Boxing News

The Haye-Chisora fight controversy, which has seen the ‘British Boxing Board’ digging in its heels and crying wolf over Luxembourg’s decision to sanction the fight on British soil and the Germans seemingly supporting the Brits, now takes on a new dimension as Bruce Baker Chairman of the ‘Professional Boxing Promoters Association’ and the’ Luxemburg Boxing Federation’ take the BBBofC to task over their previous statement on the issue in an open letter.

The situation is bound to become more complicated as other licensing national federations step into the fray and arguments are bound to come to a head at the ‘European Boxing Union’ meeting which is due to be held in Belgium on the 2nd of June.

From: PBPA
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 12:52 PM
To: R Smith
Cc: Toni Tiberi
Subject: Boards Press Statement

Dear Robert,

An Open Letter in reply to the BBB of C’s Press statement

I was surprised to say the least at the Board’s press statement dated 9th
May 2012 in relation to the Haye v Chisora fight at West Ham and
particularly the references to the Federation Luxembourgeoise de Boxe. I
am also concerned at the threats made to our members and other licence
holders of the Board of Control to withdraw their licences if they
participate in the show.

Our Association has worked alongside the BBB of C for 13 years. Generally
speaking this has been a good working relationship and we see no reason
for this to change if we all genuinely share a passion for the betterment
of British Boxing. However, over the last few years certain actions taken
by the Board have alienated license holders and we have no effective vote
on these decisions. The only people who can vote and have a say in how the
Board is run are the Area Council Officers. However, these Officers are
not voted in by the licence holders but are appointed by the Board and the
Board itself appoints its own directors. Therefore, there is no-one who
can vote on any issues at all who has any duty to represent the licence
holders and we feel we have no voice.

Whilst we raised these concerns with you, nothing happened and you refused
to even discuss them. This culminated last year with a protest by license
holders at the Company’s AGM. As a result of which the AGM was suspended
with the Board agreeing to meet with a delegation of license holders to
discuss the way forward. The delegation (democratically elected) met with
you in Birmingham. We were told that you would listen to what we had to
say but would make no changes; there was little point in us meeting.

Since our meeting in Birmingham, there have been further matters which
caused us concern. Firstly Jane Couch’s licenses were taken away from her
in what seemed to us to be a personal dispute with her and the Chairman
rather than a matter which should have concerned the Board. This dispute
exposed worrying concerns about Mr Giles before the Board stepped down
having spent time and money fighting the dispute. Secondly, a complaint
was made by Mr Frank Warren over the lack of BBB of C support of Dereck
Chisora when he fought in Germany.

He alleged that had the Chairman been more pro-active then the issues in
Germany (including checking the security arrangements) could have been
avoided. I was not present in Germany and so do not know what happened,
but whoever was responsible, it does show that the Board and the Chairman
have lost the support of various licensees. I speculate, but this could be
because the Chairman has other loyalties which could cause licence holders
to question his full support. He is the Vice Chairman of the EBU and holds
a prominent position with the WBC.

After our meeting in Birmingham, the members of our Association together
with other licence holders entered into discussions with the Federation
Luxembourgeoise de Boxe. The Federation has been in existence in its
present form since inception in 1922. It is affiliated to the EBU, WBA,
WBO, IBF and WBC and it therefore is recognised by the BBBofC. Indeed the
BBBofC have authorised boxers to fight in tournaments regulated by the
Federation on many occasions in the past. It could not do otherwise
without being in breach of its own Rules. Less than a month ago the
Federation regulated and staged a show in Germany with the full support of
the German Federation who permitted its own licence holders to take part.

We were attracted to the Luxembourg Federation because its safety record
is second to none and it has personal injury insurance in place and strict
procedures for protecting the safety of boxers. However,coupled with that,
it is run by its members for its members. Managers, promoters and trainers
are allowed to vote at the Company’s AGM and therefore have a real say as
to how boxing is run. Whilst the Federation regulates the safety of
boxing, it confines this to licensing, ringside supervision and the
protection of the boxers in the ring, allowing the members freedom in
other areas. Therefore we entered into an agreement so that the
Association is now the Federation’s representative in the UK and has been
since March 12th 2012. I informed you of this and I informed you of the
insurance and safety provisions when we met. This makes press release all
the more surprising as I had been completely open with you as to what we
were doing, the reasons why and the protection which would be afforded to
the boxers under the Federation.

Moving onto the licensing of Haye v Chisora. Neither boxer is on the
banned / suspension list. Chisora was sanctioned by your own body and
having heard the evidence you decided to withdraw his licence rather than
ban him. It is worth noting that this was under enormous pressure and
scrutiny of the press. We are surprised that you question whether these
boxers should be licensed as they are both fit and well to fight, neither
have a criminal conviction and neither have been banned by yours or any
other sanctioning body. This is especially so when there has been not a
squeak out of the Board over Mayweather, Tyson, Scott Welch, Danny
Williams and currently Scott Dixon to name but a few.

From the perspective of our Association, I am concerned about your attempt
to intimidate your own members into not taking part. You do this in two
ways. First, you claim that you will de-licence any member who takes part
in the fight. This is unlawful and a breach of your own Rules. Secondly
you seek to limit the insurance for boxers who are licensed by the BBBofC
and would ordinarily have the benefit of insurance even if they fight
under a different sanctioning body. This, in particular, is an
extraordinary move for the BBBofC to seek to limit its own boxers
insurance when they have paid license fees and taxes for the benefit of
this insurance. I seek from you the confirmation of your insurers of their
position, presumably you got this before issuing the press release and so
can send it to me by return.

On behalf of our Association and the Federation, we require from you
agreement that you will not seek to interfere with the fight and show. If
this is not forthcoming by close of business on Friday 18th May 2012 then
the following will happen:

1) The membership of the Professional Boxing Promoters Association will
move for a vote of no-confidence in the Board; and

2) The Federation of Luxembourg will consult its lawyers to start
proceedings for restraint of trade that is if these proceedings have not
by then been brought by another individual or company in the meantime.

I look forward to hearing from you and if you wish to meet and discuss
matters, do let me know.

Yours sincerely

Bruce Baker

Chairman
Professional Boxing Promoters Association
Representatives Federation Luxembourgeoise de Boxe

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RICKY HATTON has heaped praise on Hatton Promotions world class light-welterweight Ashley ‘The Treasure’ Theophane.

The Londoner will now defend his British light-welterweight title against Darren Hamilton at Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool on Saturday (19^th May) hoping to win a Lonsdale belt for keeps.

Theophane, 31, was due to face Steve Williams but he pulled out early on Monday because of illness – leaving Ashley in the lurch for the second successive fight.

He encountered a similar problem in December when Nigel Wright was forced out of their contest forcing Theophane to box Ben Murphy who he stopped in 11 rounds.

Hatton Promotions CEO Ricky Hatton said: “Ashley is an example to all boxers, and just wants to train and fight all comers.

“As soon as Williams pulled out he never once thought about not fighting because the British title and owning a Lonsdale belt means so much to him.

“I have nothing but admiration for him.”

Hatton hopes that Theophane will move into the world title picture later this year having dominated the British scene since winning the title against Lenny Daws in February 2011.

He added: “I am so lucky to promote so many top class fighters who are also dedicated to the sport.

“Ashley has done it his way and flown around the world solo just to benefit from top class sparring and experience in the best gyms.

“He has served his dues and a world title fight is no more than he deserves, but Hamilton is still there to give him a test.”

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SCOTT QUIGG is shocked that bookies’ have made him red hot favourite to beat Rendall Munroe next month.

Quigg challenges Munroe for the vacant interim WBA super-bantamweight crown on Hatton Promotions ‘Road To Glory’ bill at Manchester Velodrome on Saturday 16^th June.

Although Quigg is British champion and undefeated in 24 fights, the Leicester southpaw is a former European champion and challenged Toshiaki Nishioka for the WBC crown.

Bury’s Quigg, 23, said: “Bookies have me as favourite which is strange. I am the underdog.

“What Rendall has achieved and level he has fought at is fantastic. It is a massive step up from where I have been fighting.

“I have only had two major championship fights and people are saying my opponents Jason Booth and Jamie Arthur had seen their best days.

“I am not disagreeing and realise how much I’ll be up against it.  I haven’t even touched his level, but I know what I’m capable of doing

“There is no pressure on me. The only pressure I have is the fear of losing.

“On paper he should turn up and win, but I am one million per-cent confident I will win.”

The ‘Road To Glory’ bill also features a vacant European light-middleweight  title fight between Ryan Rhodes and Sergey Rabchenko, Martin Murray in championship action and Richard Towers facing Michael Wallisch for the vacant EU heavyweight crown.

There will be a talent stacked undercard that will include former British and Commonwealth welterweight champion Craig Watson, unbeaten hopefuls Adam Etches, Scott Jenkins and Adam Little.

Ticket prices are now on sale priced £125 (VIP Inner Ringside + exclusive cash bar), £100 Ringside, £55, £35 and £30. You can purchase tickets by calling Hatton Promotions hotline 01925 755 222/www.ticketmaster.co.uk/0844 847 2500/www.ticketline.co.uk/0844 888 4402/www.hmv.com

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A Night of action not to be missed. Gladiator action as the best of the best in the Maltese Islands battle it out for the National Titles.Ruben Azzopardi & Ruth Tanti in world title fight action

DO NOT MISS – 9 June – MFCC Ta Qali, Malta

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MAIN EVENTS COMES ON STRONG

WITH 3 QUALITY SHOWS IN ONE MONTH

TOTOWA, NJ – Main Events brings boxing fans a tidal wave of action over the next month with three rapid-fire promotions scheduled for national television audiences. However, merely keeping boxing lovers busy was not the goal of Main Events head Kathy Duva. Committed to making matches that really count, Duva stacked all three shows with appealing fights that really matter in boxing’s big picture.

Kathy Duva said, “It has been a long time since we had such a busy month. There is a lot of excitement in the air at Main Events, lately, and, as a fan, I can’t wait to watch each one of these bouts.”

So get ready for both quality and quantity over the next month.

First up is a card at the Pharr, Texas Convention Center to be televised by Univision on May 19th. Headlining the show is Texas featherweight, Jerry Belmontes, known as “The Corpus Christi Kid”, puts his undefeated, 15-0, 5 KOs, record on the line against Dominican trial horse Ramesis Gil, 7-3-5, 5 KOs. It will be Belmontes’ first time in the ring since last June, and he’ll be hoping a win over Gil will be his ticket to a successful and more active future. The loyal fan base Belmontes built as an all-star amateur, will no doubt be in the house to cheer him on.

Also on the card, is an important heavyweight bout between Odlanier Solis, 17-1, 12 KOs, and Konstantin Airich, 23-5-2, 17 KOs, for the IBF Intercontinental Title. Cuban-born Solis will try to bounce back from his bizarre 2011 loss to WBC champ Vitali Klitschko, and to do so, will have to will have to get past the German-based Airich, who is currently on a six-bout winning streak, the last three by knockout.

Two weeks later, Main Events returns with the latest installment of NBC Sports Network’s “Fight Night” series in partnership with Russell Peltz of Peltz Boxing. Topping the show at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, PA, is rising junior middleweight Gabriel Rosado of Philadelphia, 19-5, 11 KOs. This will be a command performance for Rosado, who so impressed the NBC Sports Network execs in January with his disposal of Jesus Soto Karass on the very first edition of “Fight Night”, that they ordered an extra show in the series just for him. Rosado faces two-time world title challenger Sechew Powell in a 12-round bout for the WBO Intercontinental Jr. Middleweight belt. Powell brings a seasoned 26-4, 15 KOs record, as well as a tricky southpaw style into the fight. Rosado will have his hands full, but another impressive win may position the Philadelphian for a big fight. He is currently ranked #5 by the IBF and #9 by the WBC. Powell is the IBF’s 9th-ranked junior middleweight.

Supporting Rosado-Powell is a 12-round bout between Bethlehem’s Ronald Cruz, 16-0, 12 KOs, and Prenice Brewer, 16-1-1, 6 KOs, of Cleveland. The fight will be for the Vacant WBC Continental Americas Welterweight Championship. The winner of the bout takes home his first piece of hardware as a professional. Clearly Cruz will have the hometown advantage, but Brewer brings a wealth of top-level amateur experience in with him.

Two weeks after this show, Main Events snaps right back with another “Fight Night” installment, nationally televised by NBC Sports Network. On June 16, “Heavyweights Collide” when Tomasz Adamek, 45-2, 28 KOs, takes on Eddie Chambers, 36-2, 18 KOs, in a significant match of top big men for the IBF North American Heavyweight belt. Both fighters have fought for the world heavyweight title, and are raring to get back to the big show. Each stands in the other’s way. Adamek and Chambers are well-conditioned, quick-fisted, highly regarded talents in the sport. Their pairing is a natural and should make for a great fight. Chambers will have to contend with Adamek’s massive fan base, which will surely pack the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. But the fact that Chambers’ Philadelphia home base is not so far from Newark, means he too will have serious support for the fight. Clearly the atmosphere for this one should be electric.

Adding to the excitement on June 16th will be another key heavyweight match up when breakout star, Bryant Jennings, 13-0, 6 KOs, meets Steve Collins, 25-1-1, 18 KOs, of Houston, TX, in a 10-rounder for the Vacant USBA Heavyweight Title. This will be Jennings’ third appearance on the NBC Sports Network “Fight Night” series. His last bout was an overwhelming TKO of former champion Sergei Liakhovich in March. Collins will try to stop Jennings’ star-making streak in its tracks with his superior punching power. Main Events is promoting this show in partnership with Ziggy Promotions and Goossen Tutor Promotions.

After these three consecutive shows, Main Events will take the briefest of breathers before returning with more world class boxing.

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