-middleweight
back in the Royal but Buster was a lethal relic, nearly an title fight against Said Skouma. “I just
Albert Hall ring 22 extinct breed. kept taking the fights that were being
Steve days later to win Cable was not comfortable that offered,” Cable told me in 1993. “It was
Bunce the British light- night, too pale, too drawn. The end was the money – how could I say no?” It was
@BigDaddyBunce middleweight title obvious. He fell lightly to the canvas still only May and there was ten grand
Voice of boxing in an old-fashioned quickly, was given a chaotic quick count on the table. Real money to a kid like
war with Nick and then he ran, he moved back too Cable from Orpington.
Wilshire. There was no rest for Cable, he fast and the most savage of left hooks, The fight finished in the 11th. Cable
was fighting to never have to decorate watched in agony by everybody in the won and what a fight it was. Cable was
a house, paint a wall or labour on a venue, but missed by Cable, connected. dropped three times, given a standing
building site ever again. That is called He dropped, still and fast, his head count, was hurt, dazed, but not beaten
battling a dream. hitting the rope and he was out. It was and he rallied, sending Skouma down
Cable was 26 at the time. His record over after just 85 seconds of round one. in the tenth and again in the eleventh

With Code BOXING NEWS At Checkout

8 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net

for victory. Doug Bidwell, his manager,
collected the purse on the night, tucked
the cheque in his pocket and with
Cable’s fans (there was a travel deal
organised by Alan Minter’s International
Sporting Club) enjoyed the Saturday
night in Toulouse. On the Monday, back
in Britain, the cheque bounced. And it
bounced high, my friend.
The French were suspended from
staging European title fights. Cable
eventually received his
money five months
later. It was too late to ‘I KEPT TAKING
keep him away from the
brushes and the British
THE FIGHTS
and European champion FOR THE
was back painting Kent
houses to support his MONEY. HOW
wife and three children.
It was still only June.
COULD I SAY
In September of 1984 NO?’
he was back on the
road, this time Munich. The travel deal
was 109 quid by coach, including three
nights in a hotel. It was a European title
defence, but Cable lost on points to
Georg Steinherr. The following February
he defended the British title and in
May lost it to Prince Rodney in a fight
on Hastings pier. Yes, it had been a
pantomime time.
Cable’s last fight with a legitimate
licence was in 1988. His final record 41
www.boxingnewsonline.net
fights, 30 wins, nine defeats and two
draw. He was not rich from the ring, but
a minute in his company and you could
hear the sacrifice in his voice. Cable had
been in the wars.
In 1993 he was part of Reg Parker’s
pirate business, the United Boxing
Organisation. Poor Reg, who controlled
his empire from above a World of
Leather showroom in Eltham, had to
invent belts to keep giving Jimmy. And,
oddly, Cable sounded
fresh, a new Jimmy. It
was a relief to me. On
that dreary circuit, at
that age and with hard
time away from the ring,
he was still the sweetest
of boxers. “I made more
for some of those fights
than I got for beating
Wilshire at the Royal
Albert Hall,” he said. To
get to a fight – to get the right location
– was often comic and involved meeting
in pubs in Orpington, waiting for the
landmark to be revealed and then
driving. I went to one in a warehouse
in Woolwich. Jimmy seemed to be
defending a dozen belts. He was just too
good. It was also too sad.
In 1996 Jimmy’s life was badly
damaged and it had nothing to do with
him. His daughter was an innocent
witness to a stabbing death. Her
boyfriend was the victim. The killer was
known to the police, a serious south
London gangster. He had previously
stabbed an undercover policeman. His
name was Kenneth Noye and he went
on the run to Spain, part of a cabal of
villains celebrated in folklore. In 1998
he was captured, Cable’s daughter went
to Spain to identify him. He stood trial
in 2000 and was sentenced to life for
the killing. She was a fearless witness.
Another witness at the trial was shot
and killed six months later and that
case is still open. Cable’s daughter was
given a new identity and placed in a
witness protection scheme – this is
real, not a movie. Noye was released
in the summer of 2019. “A life sentence
should mean a life sentence,” Cable told
BBC news in 2017. “Her life has been
destroyed.”
In 2011 I saw Jimmy for the last
time. We met at a hospital door, both
visiting a great boxing trainer called Billy
Webster. He was the man who made
Cable a fighter at the Fitzroy Lodge;
I had been a boy witness in the gym
in the late Seventies. Jimmy had been
drinking that night when we saw Bill. He
was still Gentleman Jim to me.
Sweet Jimmy Cable, a fighter from a
very, very old world and one of my first
idols.
BETTER DAYS:
Cable celebrates
winning the British
title in 1984
AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 9
 BOXING MEDIA REVIEW Examining the best and worst
of the sport’s weekly coverage
SHAMEFUL
David
BRODCASTS
Benavidez
failing to WITH plenty of televised action on
both sides of the Atlantic, it was David
make weight Benavidez’ alarming lack of discipline
speaks of poor that unfortunately stole my attention. The
unbeaten Mexican-American lost his WBC
discipline, super-middleweight title on the scales
writes George when we weighed in almost three pounds
Gigney over the 168lb limit and didn’t attempt to
take the excess weight off and weigh in
again a few hours later.
He thrashed Alexis Angulo in the
main event of the Showtime broadcast,
but so what? This is the second time
Benavidez – who is still only 23 – has
been stripped of his world title. He tested
positive for cocaine back in 2018 and the
WBC relieved him of their title before he
reclaimed it against Anthony Dirrell.
His 2018 hiccup was put down to
the ignorance of youth and he was
swiftly granted a second
chance, but he’s wasted
that now. This wasn’t a
slight miscalculation on LOMACHENKO
the scales; he knew full
well he wouldn’t make
IS TAKING A
weight. This isn’t a case
of him being too big for
SHORT-TERM
the weight, either; as he HIT FOR LONG-
stood on those scales, it
was clear he had weight
TERM GAINS
he could have safely taken
off during training camp.
It’s worth noting that one of Benavidez’s
rivals – Callum Smith – is an enormous
super-middleweight who routinely makes
the championship weight.
The Showtime broadcast on fight night
mentioned the missed weight – and how
could they not? – but were too lenient
on Benavidez. No, coming in overweight
isn’t as serious as, say, testing positive for
performance enhancing drugs, but it’s still
a dangerous flouting of the rules – there
are weight divisions for a reason.
Benavidez is a talented fighter but
he’s now twice thrown away a world
title – he should have to work his way
back into contention by taking on worthy
contenders.
On DAZN, Jessica McCaskill pulled off
a huge upset to dethrone welterweight
queen Cecilia Breakhus, but it was a
bizarre piece of refereeing in the chief
support that grabbed attention.
10 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020
Photo: AMANDA WESTCOTT/SHOWTIME
Israel Madrimov decked 37-year-old
veteran Eric Walker with a scything left
hook in the ninth round of their super-
welter clash. Walker remained on the
floor for at least a minute, unable to find
his feet. Once up, he stumbled around,
his senses evaporated. Referee Gary
Ritter ordered for the fight to continue.
Walker continued to receive unnecessary
punishment right through to the final bell
of the 12-rounder.
Ritter, who was behind Madrimov when
the blow landed in the ninth, deemed that
Madrimov’s shoulder had forced Walker
down. He couldn’t have been more wrong;
Walker was knocked out.
It was a dangerous call, and credit
should go to the DAZN commentary team
– particularly Sergio Mora – who were
quick to point out Ritter’s mistake and
claim the fight should have been stopped
there and then.
Over in the UK, the usually boisterous
York Hall remained
empty of fans while the
first genuine star boxed
on a British show since
lockdown began. Carl
Frampton looked good
while dispatching Darren
Traynor on BT Sport in
what ended up being a
lightweight fight after
Frampton’s team struggled
to find an opponent.
It was obviously strange
to see York Hall so quiet, though the extra
room in the venue did allow BT to install
an impressive setup.
We’ve had plenty of solid shows on TV
since lockdown measures were eased a
few weeks ago, but Frampton is the first
household name to box on these shores.
It’s an interesting milestone.
The Matchroom ‘Fight Camp’ series deserved – indeed, there was a fair amount
continued on Sky Sports with, admittedly, of people online who labelled the decision
one of its weaker shows though there a robbery, which it definitely was not.
was an upset on the card; Rachel Ball MTK Global staged a show on the
outpointing Shannon Courtenay. IFL TV YouTube channel on Wednesday
It was an impressive performance from night, with another upset taking place in
Ball, who finds time to train alongside a the main event, where Jono Carroll was
full-time job. Unfortunately, she didn’t get outpointed by Maxi Hughes.
much credit from the commentary team, The loss marks a rather dramatic fall for
who instead focused a lot on Courtenay, Carroll who, in his previous bout, turned
praising a lot of her work despite her clear in a career-best performance to defeat
struggles in the fight. Scott Quigg in a Sky Sports main event.
It was undoubtedly a close fight, but It’s unclear why he was boxing on a MTK
it’s a shame Ball didn’t get the praise she show on YouTube rather than appearing
www.boxingnewsonline.net

on a ‘Fight Camp’ show, given that he’s
aligned with Matchroom, but hopefully he
can rebuild.
WEBSITES
Vasyl Lomachenko will reportedly
take a slight pay cut in order to facilitate
his mouth-watering clash with fellow
lightweight titlist Teofimo Lopez.
It had been previously reported that talks
for the bout were falling apart as Lopez was
not happy with the $1.25m purse offered
www.boxingnewsonline.net
to him. However, The Athletic are now
reporting that Lomachenko has agreed to
take $250,000 less than he was guaranteed
in order to bump Lopez’ purse up to $1.5m,
a figure he is apparently happy with.
That’s a move of confidence from
Lomachenko – taking a short-term hit
for long-term gains should he win such
a big fight. It’s apparently being targeted
for October 17 in Las Vegas and would
immediately become one of the most
competitive fights on paper of the year
once it’s booked.
Another fight that The Athletic are
BAD PREPARATION?
Benavidez fails to make
weight for title defence
reporting is all but confirmed is Andy Ruiz’
return against Chris Arreola. Talk about a
comedown.
Still, it’s fairly marketable – pitting
two prominent Mexican-American
heavyweights against each other isn’t
the worst idea and, despite being 39,
Arreola was in an exciting clash with Adam
Kownacki last year.
For Ruiz, it’s a shot at redemption after
his disappointing display against Anthony
Joshua in their rematch late last year. That
being said, a win over Arreola won’t exactly
put him back in the title mix.
AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 11

NEWS AND OPINION
Photo: GETTY IMAGES
BUNDINI: DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE
Todd D. Snyder’s book on
Drew Bundini Brown worthy
of your attention
FANS of Muhammad Ali will be
familiar with photographs of “The
Greatest” with his mouth wide open,
raising a certain number of fingers
to illustrate his prediction for which
round the next opponent would fall.
At his side would often be the
excitable Drew Bundini Brown. He
worked with Sugar Ray Robinson
for a number of years in the late
Fifties and early Sixties and first
encountered Ali – then Cassius Clay
– in 1963. By the following year,
when Ali challenged Sonny Liston
for the world heavyweight title,
Brown had built such a rapport with
the emerging superstar that he was
invited to work Muhammad’s corner
in that famous challenge when he
became champion for the first time.
“You are a heavyweight Sugar
Ray,” Brown old Ali after he’d
struggled to beat Henry Cooper
in five rounds in 1963. “You’ll beat
Sonny Liston, all right.”
Brown had never worked in any
professional fighter’s corner before
that monumental triumph.
The famous rhyme, Float like a
butterfly, sting like a bee, was the
brainchild of Brown. A motivator of
12 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020
Highlighting the best
of the week’s stories
WWW.BOXINGNEWSONLINE.NET
the highest order, a hype man, but
also, as Bundini- Don’t Believe The
Hype by Todd D. Snyder proves, an
exceptionally complicated man and
the orchestrator of exceptionally
complicated relationships.
“It was like a marriage,” Jonathan
Eig, author of Ali: A Life To Me,
tells Snyder about the Bundini-Ali
alliance. “It was maybe Muhammad
Ali’s best marriage. Ali, like all
great jazz musicians, was a great
borrower. That’s one of the reasons
he kept Bundini all those years. Ali
didn’t write those poems, Bundini
came up with many of them. Ali
borrowed what he needed from
Bundini.”
Thomas Hauser, who authored
the seminal Ali: His Life and Times,
is not so kind. “Bundini, to me, was
the most obvious exploiter [of Ali],”
Hauser once said. “I’m not saying
he didn’t have genuine feeling for
Ali, and he was an entertaining guy,
but Bundini knew no limits when it
came to exploitation.”
Indeed, Bundini – who died in
1987 – was not without faults. A
heavy drinker and far from the
perfect husband to Rhoda Palestine,
his memory is still nonetheless
adored by his son, Drew Timothy
Brown III, who plays a huge and
welcome part in this book.
We hear clues about Brown’s
wandering eye. Loyalty, perhaps,
was a constant struggle for Bundini.
When George Foreman defeated Joe
Frazier to win the title in 1973, the
new champ was greeted by Brown
in the aftermath.
“Bundini got in big trouble
because I fought Joe Frazier and
there Drew Bundini was, screaming
and cheering, proud of me,”
Foreman explains in the book. “Ali
found out about it and suspended
him because of that. Ali thought
he was shouldn’t have been there,
crying and everything. When I
dethroned Frazier, Bundini looked
at me and said, ‘the real champ is
back’.”
But Ali and Bundini Brown would
work together in 44 of Muhammad’s
61 professional outings. The book
reveals Brown’s fears for Ali before
the first Ken Norton fight. Yet after
that upset loss, Bundini went to
work.
“Howard Cosell is predicting
you’re finished,” he said to Ali
afterwards. “He’s saying that three-
and-a-half years’ exile took too
much out of you. The sucker is
taking you cheap. Only yesterday,
he was saying how great you were.”
Ali went on to win the rematch
and then regain the title from
Foreman.
“The only bad thing I can say
about Bundini was that he was
never in my corner,” Foreman said.
LISTEN UP:
Ali with that
familiar voice
in his ear
“But then that too would be an
inaccuracy because deep down I
knew he loved us all.”
But Bundini’s love for Ali can be
questioned by his participation in
the final fights, the ugly spectacle
against Larry Holmes in 1980 in
particular when Brown is screaming
for Ali to be given one more round
as Angelo Dundee signals enough
is enough.
“Aside from the obvious allure
of another big paycheck, one last
dance in the spotlight, Ali’s team
was, in many ways, agreeable to
the fight because they were blind
to the realities of the situation,
largely because of their unique
relationship to each man,” Snyder
writes. “They’d watched Ali handle
Holmes in the gym for a decade,
they’d grown accustomed to
thinking of Holmes as Ali’s hired
hand. Their overconfidence, the
result of a remarkable career of
logic-defying upset victories, was
an unfortunate by-product of their
past.”
That was all but the end for Ali
and Bundini Brown. This book goes
some way to resurrecting what
was one of the most enduring and
important relationships of Ali’s
entire career.
A recommended read brought
to you by the excellent fight
publishers, Hamilcar.
www.boxingnewsonline.net
 NEWS AND OPINION

THE SERIOUS DETOX

Liam Taylor tells John Evans
about the bizarre treatment
he’s undertaken ahead of
his next bout
THE shaman takes a burning stick
and uses the embers to delicately
burn through a layer of his patient’s
skin. He then applies the carefully
harvested kambo – a secretion
taken from the giant monkey frog –
to the new wounds.
This ancient ceremony isn’t
taking place in the steamy depths
of the Amazon rainforest but in
south east Manchester and the
focus of the healing ritual isn’t
a tribal warrior but Middleton
welterweight, Liam Taylor.  after a heavy speed and power
“I’ve had three treatments. It’s a
serious detox,” Taylor told BN. “How
you detox depends on how you live
I think. I live quite clean so it’s never
been too bad. You can feel terrible
at first and they leave you alone for
a little while. Within an hour or so
you feel totally re-energised. I feel
great afterwards.
“I’ve also done some breathwork.
You concentrate on a breathing
pattern for about 40 minutes. You
start seeing shapes, your hands look
strange. It’s very difficult to explain
to be honest with you. Two people
in Taylor’s spiritual journey will have
to go on the back burner for the
time being.
“Ayahuasca will have to wait until
I’ve finished boxing. Apparently the
visions it brings on are more to do
with love.”  close. Ahead on the scorecards,
Taylor has remained unbeaten
during the four years he has spent
at The Finest Gym on the outskirts
of Manchester’s city centre. New
recruits can initially be taken aback
by the standard of dedication and
technical precision required by
trainer, Steve Maylett but Taylor
adapted quickly and has begun to
exert his own influence. These days
it is commonplace to see former
WBO lightweight champion, Terry
Flanagan, following a yoga routine
session and veganism, long distance
cycling and open water swimming
have all found their way into the
lives of his gym mates.
“I’d like to think I have,” he said.
“Everybody brings different things
to the table. I don’t like to preach
but if anybody is willing to listen
then I’ll give my side of things and
I’m willing to listen to others. I
came here and didn’t have a clue
about the importance of water and
all other things so I’ve taken that on
and I’ve given my own. It’s worked
out well.”
Last October the 29-year-old
dropped Chris Jenkins before
a head clash opened up the
Welshman’s eye and brought
an abrupt end to proceedings
as the fourth round drew to a
Taylor was four seconds away
from becoming the British and
Commonwealth champion. Instead,
the title fight was declared a
technical draw. Rather than being
granted an immediate rematch,
Taylor had to watch on as Conor
Benn was installed as Jenkins’
mandatory challenger.
Next Wednesday (August 26),
he gets back to business and takes
on the tough, unbeaten Darren
Tetley. A victory will put him right
back in the title mix and give him
the chance to bury the Jenkins
heartbreak even deeper in his
subconscious.
“I thought about it for the next
month or so. It probably ruined my
Christmas period,” he said. “It was
hard to take at first but I had a fresh
BUNDINI
DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE by Todd Snyder
start in the new year and knew that
I had to push on.
“I knew that if I got beaten
convincingly then it would
definitely be my last fight. That’s
how I see my career now. I’m at
domestic level but I commit myself
like a world champion does. If I
couldn’t win at this level with this
much effort then I wouldn’t be
fighting. 
“I won a title eliminator against
a worthy opponent in Tyrone
Nurse and was winning against the
current champion and not to be
given an immediate rematch hurt.
Conor Benn can’t fight as well as
me. He can’t fight as well as Chris
Jenkins. He doesn’t deserve it. It’s as
simple as that. There are ten British
fighters who deserve it more than
him.
“I’m in boxing to test myself and
I’m now of the mindset that I’m not
bothered which titles are on the
line. As long as I’m in exciting fights
where I can push myself against
good talent, that’s all that matters.”

watch over you and you’re fully An Ayahuasca ceremony can “Bundini has found his Bundini—a writer who
aware of everything that’s going on. bring repressed memories to the completes him, who understands him right to
I really liked it.” fore and induce a dream-like state down to his beautiful, brilliant, bombastic core!
Kambo can be used to prepare of timelessness. If Taylor does one Todd Snyder gives Bundini the treatment Ali’s hype
the body for the mind opening day take the trip, four seconds in man has long deserved. A total joy. This is one of
Ayahuasca ceremony but that step particular might play over and over. my favorite boxing books of all time.—Jonathan
Eig, best-selling author of Ali: A Life
“If you think you
CLEANSED: knew Bundini Brown,
Taylor is
21-1-1 (10) then think again. This
extraordinarily
well-written book will
give you a nuanced
and brilliantly told
view of the story
of his life.”
—Al Bernstein,
Showtime boxing
analyst and
member of the
International
Boxing Hall of Fame

www.hamilcarpubs.com

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 13

PREVIEWS ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ O U T S TA N D I N G ★ ★ ★ ★ G O O D ★ ★ ★ FA I R ★ ★ D I S A P P O I N T I N G ★ RU B B I S H
Previewing the best
upcoming fights
around the world

T h e s t a r r a t i n g s i n d i c a t e h o w w e l l t h e w r i t e r b e l i e v e s t h e f i g h t e r s m a t c h u p, t h e f i g h t ( s ) ’ c o n t e x t u a l s i g n i f i c a n c e , a n d h o w g o o d t h e f i g h t ( s ) w i l l b e

Risky business
Whyte ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ W H Y T E - P OV E T K I N but Alexander Povetkin still poses Their standing as heavyweight
a serious threat. If Whyte loses to the contenders is not the only thing that
risks his ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ TAY LO R - P E R S O O N
dangerous Russian, those 1,000-plus days Whyte and Povetkin have in common,
mandatory will have been for nothing, as it will be as they each have been embroiled in
HERE is a lot on Povetkin who will be in prime position to controversies surrounding drugs in the
status the line for Dillian challenge for the WBC belt. That is what’s past. Povetkin twice tested positive for
against
dangerous
veteran
T Whyte this Saturday
(August 22). The
32-year-old has
been the No. 1
contender for the
at stake.
Like every boxing event at the
moment, the bout will be taking place
in strange circumstances, with
no live crowd and various
banned substances in 2016, while Whyte
failed tests in 2012 and 2019, though he
was later cleared of any wrongdoing on
the second occasion.
In their most recent
Povetkin, WBC heavyweight championship for over COVID-19 protocols to TALKING appearances in December
1,000 days. Earlier this summer he even adhere to. Whyte vs. last year, the two
writes took legal action against the organisation Povetkin is a fitting POINT upcoming adversaries
Paul over fears that his mandated title shot finale to Matchroom’s YOU can find odds as wide as 3/1
for Povetkin to defeat Whyte, and
shared a bill on the
would be pushed back once again. sequence of outdoor undercard of the
Wheeler However, he has since been assured by Fight Camp shows, the same for Persoon to beat Taylor. Anthony Joshua-
Although Whyte and Taylor are the
the sanctioning body that he will receive which have been Andy Ruiz Jnr sequel
Boxing News picks, these prices
his crack at the crown in early 2021, once impeccably delivered in Saudi Arabia. Whyte
are tempting nonetheless.
champion Tyson Fury has completed his at their headquarters unanimously outpointed
trilogy with ex-titlist Deontay Wilder later in Brentwood. In fact, it veteran Mariusz Wach,
this year. is the biggest fight since the yet by his own admission he
Instead of sitting on his mandatory sport returned from its coronavirus was not in the best of shape either
status in the meantime, Whyte has shutdown. Fans will argue that it is not mentally or physically. He described how
chosen to remain active. But the fight worthy of a pay-per-view platform on for four months previously he had been
he has taken on is no mere tune-up. Sky Sports Box Office (DAZN televise in “walking around like a zombie” while the
His opponent this weekend is a two- the US), but Matchroom and Sky will stressful situation surrounding a UKAD
time world title challenger who has argue that PPV is the only way that big- (UK Anti-Doping) charge – which was
been campaigning at the top level in name boxers can be matched against subsequently withdrawn – had been
HAZARDOUS:
Povetkin is still a
the heavyweight division for well over a one another at the current time, with hanging over his head.
menacing opponent decade. He may be nearly 41 years old, gate receipts non-existent. On the same card, Povetkin faced
off against the in-form Michael Hunter.
The contest ended in a split draw, but
the man from Russia looked fortunate
to receive a share of the spoils. Despite
this, it would be very unwise to write
Povetkin off as past it just because of his
age, as Hunter is a very capable operator.
Nevertheless, after more than 15 years
as a professional, on top of an extensive
amateur career, mileage and wear and
tear has to be a factor when analysing
Povetkin.
When evaluating the amateur
experience of both men, the difference is
stark. Whereas Whyte had just six outings
in the unpaid code (the first of which
was a victory over Joshua), Povetkin had
more than 130. During a stellar stint
in the amateurs, the Chekhov fighter
garnered gold medals at the 2002 and
2004 European Championships, the 2003
Worlds and the 2004 Olympics. As a
pro, his only defeats have come against
unified world champions in Wladimir
Klitschko (ud 12 – October 2013) and

14 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net

 Photos: GETTY IMAGES

ACTION MAN:
Whyte prefers to
fight, rather than
wait around

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 15


Joshua (rsf 7 – September 2018). The sole Ruslan Chagaev (ud 12), Marco Huck
reverse on Whyte’s ledger, meanwhile, (md 12) and Hasim Rahman (rsf 2).
came at the hands of his old amateur Ahead of his next setback in 2018 he put
rival Joshua, who stopped him in the together a run of eight straight successes,
seventh round in December 2015. with six of these victories coming inside
Since losing to Joshua, the 27-1 (18) schedule. Carlos Takam (ko 10), Mike
Whyte has won 11 out of 11, including Perez (rsf 1), Johann Duhaupas (ko 6) and
triumphs over a host of notable names. David Price (ko 5) were among those
The Brixton “Body Snatcher” was who were dispatched early. Sandwiching
victorious against Dereck Chisora his defeat to Joshua and his draw with
(sd 12), Robert Helenius (ud 12) and Hunter was a unanimous points win over
Lucas Browne (ko 6) in consecutive Hughie Fury one year ago. Like his fights
years from 2016 to 2018. After his eye- with Price and Joshua, this bout was
catching knockout of Browne, Whyte staged in the UK. So fighting on British
notched a further two impressive wins soil against Whyte will be nothing new to
that year. Joseph Parker was unanimously Povetkin, 35-2-1 (24).
outscored before former foe Chisora During a period of enforced change
was blasted out in sensational fashion in the world, Whyte has opted to make
in round 11. Thirteen months ago, the changes of his own. Last month he
Jamaica-born Londoner got the better of announced that he had parted ways
Oscar Rivas via unanimous decision. with his trainer of four years, Mark Tibbs.
Povetkin’s list of victims is long and His new coach is Xavier Miller, who was
distinguished. Prior to suffering his first already a part of his team and has been
loss in 2013, he scalped the likes of Chris training him in Portugal in preparation
Byrd (rsf 11), Eddie Chambers (ud 12), for Povetkin. Boasting advantages in
height and reach over Povetkin, Whyte
will no doubt have been working on
TALE OF THE TAPE his lengthy jab, as well as his thumping
follow-ups from each hand.
DILLIAN WHYTE ALEXANDER POVETKIN Like Whyte, the burly Povetkin unloads
@DillianWhyte n/a powerful punches and is a ruthless
Apr 11, 1988/32 DOB/AGE Sep 2, 1979/40 finisher. The opposing heavyweights
Brixton HOMETOWN Chekhov share many attributes, such as soul-
Jamaican-English NATIONALITY Russian
sapping body work, a strong inside game
6ft 4ins HEIGHT 6ft 2ins
and a gutsy and tenacious style. The
78ins REACH 75ins
27-1 (18) RECORD 35-2-1 (24) greatest weapon that they each possess,
Orthodox STANCE Orthodox however, is a destructive left hook.
May 13, 2011/23 DEBUT/AGE Jun 11, 2005/25 Considering that both of them have been
64 KO PERCENTAGE 63 hurt, dropped and stopped before, this
WWWWW LAST FIVE FIGHTS DWLWW matchup could be decided by whoever
lands the left hook first.
16 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020
LAST TIME OUT:
Povetkin seems
rather lucky to hold
Hunter to a draw,
while Whyte gets past
Wach [facing page]
As heavy-handed as Whyte and
Povetkin are, they have each gone the
distance in four of their last six contests.
With this in mind, the likelihood is that
the bout will go the full 12 rounds. Whyte
will have to navigate some choppy waters
during a competitive battle, but with his
motivation fuelled by a burning sense
of injustice at having not yet received
his long-awaited WBC title shot, expect
him to fight his way to a hard-earned
decision. Then the waiting game will
continue.
Acting as the chief support to Whyte
vs. Povetkin is a much-anticipated
rematch between two of the best female
fighters on the planet.
In June last year on the undercard
of Joshua-Ruiz I in New York, Katie
Taylor and Delfine Persoon set
Madison Square Garden alight with an
electrifying unification clash that was
brimming with energy and emotion. The
momentum swung to and fro throughout
as the lightning speed and sharp skills
of Taylor vied for supremacy against
the imposing physicality and rugged
aggression of Persoon. It was a punishing
war of attrition, with Taylor being cut on
her scalp and the bridge of her nose, in
addition to being marked up by her right
eye. Persoon suffered grazes to her left
cheekbone and right eye, plus a horrible
swelling over her left eye.
The final 30 seconds of the fight
were particularly exhilarating, as an
exhausted Taylor had to dig extremely
deep to remain upright in the face of
an unrelenting onslaught from Persoon.
Boxing News had Taylor ahead by one
point at the conclusion of the 10 two-
www.boxingnewsonline.net
minute rounds, but there were many the Worlds and one at the Olympics, to from her mistakes against Persoon? Or
observers who had Persoon in front. In reference just some. alternatively, was Persoon simply too
the end, the judges sided with Taylor’s Big and strong at the weight, the relentless to evade and shake off? Taylor
better quality over Persoon’s incessant marauding Persoon starts swiftly and certainly had to work mightily hard to
tenacity, as a majority verdict went Katie’s applies persistent pressure with solid jabs, keep the Roeselare resident at bay.
way by scores of 95-95 and 96-94 twice. fierce hooks and arcing rights. She rarely Having last fought at super-
Following the announcement of the fights outside of her native Belgium, so lightweight, dropping back down to
result, Persoon stormed out of the ring in competing on foreign ground for only lightweight will present a challenge in
tears, feeling she had been cruelly denied the third time as a pro will be a test. itself for Taylor, who has been operating
of a merited victory. Able to fire off fast flurries and then at an elite level in women’s boxing for
After becoming the undisputed sidestep away from danger, Taylor mixes over 15 years, amateur and pro. Once
lightweight champion by adding a snapping jab with crisp left hooks again it will be far from easy, but by
Persoon’s WBC title to her WBA, IBF and clever movement. The Bray boxer employing a more disciplined and
and WBO straps, Taylor moved up to likes to make the opposition miss and considered approach than in the first
super-lightweight five months later and then punish them with quick counters, fight, Taylor can box her way to a repeat
dethroned the WBO belt-holder there, but she allowed herself to be dragged points victory and retain her undisputed
Christina Linardatou. A unanimous into a dogfight by the uncompromising crown – this time with less debate
decision saw the Irish icon crowned a Persoon, which was not conducive to surrounding the outcome. bn
two-weight world ruler. Due to the WBO her strengths. Against Linardatou, Taylor
regulation which states that no fighter resisted the temptation to go to war, so THE VERDICT Two top tussles to
can hold more than one of their world did this demonstrate that she had learned round off the Fight Camp series.
titles simultaneously, Taylor was forced
to relinquish her 140lb belt soon after
claiming it, in order to preserve her
WARRIORS:
recognition as the 135lb champ. Taylor [left] and
Persoon, who also has a unanimous Persoon thrill the
points win over Linardatou on her record, crowd at MSG
returned to action nine days after Taylor.
She took on Helen Joseph – twice a
challenger for IBF featherweight honours
– and outpointed her unanimously.
An ex-two-time world titlist at
lightweight, the 44-2 (18) Persoon,
35, boasts bags of experience as a
professional, including 12 world title
contests. Taylor, 34, has packed nine
world title bouts into her 15-0 (6) pro
career, which came after an incredibly
successful spell in the amateurs, where
she collected an astonishing array of gold
medals – six at the Europeans, five at

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 17

 Matt Christie
compares Dillian
Whyte’s journey to a
world title shot to other
British fighters who
went on to win the
heavyweight crown

TOUGH
ROAD TO
GLORY
Photo: RICHARD HEATHCOTE /GETTY IMAGES

ILLIAN WHYTE has The run has not been without problems.
waited and waited in Inside the ring one could make a case for
an era when patience Chisora winning their first encounter and

D is not a virtue, it’s

unnecessary. Plenty of
fighters have strolled,
some even fallen,
into world title shots
while Whyte has battled a string of decent
opponents to earn what is yet to come.
Beginning with a December 2016 points
win over Dereck Chisora, Whyte has gone
on to defeat Robert Helenius (pts 12),
Lucas Browne (ko 6), Joseph Parker (pts
12), Chisora (ko 11), and Oscar Rivas (pts
12). Not quite Murderers’ Row but without
question it represents the best heavyweight
CV outside of Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua
and Deontay Wilder.
Parker had Whyte out on his feet in the dying
embers of their swashbuckling firefight.
Outside, he’s battled with the World Boxing
Council to enforce his title challenge, he
opted not to rematch Anthony Joshua in a
title fight – always claiming the offer to be
lipservice – and the Rivas victory was tainted
with a now infamous run-in with UKAD last
year. Cleared in December the day before
he outpointed Mariusz Wach, he is now
preparing to take on Alexander Povetkin in
another (on paper) tough encounter.
We compare Whyte’s march with other
countrymen who were campaigning for
world heavyweight title shots (David Haye
not included because of rise from cruiser).

18 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 19
 LENNOX LEWIS
THE 1988 Olympic super-heavyweight champion from Canada took
a while to be accepted as the heavyweight contender from England.
Born in West Ham in 1965, Lewis’ roots were in the UK and the path to
world championship glory seemingly more straightforward here than
in his adopted home.
Promoted by Frank Maloney, Lewis’ potential was obvious from
the start. But he certainly didn’t have an easy ride en route to
becoming the first British-born world heavyweight champion since
Bob Fitzsimmons the previous century.
Gary Mason (w rsf 7, 1991)
Though already European champion (after thrashing Frenchman,
Jean Chanet), there were plenty who thought that Lewis was
going in too soon with British boss, Gary Mason.
Mason, 35-0, was highly ranked by all sanctioning bodies
and, at the very least, matches up to Dereck Chisora in
terms of ability.
Lewis encountered several problems but was never
really in trouble as he came through a tense encounter in
seven rounds.
Mike Weaver (w ko 6, 1991)
By the time Weaver – a former WBA titlist – took on Lewis in an
outdoor ring in Las Vegas, he was barely even a gatekeeper anymore.
Not a soul expected him to win. He was canny to the point of not
being bombed out early but this was a one-sided mauling that Lewis
finished in the sixth with a savage final blow.
All in all, though, it was a step back from the Mason test.
Glenn McCrory (w ko 2, 1991)
Though this generated interest – McCrory trash-talked his way into
this domestic clash and could boast being a former IBF titlist, albeit
at cruiserweight – it was another fight for Lennox where he was an
FRANK BRUNO
IN terms of celebrity and popularity in Eighties and Nineties Britain,
Bruno was on a completely different level to where Whyte is currently.
Critics have argued that due to his fame, Big Frank was gifted world
title shots (he had four in all) but the Londoner didn’t exactly live a
sheltered life when challenging some the best of his era for gold.
Following a 1984 loss to Bonecrusher Smith (that would have set up
a premature challenge to the great Larry Holmes), Bruno was forced
to rebuild.
Gerrie Coetzee (w ko 1, 1986)
Nobody can deny that Bruno truly earned his first shot at a sanctioning
body title with this devastating KO. Only 15 months before, the South
African was the WBA boss and though he lost that belt to Greg
Page he had since defeated a still-useful James Tillis over 10.
Also consider that Coetzee, only 30, could boast a draw
with Pinklon Thomas and a win over Michael Dokes in the
not so distant past and one starts to realise why everyone
got so excited by Bruno’s emphatic one-round victory.
Joe Bugner (w rsf 8, 1987)
Following a brave but harrowing loss to Tim Witherspoon,
Bruno feasted on James Tillis, an inept Chuck Gardner and a
disinterested Reggie Gross.
Though it’s now easy to dismiss Bugner as an old man, his last three
wins before taking on Bruno – outpointing Tillis, David Bey and Greg
Page – arguably came at a higher level than Frank’s form going in. But
Bugner, cast as the enemy, was a big underdog in a fight that had been
talked about since 1983.
Bruno bludgeoned Bugner to defeat in eight rounds to become the
WBA and WBC No.1 and set up a shot at Mike Tyson.
Pierre Coetzer (w rsf 8, 1992)
Bruno had to come back again after losing to Tyson in 1989. John
20 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020
overwhelming favourite to win.
Lewis was in a particularly nasty mood. He dropped McCrory with
a right uppercut before finishing the job with a right cross. Again, this
was nothing compared to the threat Mason posed.
Levi Billups (w pts 10, 1992)
After trouncing a washed-up Tyrell Biggs, Lewis took on the robust
Levi Billups. Though dismissed by Michael Moorer in three, Billups
found himself with a fringe world ranking after outscoring an ageing
Bonecrusher Smith. The American did his job, survived the full
distance and thus allowed Lewis to go 10 rounds for the first time.
However, this was not exactly Whyte emerging from a crisis to
defeat Joseph Parker. Nor were the subsequent hammerings
of Derek Williams and Mike Dixon.
Razor Ruddock (w ko 2, 1992)
This is arguably the toughest pre-title reign test of any
British world heavyweight champion. Ruddock had KO’d
Michael Dokes, Bonecrusher Smith, Greg Page and gone
just under 19 rounds with a near-peak Mike Tyson. Many
favoured Ruddock, who had beaten Lewis as an amateur and
must be considered superior to anything Whyte has yet come up
against, but Lennox made a mockery of such wisdom.
In one of the best performances of Lewis’ whole career he walked
through Ruddock in two rounds in a final WBC eliminator. Riddick
Bowe then famously ditched that title before it was awarded to Lewis
by default.
THE VERDICT
That the Mason and Ruddock bout were genuine 50/50s against
established world contenders going in (only Whyte’s win over Parker
could truly be labelled as such) makes Lewis’ charge to the title an
admirable one.
Emmen -woefully overmatched – and Jose Ribalta – yonks past his
prime – were dispatched before Coetzer was brought in to bring some
credibility to Bruno’s quest for another title shot.
The South African was (dubiously) ranked highly prior to being
exposed by Riddick Bowe before taking on Bruno. However, he proved
his toughness and gave Bruno a decent scrap before being halted in
eight.
Carl Williams (w rsf 10, 1993)
Williams was Bruno’s final test before he challenged Lennox Lewis but
the American – like Ribalta and Coetzer – entered the bout on the back
of a defeat. Talented and exciting but notoriously delicate against
heavy punchers, Williams had given an up and coming Tommy
Morrison a hell of a tussle before going down in the eighth.
He again showed his class against big favourite Bruno
but was stopped in the 10th and final round.
Jesse Ferguson (w ko 1, 1994)
Bruno’s magnificent effort against Lewis and lack of
subsequent layoff (like those which occurred after losses
to Witherspoon and Bruno) meant that his world ranking did
not fall too much - unlike the three opponents he fought prior to
taking Oliver McCall for the WBC strap.
Bruno’s quick win over Jesse Ferguson was the only one of the three
worth noting (Rodolfo Marin and Mike Evans were the other two). The
American had only been stopped twice since Tyson halted him in 1986
and, in his bout prior to Bruno, he gave Ray Mercer another difficult
time, losing a split decision. Frank bombed Ferguson in one.
THE VERDICT
Though Bruno’s title shots came against elite opposition, he rarely
strung together more than two consecutive wins against world class
opponents outside of world championship competition.
www.boxingnewsonline.net
TYSON FURY + ANTHONY JOSHUA
WHYTE’S case for a title shot looks particularly strong when one
compares it to the pre-title journeys of the current champions he’s
aiming at. In fact, it’s impossible to pick out five opponents faced by
either Joshua or Fury prior to winning the big one who could each be
reasonably classified as contenders.
Though Joshua was moved well and quickly, Charles Martin
becoming IBF champion was the irresistible bait for the Briton to move
into world championship waters; ‘AJ’ found himself launched into a
world title fight rather than campaigning for one for any length of time.
Fury, of course, had lost that IBF belt after failing to comply with the
organisation’s strict demands regarding mandatories. But looking at
his record before defeating Wladimir Klitschko to win that title (and
the WBA and WBO straps) it’s easy to see why beating the Ukrainian
was such a shock.
Dereck Chisora (Fury w pts 12, 2011)
Fury’s clash with Chisora matched two unbeaten countrymen for
the vacant British title but neither – though Dereck was flirting with
both Klitschkos at the time – was recognised as a bona-fide world
contender.
The bout was relatively entertaining and though Fury largely
controlled the action, Chisora had his moments. The fight was seen
by millions in the UK when it was broadcast on Channel 5 but it’s
unlikely that anyone who witnessed the oft-scrappy affair would have
predicted at the time that both men would go on to become long-term
fixtures in the Top 10.
Steve Cunningham (Fury w ko 7, 2013)
Cunningham was a former cruiserweight titlist who had proved his
worth at heavyweight after deserving more than a split decision loss
to another rising cruiser, Tomasz Adamek. But to say Cunningham was
anything other than a vehicle for Fury would be a stretch despite the
IBF sanctioning it as an eliminator.
But Fury did well on his American debut. Dropped in round two, he
rebounded to pummel his smaller but more experienced rival to win
by KO in the seventh.
www.boxingnewsonline.net
Dereck Chisora (Fury w rtd 10, 2014)
Since their first bout, Chisora had proved himself to be a contender
at the top level and going into this rematch was on a fine run of form.
So much so, that some even tipped him to get his revenge over Fury.
But on this night, Tyson – in a performance full of spite and
intelligence – was faultless. Chisora was beaten up, he barely landed
a punch of note and it was something of a relief when he was hauled
out by his corner after 10 heavily one-sided sessions. Looking back on
the career of Fury, this was the night when he proved he belonged.
Christian Hammer (Fury w rsf 7, 2015)
Hammer was Fury’s final test before he dethroned Klitschko. Not
exactly world class, but he saw his rating improve at a time when the
dominance of the Klitschkos had left the weight class in something
of a status quo. Fury (who it would much later emerge failed a drug
test after this fight) won at a canter but failed to convince many that
in his next fight, he’d be the one breaking that status quo. It should
also be noted that few heavyweights at this time were ‘cementing’
their position as leading contenders; the Klitschkos simply picked off
everyone. Until Wladimir came up against Tyson, that is.
Dillian Whyte (Joshua w rsf 7, 2015)
Ironic, perhaps, that Joshua’s only victory prior to fighting for a
world title that could be viewed as anything approaching a high-level
triumph was against the man now claiming to be ignored.
But the Whyte of 2015 was a different beast to today. Back then,
despite the genuine grudge between them, Joshua was a big favourite
to win. He survived a real scare early on, when he looked out on his
feet, to steadily pound the resistance out of Whyte and spectacularly
knock him out in the seventh.
In his next bout, Joshua destroyed the disappointing Charles Martin
to win the IBF title.
THE VERDICT
Fury and Joshua cannot claim to have fought anything like the
opposition that Whyte is currently beating before they challenged for
world titles.
AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 21
 PREVIEWS

TALL ORDER:
The 6ft 6in Pitters [pictured]
is the favourite to beat Sugden

Huge opportunity
Pitters ★★★★★ MAIN EVENT Sugden gets his shot having proved name in the record books alongside the
his credentials by stepping in after the like of Freddie Mills, Randolph Turpin,
and Sugden ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ U N D E RC A R D
Richards-Pitters fight fell through to hold John Conteh and Dennis Andries, he
Richards to a draw over eight rounds last couldn’t turn it down.
battle it HERE should finally December. Yet to go beyond eight rounds, Sugden
out to be a new British The Londoner felt hard done by, a is 6ft tall, six inches shorter than Pitters,
follow in the
footsteps
of Mills,
T light-heavyweight
champion crowned
on Saturday night
(August 22).
reading of the fight that seems to bemuse
Sugden, who is trained by
his father, Dean.
He said: “I don’t know ‘SHAKAN
who looks a handful.
The 31-year-old
from Birmingham
has knockouts of
After Joshua Buatsi how he can say he won cruiserweights on his
Turpin, vacated, the Board paired Craig “Spider” comfortably. IS VERY 13-0 (4) record and

Conteh and
Richards with Shakan Pitters.
That was set to go ahead last
“I thought the more it
went on, the more I got
AWKWARD, his English title victory
over Dec Spelman last
Andries, December, but terms couldn’t be agreed
and when the fight went back out to
on top. He was struggling
in the last two rounds and
CAN BOX, September proved he has
the chin and engine to go
writes purse bids, Mick Hennessy outbid Eddie if there had been another PUNCH AND 10 hard rounds.

Matt Bozeat
Hearn.
The fight was set for March 28 in
Coventry but Richards, currently No. 8
in the WBA rankings, pulled out of the
Midlands show against the 6ft 6in Pitters.
Chad Sugden stepped in and after
a delay of five months, the 26-year-old
from Newark meets Pitters this weekend
at a production studio in Redditch.
Channel 5 televise.
two, it was only going to
go one way.” HE’S STRONG’
Afterwards, Richards
described Sugden as his toughest
opponent before later revising his story
to say he was undermotivated.
Sugden is honest enough to admit he
was looking for opportunities at 168lbs,
but when the chance came up to fight
for the British title at 175lbs and put his
Hennessy has
snapped up Pitters on
a promotional deal
and coach Paul “Soggy” Counihan said:
“Outside the top three of Joshua Buatsi,
Anthony Yarde and Callum Johnson,
I fancy him against anyone [in the
country at 175lbs].
“Shakan is very awkward, can box,
punch and he’s strong.”

22 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net

 Photos: GETTY IMAGES
The Pitters camp have reason to be
confident after the last 18 months or so.
He scored five knockdowns on the way
to winning Ultimate Boxxer in November
2018 and 10 months later took the St.
George’s belt off Spelman in a fight we
rated as one of the best domestic battles
of 2019.
The feeling in the Spelman camp was
that Pitters would be tight at the weight
and he would fade.
As it turned out, it was Pitters who
finished stronger to win unanimously,
but the amount of left hooks he shipped
won’t have gone unnoticed by Sugden.
Chad started competing in kickboxing
aged “seven or eight” and though he had
around 20 amateur boxing bouts and
reached a Schools final, he did most of
his fighting education in the kickboxing
ring.
He fought on the prestigious Glory
circuit and said of his switch to boxing:
“Getting punched is better than getting
punched, kneed and kicked.”
Younger sibling Bailey still fights for
Glory, while another brother, Regis, is 5-0
and is looking to challenge for Midlands
honours at 147lbs soon.
Father Dean was a kickboxing
champion and Pitters also has fighting in
his DNA.
His father, Colin, had a 7-12 record
that includes an eight-round points loss
to Richie Woodhall in October 1991.
Shakan says that growing up, football
was his passion and though he boxed as Because he’s been fighting for so long, record, should be very watchable. FINDING GAPS:
Sugden slams
an amateur, it wasn’t until he turned pro Sugden looks comfortable in the ring and The Benjamin way is to slow a right hand
at 27 that he took boxing seriously. has a good IQ. Chad is quick to spot a opponents down and then do a bit more into Richards
Part of the Eastside stable, Pitters gap when it appears and can punch off than them, while Walker wants to get his
started out weighing around 188lbs and the wrong foot. head on their chest and work.
though he sometimes seemed a bit one- Sugden has long arms himself – his For Walker, twice a Development
paced on the way up, everyone he hit reach was measured at 75ins to Pitters’ champion as an amateur, this is his first
cleanly, he hurt. 85ins – and accepts the jab is crucial to fight since splitting from trainer Ricky
There’s a defeat on the Sugden record, the outcome on Saturday night. Hatton. Training in Manchester, Walker
a six-round points loss to Alistair Warren Chad fancies he has the timing to out- couldn’t make boxing pay and is now
in his fifth fight, too early in his pro jab Pitters and also the feet and head with ex-pro Richie Ghent closer to his
career. movement to get around and under Wolverhampton home.
Best win is his 78-74 verdict over his lead hand. Sugden is a fighter who Walker has a blemish on his record,
Luke Blackledge (26-6-2), the former launches attacks from all angles and says a six-round draw with Ohio Kain Iremiren
Commonwealth champion, last summer. he can get inside and break Pitters down (4-0) last July that he thought he won,
Blackledge wasn’t the fighter he was, with body shots. and though he’s untested beyond six and
but still, he was proud and hard to It’s possible, but we go for Pitters to Benjamin has been the full 10 in three of
discourage. Sugden beat him with a good keep it long and beat him on points. his last four, Conah looks to be a fighter
start and strong finish. Also on the show, Kaisee Benjamin who needs a round or two to grow into
makes the third defence of his Midlands a fight.
Area welterweight championship against There’s a 10-round draw with Danny
TALE OF THE TAPE Conah Walker. Ball (8-0) on the Benjamin record and
Benjamin (10-1-1) is a fighter in form. though there are only two stoppage
SHAKAN PITTERS CHAD SUGDEN
@ShakanPitters @Chad_2Slick
Last time out, the 25-year-old from wins, Walker would do well not to
Jul 31, 1989/31 DOB/AGE Apr 27, 1994/26 Birmingham handed Shaquille Day (13-0) underestimate the champion’s punch.
Birmingham HOMETOWN Newark his first loss over 10 rounds in Brentwood The right hand is sharp and Walker
English NATIONALITY English in March. takes punches. Benjamin can keep his
6ft 6ins HEIGHT 6ft Day came in six pounds heavy for what title with a points win and move on.
13-0 (4) RECORD 11-1-1 (4) was set to be an English title eliminator
Orthodox STANCE Orthodox and Benjamin beat him 97-94 by doing THE VERDICT Interesting bill-topper
Mar 18, 2017/27 DEBUT/AGE Mar 19, 2016/21 more eye-catching work in more rounds in a show that offers some free-to-
31 KO PERCENTAGE 31
– particularly down the stretch. air boxing for those not willing to
WWWWW LAST FIVE FIGHTS DWWWW
1/5 ODDS 7/2
The fight with Walker, a 25-year-old shell out for the Sky Sports Box
from Wolverhampton with a 7-0-1 Office event.

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 23

24 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net
 T H E
Isaac Chamberlain has not fought in 22 months and the inactivity has felt like a prison sentence
By Don McRae
PHOTO: JAMES CHANCE/GETTY IMAGES

E S C
A P E
www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 25
 HE sweat of Isaac Chamberlain
can be seen on the wooden floor
T
of a boxing gym in Clapham
Junction. It dots the surface in
little droplets which resemble
rain, or tears, alongside blue-
and-white stickers which remind
the fighter that we are still living
in strange and distressing times.  can’t stand the quiet whistling sound that I hear, when
A large arrow points forward while the phrase
“One Way System” is printed three times around the
circumference of that circular sticker. Other signs of
social distancing during a global pandemic are pasted
around the gym. It could feel suffocating but in the case
of Chamberlain, the Brixton cruiserweight, who finally
returns to the ring this Saturday night for the first time
in almost two years, the hard work amid the relentless
isolation feels eerily familiar.
I’ve often said that Chamberlain is the most
interesting boxer in Britain. Three hours in his company
on one of the hottest days of this surreal summer
illustrate why the intelligent 26-year-old is such a
revelation. There is also novelty in the fact that we
should meet in a gym and so close to his comeback
fight. Chamberlain’s absence from the ring, his difficult
time training in Miami and the impact of the Covid-19
lockdown mean that we have communicated away
from the traditional workplace of a professional fighter.
Since I first interviewed Chamberlain nine months
ago we have met in an office and a flat and spoken
many times over the phone, on WhatsApp and via
email, or through Twitter and Instagram. I have
followed his heartache and hope in written and spoken
form rather than between the ropes. It’s been an
illuminating insight into the mind of a fighter who has
been tested in a variety of ways since his world
tilted on the night he lost his unbeaten record
against Lawrence Okolie in a headline bout at
the O2 Arena in February 2018.
He won his next fight, beating Luke Watkins in
October 2018, but all Chamberlain’s subsequent
attempts to resume his career have been
blocked by a chain of uncontrollable events
from his American promoter being jailed to a
new trainer letting him down to the Covid-19
crisis. Four of his fights have been cancelled and
26 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020
he has been left to work alone.
Chamberlain has written to me often in the
intervening months and his words have been heavy
and powerful. “Hell is a perception,” Chamberlain wrote
last November. “Or perhaps it’s a nightmare. For some
people fighting is hell to them. For me, inactivity has
caused me more depression and made me drown in
my own perception of hell… the hell in your mind. I
it’s silent in my room and it’s pitch black, as I’m writing
this at 5:18am.”
On 11 December he sent me a photo of a stark room.
“We go again,” Chamberlain wrote. “I’m in Miami now.
5,000 miles from home. Away from friends, family and
loved ones. Alone. Rottweilers are barking outside. The
dawn quickly turns to darkness. And reality sets in…”
On New Year’s Eve, he messaged me just before
midnight Miami time: “I’ve been through hell in 2019.
I’ve suffered countless setbacks and failures that would
make anyone quit… Even when everything around me
was crumbling I wiped my tears and had faith. Now I’m
at the end of this dreadful year, with 17 minutes to go
into a new year, a new decade, a new life. This year will
be mine, this decade will be mine. I will take a deep
breath and welcome this New Year with open arms,
knowing that the struggle of the past had made me the
man I am now.”
Chamberlain was on his way home. He was thrilled
to have signed a five-year promotional deal with Mick
Hennessy. And then, out of nowhere, the coronavirus
struck. People began to fall ill and even die. Amid
escalating tragedy Chamberlain understood that we
needed to go into lockdown and that his comeback
fight on March 28 had to be cancelled. A second bout,
on April 25, was also off. Chamberlain was back in
isolation, inactive and introspective.
  The boxer had once been an 11-year-old
coerced into carrying drugs in south London
WE GO AGAIN. I’M IN MIAMI NOW,
5,000 MILES FROM HOME. AWAY
FROM FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES”
while boys just a little older than him were stabbed
and killed. He always told me that boxing had saved
him. But it seemed over the past two years as if boxing
was draining so much of the light in Chamberlain’s life.
He kept writing and talking to me and I was often
moved by the lonely defiance of Chamberlain, despite
his crushing disappointment, as he resolved to keep
believing in himself as a future world champion. He had
sparred often enough with Anthony Joshua, Deontay
Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk to know he could operate
at elite level once he was able to concentrate on boxing
again rather than the mishaps which threatened to
derail his career.  
On Saturday night, barring any late drama,
Chamberlain will climb into the ring in a sealed Channel
5 television studio in Redditch, near Birmingham,
and face Anthony Woolery, a modest opponent with
a 2-2 record. His own record is 10-1 and it’s sensible
that Hennessy has chosen a relatively unthreatening
challenge for Chamberlain’s first fight in nearly 22
months. But emotion will surge through Chamberlain
as he waits for the opening bell.
After a 90-minute training routine, and as we sit on
the blue apron of the ring in Clapham, he smiles. “I’m
going to make sure I don’t fight with too much emotion,”
he says before introducing a striking comparison. “If I
www.boxingnewsonline.net
 LAST TIME OUT:
Watkins takes a meaty
shot from Chamberlain
in October, 2018

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 27


was a brain surgeon facing a difficult operation next
Saturday I could not allow any emotion or doubt to
take over. I couldn’t be thinking: ‘Oh, I don’t know if I still
have it. Am I going to be able to operate on this guy?’
“The patient will take one look at me and think: ‘What
the heck is going on?’ If I act clinically then I am going
to operate properly. Elite professionals – whether brain
surgeons or fighters – take control. Look at
Floyd Mayweather. The way he fought Miguel
Cotto [in May 2012] just before he went into
jail showed how to control emotion. Imagine
fighting knowing you’re going to jail? I’m not
defending some craziness in his private life but
you had to be impressed how he still managed
to keep the emotions away and focus on his job
in the ring.”
Mayweather beat an intensely motivated
Cotto by a wide margin on all three cards
28 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020
NEW APPROACH:
Chamberlain pushes
himself hard in training
before he was imprisoned on a domestic violence
charge.  His behaviour outside the ring was deplorable
and deserved imprisonment but, between the ropes,
Mayweather personified cold-hearted skill.
Chamberlain knows that he has to take all the
heat out of his recent traumas and fight with cool
precision.   “That’s the plan and obviously it’s difficult
because I’m from Brixton, man,” he exclaims.
“I have a lot of emotion. There’s been such a
long, painful build-up with so much frustration.
I’M NOT THE SAME PERSON WHO
ENTERED THIS GAME. IT’S TURNED
ME DARKER, MADE ME A MONSTER”
www.boxingnewsonline.net
 It’s been emotional getting back to the ring but I will
control it.”
It would only be natural if, remembering the problems
he has suffered over the last two years, Chamberlain
worried that something unexpected might scupper his
comeback. “I did have some thoughts about it going
wrong,” he says. “What if something happens with my
medical or there’s a second corona wave? That’s why
I’ve not promoted this fight as much as some of the
others [that were cancelled]. How many times am I
going to say this is The Return of Isaac Chamberlain?
I’m learning to enjoy the moment. Enjoy the training. It
can be very uncomfortable learning new things but I’m
getting used to enjoying that uncomfortableness. I feel
calm and positive.”
Of course nothing in boxing is simple. Chamberlain
is no longer working with Jorge Rubio and, rather than
commuting to Miami, he is far happier with a new team
in his corner. He is now trained by another Cuban
in Rasel Hechavarria and Bobby Mills, Chamberlain’s
old friend from his first gym in Brixton. “Rasel is a
former national coach in Cuba and he’s very good,”
Chamberlain says of Hechavarria. “He has taught me a
lot already. So much is to do with the rhythm, the style,
the flair of the Cuban way of boxing. He has helped me
relax in the ring. I have been through all this pain and
stress and Rasel tells me: ‘Just relax. When you relax,
everything flows. The knock out comes when you’re
not looking for it’.”
How did he begin working with Hechavarria? “It’s
unusual,” he admits. “I saw a highlighted video on
Instagram and it featured a Cuban boxing coach in
London. I messaged him and we spoke. We just clicked
soon after lockdown and I didn’t even realise Bobby
and Rasel knew each other.  As soon as I stared working
with Rasel I was thinking: ‘This guy’s good. There is such
a flow to everything.”
Yet neither Hechavarria nor Mills have a professional
British training license. They have applied to the
British Boxing Board of Control, and submitted their
credentials in amateur boxing, but they have been told
that Covid has slowed the processing of such requests.
It will be a few months before they are allowed to work
in Chamberlain’s corner.
It’s a worrying situation but the fighter is stoical.
“Mick [Hennessy] is going to sort out a replacement
for Saturday. It could be Peter Fury or someone like
that. I’m relaxed. All my trainers have had the same
Cuban style. So I have the footwork, the rhythm, the
distance, the agility and coordination. I handpicked
these guys and I’ve now got a whole new team around
me with other very good people looking after my physio
and strength-and-conditioning. There is no ego here.
Everyone is supporting me beautifully.”
Life was different under Rubio who had trained Amir
Khan and Luke Campbell in the past. But it was not easy
for Chamberlain to work with him in Miami. “It made me
learn more about how the game is,” Chamberlain says.
“It definitely made me grow as a man and as an athlete
because I went 5,000 miles away from home – and had
no Christmas, no New Year, no birthday. I had to stay
on my own in Miami and it was like a jail. It cost $15 a
night and I shared a dorm with nine other people. I kept
myself to myself. Also, I’m a big guy and I’m black so
nobody really wanted to touch me.”
Chamberlain smiles again before shaking his head
when I ask what his room-mates were doing staying in
such a desolate place? “I didn’t ask. I didn’t care. I was
just trying to get by. Wake up early, go do my run. Come
back, shower, read my books. It was like prison. You’re
just in your cell. Every time I went to the gym I would
spend excessive hours there. I would train extra hard.
Spar more rounds. Do anything to avoid going back to
that prison.”
www.boxingnewsonline.net
Did he ever doubt that he would find a way to box
at world championship level? “Of course. But there’s
always been this dumb-arsed naivety in me thinking,
whatever happens, ‘Yeah, it’s all going to be ok.’ I don’t
even know if I always believed it, but I just said it out
loud in my head. Ever since I was a kid, when I would
sweep the floor at Miguel’s Gym in Brixton for a fiver,
just so I could pay the subs and get some food, I kept
pushing. I never once thought: ‘I’m going to quit now.’ I
just thought: ‘I’m going to carry on and get somewhere.”
Chamberlain has told me riveting stories from his
past and his tenacity and determination are admirable.
He now has the solid platform he requires in the form
of Hennessy’s promotional backing, and exposure on
terrestrial television, to bring his evocative story to a
mainstream audience. “Mick has a great plan and I’m
just so grateful to be supported by him. Most of the
time I’ve just had to fight and fight and fight my way in. I
headlined a bill at the O2 [on an Eddie Hearn promotion]
because I wouldn’t be denied. I kept winning. I wasn’t an
Olympian. I wasn’t this knock-out artist. But people love
me and I wouldn’t be denied.
“We know that fight went wrong. I got injured and
didn’t perform [in a points loss to Okolie] but Mick
wants me to knock off the rust and then go for a world
title. I speak to him and his team all the time. We’ve
become very good friends. If I don’t feel so good I can
call up Mick and he would advise me. I’ve never had
that before. That’s important because boxing is a lonely
business and most of the time you’re battling everything
yourself. When Covid happened, and the March 28 fight
got cancelled, I was upset. But they helped me a lot.
“The plan is in place. After Saturday I should fight
again on September 5, October 10 and November 22. A
fight a month and then I will really be back. From there
we will go the WBC route. I’d love to fight for the WBC
world title against Ilunga Makabu [the champion from
Congo]. We’re preparing for that one and I’m keeping
an eye on him all the time. I will put my life on the line
for that fight. I think Mick could even bring it to the
UK. He’s a very good negotiator and a tough operator.
Look how he fought for Tyson Fury before they won the
world heavyweight title in Germany against Wladimir
Klitschko.”
Chamberlain says he would have probably become a
chemical or an electrical engineer if he had not fallen for
boxing. Instead he has turned to a dark and unforgiving
business. He carries a sense of destiny as he returns
to the ring. There is renewed hope and purpose in
his sweat-streaked work and, as we leave the gym,
Chamberlain reveals he has started writing again.
“I’ll send it to you, boss,” he says. A few hours later
my phone pings and the words of boxing’s secret writer
light up my screen.
“It’s finally happening,” he writes of Saturday’s fight
before reflecting on his tumultuous journey.  “I’m not
the same person I was when I entered this game. It’s
turned me darker, it’s turned me into a bit of a monster.
I have become more relentless in my pursuit of success.
When I’m relentless they crumble because they have
not been where I’ve been. They haven’t swam in the
deep waters. I was underwater for 18 months, trying to
swim to the shore. I thought I drowned a few times… but
I was born to win, to be a champion.”
The message is long and intense but, near the end,
Chamberlain leaves a big patch of white space. He then
types three short sentences I can imagine him saying
out loud.
“I never cheated. I never complained. I never quit.”
On Saturday night, in the unglamorous setting of
Redditch, in the midst of this dark and terrible pandemic,
Isaac Chamberlain will go back to work beneath the hot
white lights of a boxing ring. It will feel like, at last, he
has reached home again. bn
AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 29
ACTION ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ O U T S TA N D I N G ★ ★ ★ ★ G O O D ★ ★ ★ FA I R ★ ★ D I S A P P O I N T I N G ★ RU B B I S H
Re p o r t e r s ’ s t a r r a t i n g s fo r m a i n e v e n t s a n d u n d e rc a r d s a r e b a s e d o n i n - r i n g e n t e r t a i n m e n t , c o m p e t i t i v e n e s s a n d w h e t h e r o v e r a l l e x p e c t a t i o n w a s m e t
Photos: QUEENSBURY PROMOTIONS

JOB DONE:
Frampton breaks
down the bigger
Traynor

Traynor wrecked
Frampton “It was a bit surreal,” Frampton said. Frampton launched his hard cross
BETHNAL GREEN
“But once you’re in there and another in after the jab. He snapped shots into
and Conlan AU G U S T 1 5 guy is throwing punches at your head, Traynor’s head before going to the
dominate ★★★★★ MAIN EVENT
you soon switch on.”
The size difference
body. He was beginning to chop
the taller man down. In the
OPENING
their ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ U N D E RC A R D between the two men was
BELL sixth round he flung his
clear from the start. But right hook across and left
opposition ARL FRAMPTON as the opening rounds IN the BN podcast, The Opening himself coiled, ready to
at York Hall, was in an unusual progressed Frampton Bell, Michael Conlan said of taking drill a left hook fully into

C
on Carl Frampton. “You know what
situation. He was zeroed in with his jab, Traynor’s stomach. The
writes John making a lightweight controlling the space
they say about making your idols
your rivals. We’re at different
Scotsman flopped to the
Dennen debut against late
replacement Darren
between the two. Even
with flurries of punches it
stages of our careers, it canvas. But somehow he
managed to beat referee
will never happen.”
Traynor, competing became increasingly hard for Michael Alexander’s count
on a quiet, behind-closed-doors show Traynor to tag him. and survived the round.
at York Hall and boxing without his “He had a decent gameplan,” In the next session Frampton
accustomed legion of supporters roaring Frampton said. “I had to make sure applied the finish. He aimed straight
him on. complacency didn’t creep in here.” punches at the head. A right struck the

30 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net

body. But it was his left cutting up, angled
through into the body once again that IMPRESSIVE:
finished the fight. The shot saw Traynor, Conlan
at 1-00 of the seventh, wave in the dominates
Takoucht
referee himself.
Frampton is closing in on his shot at
WBO super-featherweight titlist Jamel
Herring and the dream of becoming a
three-weight world champion. That fight
is pencilled in for later this year, if Herring
gets through a September defence.
“I was far from my best,” Frampton
said of his performance. “The rounds are
good, he’s a tough kid.
“I know I need to be a lot better… But it
was good to get the rounds.”
Michael Conlan, another big
name from Belfast, restarted his
march towards a world title fight as he
dominated Sofiane Takoucht. Conlan
changed stances easily, his jab tilting
the Frenchman back on his heels before
Michael mercilessly set about the former
world title challenger’s body. Conlan’s
only mistakes were letting his punishing
hooks wander low. But in that sense he
was his own biggest threat in this fight.
Twice referee Steve Gray deducted points
from him.
But Conlan was winning all the rounds.
Accurate left hooks to the body blasted
the wind out of Takoucht. He was wilting
but digging in. Conlan however made
sure of a spectacular finish. In the 10th
and final round his lead right hit the
body, setting up a monstrous left hook
to the chin. Referee Steve Gray had to have to fight each other, so be it. If it has on snapping quick single shots into
intervene, at 1-54, as Conlan waded to be on St Paddy’s Day, so be it.”
FULL
the head, but he has been given plenty
forward with hooking punches ready to Archie Sharp is highly ranked and
R E S U LT S
of food for thought. Referee Marcus
scythe down again. aims to get in the equation with the likes McDonnell scored a narrow 96-95 points Carl Frampton
Conlan is planning on dropping down of Carl Frampton and WBO super-feather win for Sharp. (134½lbs), 28-2 (16),
to super-bantamweight and taking aim champion Jamel Herring. But he has a A close, scrappy bout with a w rsf 7 Darren Traynor
at the WBO world title there. He will be a lot of work to do to compete at that determined Harry Scarff went Troy (134¼lbs), 16-4
threat in that weight class. “I know when level. He banked the early rounds against Williamson’s way on a close but (7); Michael Conlan
I fight for the world title at 122lbs, which Jeff Ofori but their bout burst into life unanimous decision. Derby’s Scarff (126¼lbs), 14-0
I will, I’ll be world champion,” he said. “I as the second half progressed. When drove himself into Williamson, mauling (8), w rsf 10 Sofiane
don’t care whether it’s [Stephen] Fulton Tottenham’s Ofori managed to close in, forwards and denying his opponent Takoucht (126½lbs),
35-5-1 (13); Archie
or [Angelo] Leo [who were due to fight he smacked firm lefts into Sharp and room to work. It was never comfortable
Sharp (133lbs), 19-0
for that belt]. I have the best team and grew in strength as the two exchanged. for Darlington’s Williamson but after 10 (9), w pts 10 Jeff Ofori
I leave everything in their hands. If they Welling’s Sharp edged him out, relying rounds Michael Alexander scored 97-94 (131¼lbs), 10-3-1
for him, Howard Foster 96-94 and Steve (3); Dennis McCann
Gray 96-95. Marcus McDonnell refereed. (120½lbs), 7-0 (5),
Maidstone’s Dennis McCann became w rsf 2 Brett Fidoe
TOUGH NIGHT:
Sharp just about just the second man to stop Brett Fidoe. (121¾lbs), 13-64-5
gets the victory He stepped in with a venomous a single (6), Paddy Donovan
shot whipping into his body. It left Fidoe (146½lbs), 4-0 (3),
w rsf 1 Des Newton
stunned and stopped, referee Marcus
(149¼lbs), 8-16 (2).
McDonnell halted the Evesham man at
2-06 of the second round. It had been
scheduled for six.
Another hot prospect, Paddy
Donovan also took out his opponent in
style. Limerick’s Donovan blasted his lead
right into Des Newton’s body, flooring
and stopping him after just 1-31. Marcus
McDonnell refereed the scheduled four
rounder.

THE VERDICT Frampton ready as

he’ll ever be for new title shot.

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 31

 ACTION

DOMINANT:
Welborn struggles as
Cash wades forward
Photos: MARK ROBINSON.MATCHROOM

Cashing in
Felix Cash BRENTWOOD rather than change tactics he improved
his aim.
We certainly saw flashes of brilliance but
there was also evidence of a boxer still
dominates AU G U S T 1 4 Four sapping shots scored downstairs finding his feet in the professional ranks.
before the Commonwealth middleweight There were errors – at times his chin was
a weary ★★★★★ MAIN EVENT champion tossed a right hand over the too high, his body too open and square
Welborn on ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ U N D E RC A R D top that sent Welborn down. There was – but for six rounds it looked like he was
real concern in the Welborn corner just too skilled for Barrett.
another ELIX CASH was and as Cash attacked again, smashing a But Zelfa, making his first start since
decent clinical while weighty right hand into the Midlander’s signing a promotional deal with Eddie

domestic
show F stopping Jason
Welborn in five
rounds atop the
latest Matchroom
Fight Camp in
Brentwood. For Wokingham’s Cash, it’s
onwards and upwards but Welborn must
now be considering his own future.
The 34-year-old gave this everything
but the spiteful body attacks from his
opponent took their toll in the fifth
round. Encouraged by his corner to go
for broke, Tividale’s Welborn was visibly
hurt along the ropes as rights and lefts
plunged into his stomach. Cash had been
penalised by referee Michael Alexander
for straying low in the same session but
face, the towel came in as Jason hit the
canvas. It was all over at 2-48 of the fifth
and the right call.
For Welborn, this was a third straight
stoppage loss. He’s been in good
company ( Jarret Hurd and JJ Metcalfe
came before Cash) but it would be
a surprise to see the former British
champion win a major belt again.
In a well-matched scrap, Zelfa Barrett
was forced to come through a taxing
affair with former amateur golden boy,
Eric Donovan.
At 35 years old and with a history of
behaving badly outside the ring, Donovan
knew this might have been his last chance
to make the most of his old potential.
Hearn, always looked dangerous. He
brushed off a hefty body shot in the fifth
to hurt Donavan with a left hook in the
sixth.
Barrett, suddenly, was finding the
target more and more. A sublime left
hook dropped the Athy man in the
seventh and from that point it was only
a matter of time. The Mancunian scored
another knockdown later in the session,
the gaping holes in Donavan’s guard
being exposed again and again. Donovan
tried valiantly to regain his advantage in
the eighth but was dropped for the final
time from another hellacious left hook,
launched over Donovan’s lead right, in
the eighth. The end came at 1-35.

32 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net


Northampton’s Kieron Conway
overcame a slow start against the tricky
Navid Mansouri to turn in another eye-
catching performance. Heavy-handed
with impressive stamina, Conway lost
the opening round but was in almost
complete control by the fourth as he
closed the gap with impressive footwork.
A stiff right hand stung Mansouri
and, by the seventh, the former English
welterweight champion looked on the
brink of being stopped. A huge left hand
socked his head back but he retained just
enough of his senses to persuade referee
Steve Gray, who was watching carefully, to
let the fight continue.
Mansouri pluckily fought back but was
in trouble again in the ninth and 10th
rounds. Last year Conway was held to
a draw by Ted Cheeseman and a return
would now appear a natural.
In a dramatic bout over eight-twos,
Shannon Courtenay was pipped on
referee Howard Foster’s card – 77-75 – by
Rachel Ball. Courtenay’s disappointment
was both obvious and understandable:
She’d done well to work her way back
into the bout after being floored in the
opening moments.
Ball, from Aldridge, took advantage of
Courtenay attacking carelessly and found
room to land a left hand. More shocked
than hurt, the Watford fighter quickly
regained her footing but she’d lost the
first round.
Over the next seven, Courtenay –
actually a narrow underdog by the time
of the opening bell due to the amount
of bets being placed on Ball – made
adjustments but not enough to dominate;
www.boxingnewsonline.net
SUBLIME FINISH:
The left hook from
Barrett causes
devastation for
Donovan
every round was desperately close and
BN (scoring from home) had Ball a
narrow winner after eight but it would
have been no surprise at all if the decision
had gone the other way.
Kicking things off was Montrose’s
John Docherty who stopped Westbury’s
Anthony Fox in the seventh and then
declared he was ready for a shot at the
British super-middleweight title.
Fox was unlucky to be given an official
count in the third when he appeared
to trip but it wasn’t long before he was
being outgunned. Docherty, a southpaw,
pounded Fox in the fourth only for the
underdog to get a second wind in the
fifth. It was a brief resurrection.
By the sixth, Docherty was in complete
command again. At the end of the round
Fox was hurt by two left crosses before
being saved by the bell. But at 1-02 of
the seventh, it was all over after Fox was
floored by a heavy left and then beaten
upon rising. Mr Foster was the official
doing the right thing.
THE VERDICT Cash underlines his
star potential but Welborn looks
finished at this level.
F U L L R E S U LT S
Felix Cash (159 3/4lbs), 13-0 (9), w rsf 5 Jason
Welborn (158 3/4lbs), 24-9 (7); Zelfa Barrett
(129 1/2lbs), 24-1 (15), w rsf 8 Eric Donovan (129
1/2lbs), 12-1 (7); Kieron Conway (153 3/4lbs),
15-1-1 (3), w pts 10 Navid Mansouri (153 1/4lbs)
20-4-2 (6); Rachel Ball (123 1/2lbs), 6-1, w pts 8
Shannon Courtenay (126 1/4lbs), 5-1 (2); John
Docherty (166 3/4lbs), 9-0 (7), w rsf 7 Anthony Fox
(166 1/4lbs), 8-14-4.
RO U N D - U P
UPSETS!
McCaskill stuns Braekhus while Jono Carroll is beaten
JESSICA McCASKILL upset Cecilia Braekhus to become
the undisputed welterweight champion on Saturday
(August 15) in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
It was the first defeat of Braekhus’ decorated career. The
Norwegian first became a world champion in 2009 and
unified the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF titles in 2014. But in
an outdoor ring constructed on the streets of Tulsa the far
less experienced McCaskill handed her a majority decision
defeat (97-93, 97-94 and a too close 95-95).
McCaskill has lost twice before, one of them to Katie
Taylor at lightweight. The Chicago fighter had stepped up
from super-lightweight for this contest.
“I just didn’t stop,” McCaskill said. “I didn’t expect her to
be as rough as she was, but I was ready to be as rough as I
had to be and that’s what came out.
The signs are that Braekhus is contemplating retirement.
She’s been a fine ambassador for the sport but admitted
last year she was struggling for motivation after failing to
secure a defining fight. At 39, it will be harder than ever to
reignite that desire.
“Jessica just threw more punches than me tonight. She
really, really wanted it,” she said. “I’m proud and happy
to pass the torch to her. I have to say, I don’t know what’s
going to happen right now, but I’m incredibly proud to be a
part of women’s boxing right now.
“If this is my last fight, I can leave women’s boxing
and say I was a part of this. I was a part of taking
women’s boxing to this level and that will be my biggest
achievement of all.”
On Wednesday (August 12) evening in Yorkshire,
Dublin’s Jono Carroll was outpointed over 10 rounds by
Rossington southpaw, Maxi Hughes.
It was a shock. Carroll’s previous performance had
been stopping Scott Quigg in March but he lacked the
effectiveness this time. That he came in at 137 1/4lbs, his
heaviest as a professional, may have had something to do
with that.
The contest was interesting if not exciting. The two
southpaws frequently cancelled the other one out.
The fight was level heading into the last four rounds.
Hughes upped the pressure in the seventh, scoring with an
uppercut. But Carroll responded and the rivals took it in
turns to flirt with control.
Hughes (135 1/4lbs) perhaps won the fight in the last
round as he fought hard until the bell. By then, Carroll
seemed tired and was under the cosh at the end of the
contest. Judges John Latham and Mark Lyson each scored
the bout 96-95 while Ian John Lewis had it a wider 97-93
in favour of Hughes, who notched the biggest win of his
career.
Elsewhere on the MTK show, staged at Production Park
Studios in South Kirkby, Belfast’s Sean McComb decisioned
Hackney-based Turk, Siar Ozgul over 10 rounds. The
scores (99-92, 97-93 twice) were fair on McComb who
suffered a cut over his left eye in the third round from a
clash of heads.
Also on the bill was Glasgow’s Craig MacIntyre, who
impressed while stopping Ismael Ellis at 2-49 of the fifth
round. Birmingham’s Ellis was floored in the fourth from a
left to the body.
AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 33
 The popular Irish middleweight never won a
world title. But John Duddy ennobled boxing

THE NIGHT
JOHN DUDDY
WAS
GREAT By THOMAS HAUSER

34 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net

 ALL HEART:
Duddy celebrates victory
Photo: GETTY IMAGES

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 35

 N September 29, 2006, John
Duddy fought Yory Boy Campas
O
at the Theater at Madison
Square Garden. Duddy was
never a great fighter in the
traditional sense. But that night,
he was great.
A native of County Derry,
Ireland, Duddy lived and trained in New York. “I feel at
home in America,” he said. “But I’m a guest here. My
home will always be in Ireland. I’m not Irish-American.
I’m an Irishman who’s living now in New York.”
Duddy was gracious and charming with a thick Irish
brogue. He wasn’t just media-friendly; he was friendly
to everyone. He looked like a fighter from an old-time
movie. In other words, he didn’t look like a fighter. His
face was too pretty. His body lacked the clear muscle
definition that characterizes many of today’s elite
athletes. But his charisma and action style made him
popular in the Irish-American community.
Duddy was also linked to a seminal moment in Irish
history. On Sunday, January 30, 1972 (a day known as
“Bloody Sunday”), fourteen unarmed demonstrators
were shot to death by British soldiers during a civil
rights march in Northern Ireland. The march had been
organised by Derry MP Ivan Cooper to protest a policy
of internment without trial that the British government
had introduced on August 9, 1971. One of the dead was
seventeen-year-old John Francis Duddy.
“He was my uncle,” John said. “That’s my history, and
there’s nothing I can do about it. His name was John
Francis Duddy, and my name is John Francis Duddy.
He was a fighter and I’m a fighter, but I didn’t become
a fighter because he was a fighter. My father never
talked at length about my uncle when I was growing
up. It wasn’t a political home. We were taught to treat
people with respect regardless of race, creed, or colour.
My uncle’s death was a tragedy but it happened years
before I was born.”
Duddy was an atypical prizefighter. There was no
wellspring of anger, no history of parental abuse. He’d
never slept on the streets or gone hungry as a child.
His interest in the sweet science began with his
father; a club fighter who posted a 3 and 4 record in
the early 1980s. “He took me to the gym,” John recalled.
“I started training for the fun of it when I was five and
had my first fight at seven. My father allowed me to do
it, but he also encouraged me to play other sports and
do other things. He always made it clear that I could
stop if I wanted to.”
Duddy had 130 amateur fights and won 100 of them.
In March 2003, he came to America. “That was my
dream,” he said. “I’d been to America a few times as
an amateur and knew this was the place to be.” Soon,
he was training at the legendary Gleason’s Gym. He
turned pro with a first-round knockout of Tarek Rached
on September 19, 2003. Eighteen months later in what
was expected to be the first big test of his pro career,
he scored a first-round knockout of 16-0 Lenord Pierre
to run his record to 9-0 with 9 KOs.
Duddy had significant flaws as a fighter. Too often,
he stood upright and was disinclined to bend at the
WE WERE TAUGHT TO
TREAT PEOPLE WITH RESPECT
REGARDLESS OF RACE, CREED
OR COLOUR”
36 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020
knees which left him susceptible to left hooks. He didn’t
move his head enough. When in retreat, he tended to
move straight back. And his free-swinging style left him
open to counterpunches.
“Watching Duddy,” famed boxing writer George
Kimball once noted, “was the first time I saw a guy get
hit with every punch in a six-punch combination.”
But the ride continued. On March 16, 2006 (the night
before St. Patrick’s Day), Duddy scored a first-round
knockout over Shelby Pudwill. The fight took place at
The Theater (a 4,955-seat venue adjacent to the main
arena in Madison Square Garden). It was only the
second time in history that The Theater sold out for
a fight.
By September 2006, Duddy was undefeated with
15 knockouts in 17 bouts. Within the boxing industry,
he’d become a much-talked-about phenomenon.
Acclaimed sports artist LeRoy Neiman observed, “He
has everything that the crowd favorites of the 1940s
and ‘50s had. Good looks, charisma, an exciting style.
There’s some real dazzle to him.” Jack McGowan wrote
in the Belfast Telegraph, “Duddy is riding a magic
carousel. He’s impulsive, high-spirited, and a risk-taker;
Irish-handsome and Irish exciting.”
“I’m pleased with where I am right now,” Duddy said.
“A year ago, I felt like an amateur in a professional
sport. I’m a lot more comfortable being a professional
boxer now, and I’ve damn sure left my amateur days
behind. It’s like a dream, really. I’m fighting guys now
that I used to watch on television.”
One of those guys was Luis Ramon “Yory Boy”
Campas.
Campas was 35 years old with the wear and tear of
96 professional fights on his body. But he’d been to the
mountain top and was a former world champion with a
record coming in against Duddy of 88 wins against only
8 defeats with 72 knockouts. Five of those eight losses
had come in championship bouts against the likes of
Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. John wouldn’t
beat Campas by just showing up.
Duddy entered his dressing room at Madison Square
Garden on September 29, 2006, wearing pine-green
sweatpants and a black T-shirt. It was 7:30 PM, three-
and-a-half hours before fight time.
John liked quiet in the hours before a fight.
Wordlessly, he sat on a folding metal chair and took a
sip from a bottle of water. Sometimes as the minutes
passed, he clasped his hands, then separated them and
ground a clenched fist into the palm of his other hand.
At times, he rotated his head and shoulders slightly. His
eyes were closed. He talked to no one. For the next two
hours, he sat that way, focussing his thoughts on the
violent world that was growing ever larger in his mind.
Soon, only the man standing across the ring from him
- the man who would try to beat him senseless - would
matter.
“I hate the waiting,” John once said of the hours
before a fight. “I want to get it started. I don’t want to
get it over with, but I want to get it started. There’s a
difference.”
At 9:30, trainer Harry Keitt began taping Duddy’s
hands. There was virtually no conversation between
them. Occasionally, Keitt asked, “How does that feel?”
Each time, John answered, “Good.”
At 9:45, the taping was done.
“Let’s get dressed,” Keitt said.
Duddy put on gold-trimmed kelly-green trucks and
began to loosen up in the center of the room. As he
moved, Keitt talked to him softly in the manner of a
hypnotist.
“Back him up. Break him down. He’s too short, too
slow, and too damn old. Break him down. Nice and
smooth. Turn your punches over. Put him on his back.
Break him down.”
www.boxingnewsonline.net
 At 9:55, Duddy sat down on the folding metal
chair again, closed his eyes, and rotated his head in
differentiating arcs. No one spoke.
At 10:20, he gloved up, then went to an adjacent
room to hit the warm-up pads with assistant trainer
Orlando Carrasquillo.
“Speed and power,” Keitt intoned. “Break him down.
Nice and smooth. Break him down.”
Then it was time.
Great fights don’t require great fighters. They require
good fighters with great courage and heart. Duddy-
Campas was a great fight.
In round one, Duddy seemed faster, younger, bigger,
and stronger. He was the aggressor and won the
round. Then everything changed.
Defensively, as earlier noted, Duddy was a flawed
fighter. Campas was aware of those flaws. And in round
two, he took advantage of them. John was rocked by
punches from all angles. A right hand opened a horrible
gash above his left eye. Another right wobbled him at
the bell.
From that point on, Duddy-Campas was a brutal
bloody war. Cutman George Mitchell struggled valiantly
to stem the blood that was flowing from above Duddy’s
left eye. But every round, as soon as the bell rang,
Campas rained punches on the eye again. John was
taking a beating.
In round five, a head butt opened up another ugly
gash, this one above Duddy’s right eye. Round after
round, the fighters stood their ground, punching hard
and punching back harder when hit. Both men were hit
www.boxingnewsonline.net
flush more often than a fighter should be hit. Each man BLOODIED:
seemed impervious to pain. Campas was never a
In round six, it appeared as though Duddy was stranger to a scrap
on the verge of succumbing to exhaustion. His legs
seemed rubbery and his stance widened. In round
seven, Campas continued his assault. Blood streamed
over John’s swollen face. He was getting beaten up.
Then, in round eight, the tide turned. Duddy
staggered Campas with a big righthand and rocked
him again at the bell. In rounds nine, ten, and eleven,
he poured it on. Like Duddy earlier in the fight, Campas
refused to fall. In round twelve, incredibly, Yory Boy
staged a rally of his own.
This observer gave Duddy the nod by a 115-114
margin. The judges confirmed his triumph with a more
generous 117-111, 116-112, 115-113 decision.
Duddy had done the hardest thing to do in sports.
He was being beaten up by a professional fighter. He’d
had every opportunity to quit. But he came back to turn
the tide and win.
After the bout, Duddy returned to his dressing room.
His face was discoloured and swollen. Gaping cuts that
would require 24 stitches to close protruded above his
eyes. He’d taken more punishment in the preceding
hour than in all his previous fights combined.
“I’m under no illusions,” John said. “It was a great fight
for the crowd; like one of those old fight movies that
goes back and forth, back and forth, ding-dong, ding-
dong. But for me, it wasn’t so good. I got hit a lot. I have
a lot to learn and a lot of work to do.”
But his eyes sparkled with excitement and he seemed
AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 37
38 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net
 exhilarated by it all.
“This is what boxing is all about,” he said. “This was
more than I’ve ever experienced. It was one of the best
personal experiences I’ve had in my life. The cuts were
bad. In the past, I’ve had nicks and scrapes; never a cut
like this. But if you panic in a fight, you don’t belong in
a boxing ring. So I asked myself, ‘Are you going to run
or are you going to stand and fight?’ I’d never been in
a position like that before, where my back was against
the wall and I was fighting an opponent who took
everything I threw at him and hit just as hard as I did.
That’s the first time I was ever really asked in the ring,
‘Do you want to be a professional fighter?’ And the
answer was ‘yes, I do’.”
The cuts that Duddy suffered against Campas kept
him out of action for five-and-a-half months. After
returning to the ring, he won his next eight fights,
bringing his record to 25-and-0 with 17 knockouts.
Now the WBC listed him as the #3-ranked junior-
middleweight in the world. The WBO and IBF placed
him second and sixth respectively at 160 pounds. But
there were ominous signs that he’d plateaued as a
fighter.
Then, on April 24, 2009, Duddy lost a split decision
to journeyman Billy Lyell. He rebounded with three
wins before traveling to Texas for a June 26, 2010,
crossroads fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr. Chavez
was just too physically gifted and strong for him. John
lost a unanimous 12-round decision.
One of the hardest things for an athlete to accept
is that he loves his sport but might not have what it
takes to get to the highest level. Boxing is about more
than a good support team, dedication, and heart. It
requires God-given physical talent. Duddy was fighting OUT OF THE RING:
Duddy retired
to win the middleweight championship of the world, at the right time
not to be a contender. But he didn’t have the physical
gifts of an elite fighter.
“I saw so many ex-champions who aren’t
doing well,” John said later, looking back on for me to continue boxing when I know that my
that time. “Physically, mentally, heart isn’t in it. I’ve always given
they’re having problems. I one hundred percent in the gym
was getting into my thirties.
I always got hit more than I
should have as a fighter. And
I WAS ALWAYS and in my fights. I have too
much respect for boxing and the
people around me to continue
Thomas Hauser’s
email address is
I realised that being a world
champion wouldn’t necessarily
make me happy in the long
HIT MORE THAN fighting when I know that I can’t
do that anymore.
I haven’t accomplished
thomashauserwriter@
gmail.com. His most
recent book – A
run. Damage is a strong word.
But in boxing, every time I SHOULD HAVE everything that I wanted to
achieve in boxing. But I’ve had
Dangerous Journey:
Another Year Inside
you fight, you lose a piece of
yourself that you can never get
back again. I didn’t want to go
BEEN. I DIDN’T a rewarding career. I‘ve enjoyed
the satisfaction of winning
twenty-nine professional fights
Boxing – was published
by the University of
Arkansas Press. In 2004,
on longer than I should.”
As 2011 began, HBO offered
Duddy a purse in excess of
WANT TO GO ON” and learned lessons from my
two losses. I’ve experienced the
thrill of fighting in Madison
the Boxing Writers
Association of America
honored him with the
$100,000 to fight Andy Lee. A win would have put him Square Garden, Cowboys Stadium, and, also, my beloved Nat Fleischer Award
in position to challenge for a world title. But it wasn’t Ireland with crowds cheering for me. I look forward to for career excellence
to be. Instead, on January 18, John issued the following finding future challenges that bring as much passion and in boxing journalism.
statement: joy into my life as boxing has over the past twenty years. Next year, Hauser will be
After a great deal of soul-searching, I have decided to Barry McGuigan was one of my childhood heroes. His officially inducted into
retire from boxing. photograph was one of the first things that visitors saw the International Boxing
I started watching my father train in the gym when I when entering our home in Derry. He had great influence Hall of Fame.
was five years old. I began fighting competitively at age on me when I was a boy. Barry McGuigan once said,
ten. For more than twenty years, I loved being a boxer. I “Fighters are the first people to know when they should
still feel that it’s an enormous honor to be a boxer. But I retire and the last to admit it.” I know that it’s time for me
don’t love it anymore. to retire from boxing, and I’m admitting it.
I no longer have the enthusiasm and willingness to I’m fortunate to have had the support of many good
make the sacrifices that are necessary to honor the craft people throughout my career. To my fans; to the people
of prizefighting. I used to love going to the gym. Now it’s in the boxing business who have been part of my team
a chore. I wish I still had the hunger, but I don’t. The fire over the years; and most of all, to my wife Grainne
has burned out. And I know myself well enough to know and the rest of my family; thank you for your love and
that it won’t return. support.
It would be unfair to my fans, my trainer and manager, I give you my word; I will not come back.
and everyone else involved in the promotion of my fights And he didn’t. bn

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 39

 AMATEURS
AMATEUR SCENE
SEND us your club's news, results or upcoming events to john.dennen@boxingnewsonline.net or 020 7618 3478
The end of Nemesis
The proud club EMESIS, the well
known London
has closed. The
worry too is
that it could be
the first of
N boxing club, has
closed its doors
for the last time.
The coronavirus
pandemic had made
many, writes the gym’s future unviable. It’s great shame
that such a successful club has had to
John Dennen close, and the fear is that others will have
to follow suit.
To re-open, it would be difficult to
meet the required protocols and, most
significantly, the gym would only be able
to have eight boxers in at a time, due to
the necessary precautions around social
distancing. “I would have 30 kids [before].
That paid the rent, three days a week.
Now I can only have eight kids at a time,
it wasn’t sustainable,” coach Tony Pettitt
explained.
“I couldn’t do it, it’s just too much, I’d
had a back operation in February, which
was a big surprise, although I’ve always
needed a knee op,” he added. “When the
back was gone, the knee started hurting
more. I’ve got to start thinking of myself a
little bit, with that and Covid.”
Even if it could have carried on, he
would have had to bring on someone to
take over from him. “Truthfully I think it’s
run its course. It was a real hard decision
to make,” Pettitt said. “I don’t really want
to give someone the commitment I’ve
had to give and then take over their life,
if you know what I mean. I know that
every boxing coach out there is doing the
same thing. It grabs you.
“It’s a very thankless task. It’s not just
me that has this thankless task, there
are thousands and thousands of boxing
coaches out there that run clubs or are
part of clubs, that give their time for
nothing and go out there and sacrifice
loads for young kids.”
But in this case he decided that, “If I
can’t give 100 per cent, I wouldn’t do it.”
He reflected, “I’m happy with that
and that decision now because of the
messages I’ve had from boxers and
people that have just passed through
the gym. It’s lovely what they’ve said. I’m
looking at it and thinking crikey we did
do it right. So what would be the point
of trying to continue and not really give
it 100 percent? If I can’t do that I think I
would be doing them an injustice.”
It has given him a chance to step
40 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020
The very best action, previews and
news from Olympic-style boxing
With JOHN DENNEN | @BoxingNewsJD
back and take stock of what the club
has accomplished. “I’m massively into
the development of young people. For
me it wasn’t really ever about producing
champions on champions. It was great
while I did, don’t get me wrong, and having
fantastic memories of going to different
Box Cups and ABA finals, Schoolboy finals
stuff like that, winning titles - absolutely
fantastic, you couldn’t get a better feeling.
A great feeling of achievement,” Pettitt
[inset with Henry Powell] said.
“But equally,” he noted. “In my heyday
when I had five, six, probably seven kids
and a girl all on GB and England and they
were boxing in tournaments and I walked
through my local town
centre and one of the
lads [whom he used to
train] was there with his
missus. He’d stopped
boxing. He’d had three
bouts with me and he
stopped me and he
introduced me to his
missus and said, ‘You
know what, this man
saved me… If I didn’t go
there and he didn’t look
after me, I’d be in prison
now.’ And if I’ve got to
be honest with you, my
own sons were winning
ABA titles then, and that
‘YOU REALISE
was equal to that if not
better. You realise you
YOU WERE
are doing something DOING
decent. We did always
have a good family SOMETHING
atmosphere.
“When we first
DECENT’
opened we had a tin
and said just chuck your two quid in
there. If they didn’t pay, I didn’t take no
notice and I’ve always been like that. If
the rent was ever short I would make it
up.
“For me it was important that they
developed as human beings as well as
boxers. The championships and the
medals all came later on.”
Terry Gillam and many others were
instrumental in the development of the
club. “My own son Lewis, my other son
Jake, Elliot Whale who was with me since
he was nine years old, until he turned
pro. They’re my achievements in the
sense of boxers who have come through
[but] the list is endless, the ones who
have got to championship finals, won
them, come second or whatever, I’m very,
very proud of it. It’s not like West Ham’s
but it ain’t bad,” Tony said.
He recalled what was probably his
proudest moment too. “I knew when
I first started I needed to learn off of
somebody. So I went to various places
and nicked ideas off different coaches. I
went to West Ham to go sparring when
Lewis was boxing. He used to spar Billy
Morgan, Luke Gibb used to spar Jack
Kerr and Dudley O’Shaughnessy. For a
month we used to come out of there
with our arses kicked, beat up. We was
there once a week and
all of a sudden it started
to turn and we started
beating West Ham in
the London finals,” he
said. “Micky May turns
up at my gym with four
boxers to come sparring
and I said, ‘Mick I
can’t believe you’ve
come out.’ He said I’ve
never been to another
person’s gym all the
time I’ve been at West
Ham. I just want to see
what you’re doing.
“I was thinking, ‘I’ve
made it, I’ve actually
made it!’”
A similar thing
happened with Fisher’s
Steve Hiser. “Two of the
amateur boxing gods
that are coming to my
gym to see me!” Pettitt
remembered with
justifiable pride.
“I’ve had a very, very enjoyable time.
It’s given me some of the best times
of my life. And some real nervous
breakdowns.”
But this closure should be a warning
for the amateur sport. “I would imagine
that I might be one of the first of many
that are going to fall by the wayside
because of this. Because we’re governed
by the amount of kids we can have in
there. It was just never, ever going to
work,” Pettitt said heavily.
There has never been a better time to
find a way to support your local club. The
sport needs it.
www.boxingnewsonline.net
 LONDON
CHAMPIONS:
Louie Lynn [left]
and Elliot Whale
[right] with
coach Tony
Pettitt

TITLISTS:
Nemesis has
produced champions
over the years, but
has also taken
developing young
people seriously

FAMILY ATMOSPHERE:
The first Nemesis club
photo

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 41

THIS WEEK IN
Matt Christie
Photos: GETTY IMAGES
FINISHING
rounds up TOUCHES:
Mayweather
the fight thrashes
McGregor
anniversaries,
going from the
ridiculous to
the sublime
5 4
FLOYD MAYWEATHER
w rsf 10 CONOR McGREGOR
August 26, 2017; T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
AT the time, watching an established legend
of the sport toy with a debutant was hard
to enjoy but watching it back it’s not quite
so offensive. No, this will never go down
in history as anything other than a novelty
bout but there are plenty of clues here that
should convince Floyd Mayweather not to
come back again. Though many presumed
Mayweather carried McGregor for large
periods – it was certainly my perception
from ringside – one can also see how
much the American superstar was slowing
down. McGregor landed punches that
simply wouldn’t have got anywhere near
Floyd only a few years before and, though
Mayweather dominated, there are times
when he looks every day of his 40-and-a-
half years.
DID YOU KNOW? More than one member of
“The Money Team” told some reporters to
bet on Mayweather winning by knockout in
round nine.
WATCH OUT FOR: Floyd coming alive in the
ninth and going all out to stop the Irishman
only to run out of time and halt his
opponent in the next session.
42 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020
MARLON STARLING
w rsf 11 MARK BRELAND
August 22, 1987; Township Auditorium,
Columbia, SC
MARK BRELAND was one of the hottest
talents to emerge from the amateur ranks
in the USA but, despite winning the WBA
welterweight title, he went into battle with
Marlon Starling predominantly untested
as a professional. Starling was a sizeable
underdog but in sharp to contrast to his
opponent, he was seasoned and ready.
The contest is a gruelling one; Breland’s
excellent jab dictates much of the early
action but Starling’s class and intelligence
is evident, too. Though a long way ahead
on all cards going into the 11th, Breland
finds himself in a firefight as he goes past
10 rounds for the first time. Exhausted
and no longer able to keep Starling off
him, Breland is hooked out of the bout in a
sizeable upset in the 11th.
DID YOU KNOW? Evander Holyfield, then
the cruiserweight champion was ringside
cheering on his former Olympic teammate,
Breland. World heavyweight boss, Mike
Tyson, was in attendance too.
WATCH OUT FOR: The supreme defence and
counterpunching skills of Marlon Starling.
3
MIKE McCALLUM w ko 2
JULIAN JACKSON
August 23, 1986; Convention Center, Miami
Beach, FL
MIKE McCALLUM survived the kind of first
round onslaught from the ferocious Julian
Jackson that had put lesser men to sleep.
The thunderous Jackson, 29-0 (27) going
in, started fast and visibly shook the WBA
super-welterweight boss several times, in
particular from a left hook. But McCallum
remained calm under fire, countered
expertly and refused to take a backward
step. In the second round McCallum oozed
class as he went to head and body with
devastating effect. Jackson was forced
to take a count and, upon rising, was
subjected to a relentless two-fisted assault
that persuaded the referee to rescue a
woozy Jackson two minutes into the round.
DID YOU KNOW? The master of ceremonies
read out a message from the Jamaican
Prime Minister, Edward Seaga who offered
Mike McCallum “his best wishes to extend
his winning ways.”
WATCH OUT FOR: The manner in which
McCallum varies his attack upstairs and
downstairs when Jackson is in deep trouble
should be a lesson to all fighters.
www.boxingnewsonline.net
HISTORY
ABSOLUTE
BARNBURNER:
Robinson upsets
Gatti in a
thrilling war
2 1
MARVIN HAGLER w pts 10
BENNIE BRISCOE
August 24, 1978; Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
LABELLED ‘The Battle of the Balds’, Marvin
Hagler and Bennie Briscoe attracted a
record number of fans into the famous
Spectrum for a non-title fight. Hagler’s
southpaw jab was a factor throughout
though he was forced to cope with a cut
near his right eye from the fourth round.
“I felt the coldness coming down on my
eye,” Hagler later said of the wound. “It
was an old cut that I had suffered in high
school. I got my confidence back by taking
care of the fight and letting my trainer take
care of my eye.” Briscoe, past his best,
would claim that he had to force the fight
but it was Hagler – approaching his prime –
who deserved the victory after 10 rounds.
DID YOU KNOW? Hagler credited his victory
on first class preparation. “I worked doubly
hard for this fight,” he said. “I worked with
six sparring partners interchangeably over
a three-week period.” That attitude to
training remained for the rest of Hagler’s
career.
WATCH OUT FOR: The seventh Briscoe attacks
early on before Hagler responds and has
his opponent in trouble by the round’s end.
www.boxingnewsonline.net
IVAN ROBINSON
w pts 10 ARTURO GATTI
August 22, 1998; Convention Hall, Atlantic City,
NJ
“A Philadelphia fighter is basically one with
a lot of heart, a lot of desire and comes to
fight every minute of every round,” Meldrick
Taylor once said when asked about the
quality of boxers from his hometown. Ivan
Robinson was brought up just a few blocks
away from where Taylor once lived and
he proved his Philadelphian spirit during
a terrific slugfest with big favourite, Arturo
Gatti. Robinson survived a fourth round
knockdown to pummel Gatti and leave his
face a swollen mess. By the end of the 10th
and final round, observers had witnessed
not only the fight of the year, but also the
upset. Robinson would repeat the 10-round
points victory in their rematch four months
later.
DID YOU KNOW? According to the CompuBox
stats, Gatti threw 40 more punches than
his rival (835 to 795) but was outlanded
by 400 punches to 274. Indeed, at times it
really seemed like Robinson couldn’t miss.
Without doubt, he was never better.
WATCH OUT FOR: All of it. The violence comes
thick and fast from the opening round.
BOXING
ON THE BOX
What else to watch this week
SKY SPORTS
The latest Fight Camp takes place on
Saturday night. You can watch some of
the early action on Sky Sports Action from
7pm but you’ll need to switch to Box Office
– and pay the fee – to watch the likes of
Katie Taylor (in a rematch with Delfine
Persoon) and Dillian Whyte-Alexander
Povetkin.
CHANNEL 5
For those not wishing to pay the extra
cash, there is free-to-air boxing on Channel
5 on Saturday night. Coverage of the clash
for the vacant British light-heavyweight
title between Shakan Pitters and Chad
Sugden begins at 10pm.
NETFLIX
Mary Kom is a 2014 film that tells the
inspirational story of former Indian
amateur boxer, “Magnificent” Mary Kom.
AMAZON
In a slightly underwhelming film, but worth
a watch if you haven’t seen it, Muhammad
Ali plays himself in The Greatest (1977)
which tracks his career from amateur days
through to the Seventies.
FURTHER VIEWING:
Salvador Sanchez w ko 8 Wilfredo
Gomez (1981); Pernell Whitaker w pts 12
Jose Luis Ramirez (1989); Kostya Tszyu
w rsf 10 Miguel Angel Gonzalez (1999);
Buster Drayton w ko 10 Davey Moore
(1986).
AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 43
 YESTERDAY’S HEROES

A TOUGH DEFENCE
Howard HIS week in 1963,
featherweight great
THE CHAMP:
Winstone
Winstone wears
his Lonsdale Belt
with pride got more
than he
T Howard Winstone
was out to put a
second notch on
his second Lonsdale
Belt and make the
bargained maiden defence of his recently won
for when European title.
Sheffield’s Billy Calvert was the man
he defended tasked with unseating the 24-year-old
champion. Nearing 30, Billy was in the
his titles last chance saloon in terms of title hopes.
against But for rising star Winstone, who was
eyeing a possible world title fight with
Billy Calvert reigning champ, Cuban-Mexican
Sugar Ramos, it was merely a routine
defence.
Winstone had beaten Calvert twice
already in his first year as a pro. They
first met in Aberdare in September 1959,
when Calvert was stopped by a cut
eye. But in their second encounter, at
London’s National Sporting Club three
months later, the pair put on such a good
show the audience showered them with
£31 in nobbins (money thrown into the
ring as a sign of appreciation), a decent
sum in 1959.
Since joining the paid ranks, Winstone
Alex had whipped 40 of his 41 opponents,
Daley with a single defeat – a shock second-
@thealexdaley round stoppage by American Leroy
Historian Jeffery in November 1962 – as the
& author only sign of fallibility. Interestingly, an

‘A VITAL REFUGE’
Why the BY the time this appears in print, Central
current plight (Midlands) EBA should have held their
first meeting in months (last Sunday).
of amateur I hope it came off, and went well, and
boxing is such look forward to receiving a report. In
a concern their current newsletter, Chairman Gary
Bate makes an important point about the
plight of amateur boxing in these times,
and I think it deserves quoting at some
length (I’ve had to condense a bit).
“On July 27, Wolverhampton Boxing
Club opened its doors for the first time
since the government lockdown, and it
was great to see boxers using the gym
once more. Unfortunately, at present it
Simon is only carded boxers who are allowed
Euan-Smith to train with us and it is very sad that we
simonoldtimers can’t as yet allow the young people from
@googlemail.com the community to return to us – I fear
EBA that this could be a ticking time bomb.
correspondent Gyms throughout the country have been
in the same position – they are a vital
refuge to keep young people off the
streets and out of trouble. The focus and
purpose for many of our young aspiring
boxers was halted overnight.
“Every champion has to
start somewhere – in gyms like
Wolverhampton BC that have no
government funding. We provide a
community service at the lowest cost
(or free in some cases) to try to help
young people stay on track. Without
the dedication and commitment of the
volunteers who train and coach these
young people, the talent of the future
may never be found.”
That’s all so true, and the point about
people being prevented from starting is
one I’ve not seen mentioned before. How
good to see Central actively supporting
their local amateurs – and the pro scene,
too, with an enthusiastic mention of the
recent Ted Cheeseman-Sam Eggington
bout. EBAs generally know they need to
be seen to support today’s scene.
There’s a long, in-depth feature on
Audley Harrison’s career – amateur and
pro – to tie in with the 20th anniversary
of his wining the super-heavyweight gold
medal at the Sydney Olympics. Audley
didn’t go as far as expected in the pros,
but not every amateur champion does
– and his comments on his career are
fascinating.
Audley always did things “his way.”
He got in trouble with the law, but it
wasn’t a case of being saved by boxing
– he’d already gone back to school, and
completed an academic course, before
he even started boxing. He went on
to attend Brunel University, gaining a
degree in Sports Studies and Leisure

44 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 20, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net


in-form Calvert had outpointed Jeffery
three weeks after the American’s win
over Winstone. That comparison aside,
the Yorkshireman’s 21-12-4 résumé did
not suggest he was a serious threat to
Winstone.
A huge TV audience tuned in to
watch the fight broadcast from Coney
Beach, in Porthcawl, and were not
disappointed. BN’s report referred to
a “worried, bruised and occasionally
desperate Howard Winstone,” as against
expectations Calvert gave “The Welsh
Wizard” his hardest fight yet.
“Determination, peak fitness, relentless
combination punching, complete
disregard for Winstone’s vaunted jab –
we had expected all these,” noted our
reporter.
“But what made the fight a spectacle
for us and a near-triumph for the
‘Cowboy’ [Calvert’s nickname] was his
brilliant, shifty and deceptive range of
two-handed in-fighting tactics... The
champ was fighting a perpetual-action
machine who was concentrating on just
about every target in sight.”
Howard was forced to go 15 rounds
for the first time in his life to narrowly
but deservedly retain his titles. Had the
fight been a 12-rounder, the verdict
could have been different, but Winstone’s
accurate jabbing nudged him in front in
the final three sessions.
For Billy, it was virtually the end of the
Photo: LARRY BRAYSHER
road. He retired less than two years
later and lost most of his remaining
contests.
For Howard, it was onwards and
upwards. The Ramos world title fight
never happened, as Ramos lost his WBC
and WBA belts to Mexican great Vicente
Saldivar. Howard made three epic but
ultimately unsuccessful challenges
against Saldivar, before whipping Japan’s
Mitsunori Seki to claim the vacant WBC
crown in 1968, ending Wales’ 45-year
wait for a world champion to succeed
Jimmy Wilde. By then the Welshman
was past his best. He lost the title six
months later to the gifted Cuban Jose
Legra, whom he’d previously beaten, and
promptly retired.
A brilliant amateur, Winstone won 83
of his 86 unpaid bouts as well as a gold
medal at the 1958 Empire Games. With
a young family to support, he missed
the chance to box at the 1960 Olympics
by turning pro. Throughout his time
in the limelight, Howard was famed
for his sublimely fast and accurate jab.
Curiously, though, his hallmark left had
been a late addition to his armoury. In his
youth, Winstone was more of a brawler,
but an accident at the factory where he
worked led to the loss of the tips of three
right-hand fingers, along with much of RELENTLESS:
his right-hand power. From then on he Calvert – ‘a perpetual-
worked hard to develop his left-hand action machine’
boxing.

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Management. When he went pro he
insisted on calling the shots – which
didn’t endear him to promoters or fans.
But he achieved what he achieved, and
today he’s a happy husband and father
– and serving as an ambassador for the
Samaritans, which is admirable. And,
as he says, he’ll “always have that gold
medal.”
I was also pleased to hear from
Manchester Secretary Eddie Copeland,
enclosing their latest newsletter – their
first in four months. Manchester are
hoping to hold a meeting on September
6 at the Derby Arms, Cheetham Hill
Road, Cheetham Hill, Manchester – and
I hope this, too, comes off. If it does
it will be from 12 noon to 2pm – and,
to quote the newsletter, “Old and new
members very welcome.”
MY WAY: Harrison plants a kiss on his 2000 Olympic gold medal My recent mention of Johnny Waldron
brought back memories for Eddie.
“He was at the Terry Lawless gym when
I turned pro,” Eddie said. “He was a real
character and a good oil painter. I was
last with him in 2010, when they had a
Lawless stable reunion in Charlie Magri’s
pub. Happy days! I wish Johnny well.”
The newsletter also plugs this
Saturday’s Matchroom show in
Brentwood, wishing luck to middleweight
Jack Cullen, Bolton’s “Little Lever Meat
Cleaver.” Another example of an EBA
supporting today’s scene. And there’s
a two-page spread by boxing scribe
Lawrence Yearsley, on James “Yankee”
Sullivan, a real character on the pugilistic
scene in the 1840s and ‘50s – highly
recommended.
EMAIL simonoldtimers@googlemail.com
with your ex-boxer association news.

www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 20, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 45

 SIXTY SECONDS

SHAKAN PITTERS
Paul Wheeler talks to a man who loved the energy of Mike Tyson fights

Photo: HENNESSY SPORTS

When and why you started
boxing: ‘I APPRECIATE
I first started boxing at 22 years
old when I was expecting my
EVERYONE. WE’RE
daughter. She gave me the drive to
want to do well to set her on the
ALL JUST HUMAN’
best path in life. Other sportsman you would
Favourite all-time fighter: like to be:
Tommy Hearns for his aggression I’d only like to be Shakan Pitters.
and shot selection, and Floyd Last film/TV show you saw:
Mayweather for his ability to be The Michael Jordan documentary
very adaptable and smart in the series on Netflix – The Last Dance.
ring. Who would play you in a film
Best fight you’ve seen: of your life:
I used to love watching Mike Myself, but if I had to choose
Tyson fights. You could feel the someone else it’d be Michael B.
energy through the TV. Jordan or Idris Elba.
Personal career highlight: Have you ever been starstruck:
Fighting on Amir Khan’s undercard I don’t get starstruck. I appreciate
in my hometown of Birmingham everyone as a person – celebrity
and also winning my first major or not – as we’re all just human.
professional title – the English Last time you cried:
light-heavyweight title. I’m not really the emotional type
Toughest opponent: but I’ve had my moments.
Dec Spelman, who I’ve fought Best advice received:
twice [w ud 3 – November 2018 & Treat people as you wish to be
w ud 10 – September 2019]. treated yourself.
Best and worst attributes as a Worst rumour about yourself:
boxer: I’ve not heard any rumours about
I’ll leave my strengths and myself. Sadly though, there’s been
weaknesses for the critics to a few fake social media profiles
speculate on. I just keep working pretending to be me.
in the gym to be the best all- Something not many people
round fighter I can be. know about you:
Training tip: I passed law at college, I like to
Always go hard. Boxing’s not cook and I worked in a warehouse
here forever for any fighter, so it’s during my first two years as a
always important to give the best professional boxer.
account of yourself in training and
in fights.
Favourite meal/restaurant:
Age: 31 Twitter: @ShakanPitters Nickname: ‘Shak’ Height: 6ft 6ins
FAST FACTS

It’s got to be Caribbean food. Jerk

chicken and steamed fish with Nationality: English From: Birmingham Stance: Orthodox Record: 13-0 (4)
hard food and dumplings. Division: Light-heavyweight Titles: English & Ultimate Boxxer Next fight:
Best friends in boxing: Pitters contests the vacant British light-heavyweight title against Chad Sugden
I’d class my gym-mates as my best in Redditch this Saturday (August 22), live on Channel 5.
friends, as we know each other
really well.

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