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Photos and Report by Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

‘Mighty’ Kevin Mitchell made a welcome return to the ring on Friday night, when he took on Spain based Dominican Felix Lora in a ten round non-championship bout in front of a packed house at York Hall in Bethnal Green.

The Dagenham Destroyer seemed unfazed that the bout was touted as just a warm up bout, ahead of a summer showdown with WBO Lightweight World Champion Ricky Burns, as Mitchell seemed almost as fired up as he was when he faced John Murray back last year.

Whilst it wasn’t the liveliest of starts, as both fighters felt each other out, it soon livened up and see Mitchell using his incredibly accurate jab and superior movement to frustrate Lora.

Late on the raucous crowd jumped to their feet, as Lora fell to the canvas. The cheers faded as soon as they realised it was just a slip, but seconds later the crowd were back on their feet as Mitchell went straight back on the attack.

A much livelier start to the second round see Mitchell start to pressure Lora, picking him off with ease utilising his jab and some powerful rights to the body, and it wasn’t long before the big crowd were on their feet cheering again, as again Lora made a visit to the canvas, this time it was the real deal.

Lora had started to apply some pressure of his own, Mitchell used his excellent movement to avoid everything Lora threw at him before letting rip with a wickedly quick and accurate countering left.

After the count Mitchell went straight on the attack in a very controlled way, Lora used his head and grabbed hold of the advancing Mitchell. Once his head had cleared Lora tried to keep Mitchell on the backfoot, however Mitchell with his back to the rope proves to an extremely elusive target.

For the next few rounds Mitchell produced a boxing masterclass par excellence, easily controlling the rounds using his world class ring craft. Just as comfortable on the backfoot as he is on the attack Mitchell would pick off Lora, with sharp jabs, lightning fast one twos and uppercuts, at will each time the Dominican came in range.

Lora was fired up big time when he came out for the fifth, he was angry and full of vengeful intention. Virtually every punch the Dominican threw was fully loaded, however whilst he had Mitchell on the back foot and defending, the Dagenham man’s ring craft is honed to perfection.

Just as in the Murray fight, Mitchell backed on the rope is an elusive target, virtually every exocet Lora fired was avoided with comparable ease, that is until the Dominican landed a peach that shook Mitchell. Lora then turned up the pressure but Mitchell is well savvy and boxed beautifully off the backfoot as Lora chased him around the ring.

Lora must have thought that another one his bombs had penetrated Mitchell’s excellent defense in the final seconds, as Mitchell went down, after slipping on water close to Lora’s corner.

It got a little heated as the round concluded, Mitchell and Lora stood their ground, squared up to one another and pushed their foreheads together in an old fashioned face off fashion until referee Richie Davis intervened and dispatched the pair to their respective corners.

Mitchell’s coach, Jimmy Tibbs, calmed his charge before start of the sixth, and normal service resumed. Mitchell again was in full control, utilising his exquisite jab to control the next couple of rounds with ease.

Lora was again fired up at the start of the tenth and final round, going straight on the attack with massive exocets. Mitchell, again with his back to the ropes, avoided the Dominican’s big overhand rights with ease.

Mitchell then turned the tables on Lora in the final minute and let rip with a big right hand that had ‘lights out’ written all over it. In an instant Lora throws his arms around Mitchell to buy a few precious seconds in which to clear his head to enable him to see the round out.

No surprise Mitchell gets the nod from referee Richie Davies, quite rightly, by a 98-92 points margin.

Word is ‘Mighty’ Mitchell will do one more warm up bout before facing Ricky Burns at Upton Park in the Summer. Taking it on Friday’s performance I personally don’t think he needs it. Whilst yes he cruised his way through big parts of the bout, he also showed that he could step things up whenever he needed to and his defensive ringcraft was faultless throughout. It was a five star performance by Dagenham’s finest, even without the incentive of adding another belt to his collection.

Preceding Mitchell-Lora see Penge’s ‘Super’ Bradley Skeete easily outclass Hungarian challenger Laszlo Komjathi in an eight rounder.

As with Mitchell, Skeete put on a masterclass display to easily out point Komjathi, who has previously fought such stalwarts as Giuseppi Lauri, Michael Jennings, Rafal Jackiewicz, Marcos Maidana and Andriy Kotelnik.

Komjathi likes to box of the front foot, which played into Skeete’s hands as he could pick off the Hungarian at will, with stiff jabs and three punch combinations, each time he came in range.

Routine stuff for the first couple of rounds, but come the third Skeete took the fight to Komjathi, making life very uncomfortable for the Hungarian after forcing him onto the back foot.

Skeete was in a groove, letting rip with all manner of tasty shots, and around the midway point of the third a cracking combo, finished off with a right to the jaw see Komjathi’s legs go to jelly, whilst he didn’t actually go down his gloves touched the canvas and earned him a standing count.

Surprisingly Skeete didn’t go in hard and fast to finish the Hungarian off, but seemed content to showcase his skills for the adoring fans.

Komjathi was back on the front foot for the next couple of rounds, however Skeete remained unfazed and seemed content to just parry and counter his ever forward coming opponent to easily secure the rounds.

Skeete went back on the offensive in the penultimate and final rounds, easily forcing his durable opponent onto the backfoot for large parts of each stanza. Skeete also seemed to be putting more power behind his punches, shaking his opponent on numerous occasions, as he cruised his way to a tidy 80-71 points victory.

Prior to Skeete-Komjathi, Kevin Mitchell’s big hitting TRAD TKO Gym mate Frankie Buglioni took on super tough Ryan Clark, from Lincolnshire.

Big ticket seller Buglioni entered the arena to a standing ovation from the massive crowd, who continued their chanting throughout the bout as the Enfield man started fast, looking for his third early stoppage finish in three outings.

Clark, normally a crowd pleasing battler himself, was taken aback by the constant wave after wave of heavy double handed attacks and instead of going toe to toe with the man that has stopped both previous opponents, Sabie Montieth and Paul Morby, inside the first round, went defensive and covered up for long periods of the early rounds.

Unpreturbed Buglioni just kept attacking at pace to totally dominate the first couple of rounds.

More of the same in the first half third. However, after made a trip to the canvas, deemed a slip, it was Buglioni who had his resolve tested for the first time since turning pro back in November last year. As Buglioni went on the attack yet again, Clark countered with cracking right hook. Clark went on the offensive following up with a succession of big overhand rights and lefts to the body.

Normal service resumed in the fourth and final round, with Buglioni comfortably back in the driving seat, keeping up the pressure on Clark until the final bell.

No surprise when referee Bob Williams raised Buglioni’s arm in victory, declaring him the winner by 40-36 points margin.

Former Amateur star Bradley Saunders made an impressive start to his professional career, by stopping Jason Nesbitt in the third round of their scheduled six rounder.

Right from the off Saunders showed his class, bombarding the body of the highly durable Birmingham journeyman. In the second Saunders mixed it up a bit, throwing slick uppercuts, seriously stiff jabs and soul destroying right crosses to the head.

Saunders reverted to the body in the third and it came as no surprise to anyone when Nesbitt appeared hurt, by a vicious shot to the solar plexus. In an instant Saunders moved in for the kill, the first shot misses and as he is just about to let rip with another big body shot referee Bob Williams steps in to stop the bout on the two minutes and fifty seven second mark.

Undefeated in five Billy Morgan, another of Kevin Mitchell’s TRAD TKO Gym mates, took on Gants Hill’s Dan Naylor in a six rounder.

Round one to five were Morgan all the way, throughout the rounds the Canning Town youngster produced yet another masterclass, thoroughly out boxing the game Naylor and showcasing his fully loaded arsenal of punches.

Naylor stepped up the pace in the final round, to gain some limited success, but not enough to deprive Morgan of a clear 60-55 points victory.

Prio to Morgan-Naylor yet another TRAD TKO Gym boxer, Gary Corcoran, made his second pro outing, against Tamworth’s Matt Seagrave.

Right from the off Corcoran dominated the proceedings, his slick, yet powerful boxing style was way too much for 57 fight veteran Seagrave, who had to resort to covering up for much of the fight as Corcoran fired salvo after salvo to his body and head.

It came as no surprise when referee Bob Williams called a halt to the proceedings in the third after a particularly vicious flurry of shots had clearly hurt the Tamworth man.

The opening fight of the night see yet another TRAD TKO based fighter Ediz ‘Eddy’ Hussein made his second pro outing, against Barking’s Marc Callaghan.

Ediz, who is trained by his father - former Commonwealth Light Welterweight Champion Mo Hussein, showed all the class of his illustrious father, easily controlling the bout form start to finish to earn a tidy 39-37 points victory.

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Photos and Report by Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

Frank Warren knows a thing or two about putting on a top class fight night and boy has he put some great shows on over the years. Usually his real all action extravaganzas are reserved for the bigger venues around the country, places like the O2, Excel, M.E.N., Echo Arena etc. however last night the King of British Boxing pulled out all the stops for a small hall show at the York Hall in Bethnal Green.

Heading up the classy lineup was Lee Selby’s first defense of the British and Commonwealth Featherweight straps he won back in September, with a fantastic eight round stoppage of Liverpool’s Stephen Smith.

Right from the off Selby went on the offensive, effectively using his jab to keep the super tough, and former holder of both titles, Simpson at bay. Each time the Scot made any move forward the Champ just stood his ground before throwing out a series of stiff jabs to push him back. Nice nonstop action opening round that was easy to score in Selby’s favour.

Second round was even livelier, Simpson just kept going forward, but as before Selby just resorted to his jab for the early part to thwart every move Simpson made. Frustration was already starting to settle in and by the end of the second minute Simpson started to throw some wild shots, problem was he left himself open to be picked off by some nice double handed counters. Another excellent round for the Champion.

More of the same in the third, Simpson’s shots were getting even wilder and again were leaving him open for Selby to counter, which he did with more force than in the earlier rounds.

Simpson’s trainer, Billy Nelson, obviously gave him a good talking to between the rounds as he came out and took the fight to Selby in a much more controlled fashion, so much so that he was actually getting some good success, landing some big shots. Selby responded in similar fashion and this lead to some great exchanges. Much closer round, but I still felt it was Selby’s round - just.

It was more of the same in the fifth, but as before it was Selby that seemed to be getting the better of each exchange. The round was a real firecracker that had the fans on the feet from almost the opening bell right through to the second minute mark, when Selby let rip with a peach of a left hook to the body that sent the Scottish challenger to his knees.

Simpson made it to his feet to take the count, but referee Marcus McDonnell could see that he was in no fit state to continue and waved the fight off on the 2 minute 2 second mark.

In doing so handed Simpson his first stoppage loss in his illustrious career. Selby, now with five stoppages in six outings, proved without doubt he’s the best domestic Featherweight and ready for a shot at the European crown.

As with virtually every Frank Warren Promotions show supporting the main event is another title fight of similar stature, last night’s was no exception. West Drayton’s Steve O’Meara stepped in to defend the Southern Area Light Middleweight belt he won back in September, with a sensational first round knockout of then champion Ryan Toms.

O’Meara’s opponent, Thamesmead’s super slick ‘Sugar’ Nathan Weise, bought to the table a 7-1-2 record that included a recent draw over previous champ Toms.

No surprise that the Mark Tibbs trained Weise went straight on the attack forcing O’Meara onto the back foot. O’Meara remained calm as he looked for an opening, he didn’t have to wait too long though, as around the fifty second mark Weise stepped in to let off yet another jab O’Meara released a wickedly fast left jab-right hook combination that sent Weise crashing to the deck in an instance.

A hush fell across York Hall as referee Ken Curtis instantly waved the fight off and the ringside doctor and paramedics rushed in to assist the prone Weise. It was a good few minutes before Weise was raised to a stool - the crowd responded with a standing ovation - but it was clear that Weise still wasn’t one hundred percent, the paramedics kept administering oxygen for a few more minutes before leading him from the ring to the waiting ambulance.

It has to be one of the worse knockouts I have seen in a long, long time but I can assure everyone that Nathan is one hundred percent OK, he turned up at the TRAD TKO Gym, to let his manager Johnny Eames, myself and all the fighters here know that he is OK literally as I was writing this report.

One of Frank Warren Promotions brightest stars, former Olympian and Nathan Weise’s gym mate Billy Joe Saunders, was drafted in at the last minute to face Belfast’s Tommy Tolan following Gym mate Ediz Hussein’s fight being called off, due to his coming down with the flu.

Slick southpaw Saunders went straight on the offensive and landed a massive left that shook Tolan to the core. In an instant Saunders stepped up the attack and literally chased Tolan from one corner to the next and beyond before landing another powerful left. Tolan legs had gone but he managed to stay on his feet, but referee Jeff Hinds had seen enough and just as Saunders was about to let rip with another shot stepped in and stopped the fight on the one minute and seven second mark.

Unbeaten in twelve, with five stoppages out of his last six outings and the Southern Area title already firmly in his grip, it’s clear that Saunders is ready to step up for a shot at either Nick Blackwell (English title) or Martin Murray (British title) for their crowns in the New Year, either of which would be a mouthwatering prospect.

Prior to Saunders-Tolan see unbeaten Welterweight George Michael Carman in action against the ubiquitous ‘Rockin’ Robin Deakin.

Now I hate writing negatives on any fighter, I know how much hard work precedes a fight and it takes serious guts to step into the ring, but having seen Carman in action twice now, the first when he managed to receive a highly dubious ‘draw’ result against Tom Bowen at Wembley in November - back then I, and it seems most of those present, felt Carman lost every single round by a country mile - I really can’t see why he is being so protected.

I mean Deakin is a Super Featherweight, Lightweight at best, with a negative 1-41 record, yet Carman couldn’t even handle him - in my between round notes I said that I wasn’t sure if this was boxing or handbags at fifty paces and that it is hard to think that there is only one journeyman in the ring, sorry but yes it was that bad.

The first three rounds were scrappy to put it mildly, with Deakin keeping the Slough man on the back foot for most of the time. It was only in the fourth that Carman actually started to get the better of the much lighter Deakin.

I have to admit that when he did get ‘fighty’ he was quite slick, but in all honesty it was still totally ineffective work. Deakin was deducted a point in the final round, not sure what for as I didn’t see any wrong doing from where I was. Anyway that aside at the end of the fourth referee Jeff Hinds scorecard read 40-35 in favour of Carman.

Canning Town’s Freddie Turner must have been a little surprised that it was the original opponent Kevin McCauley, and not stated replacement Michael Frontin, that he faced on the night. No matter either way to the Jimmy and Mark Tibbs trained fighter, he was just happy to get a decent opponent for him to showcase his sublime talents.

Round one was a bit of a cagey affair, as both fighters took their time to suss the others tactics. Whilst neither were in the zone yet Turner worked the hardest and landed the most meaningful shots to take the round in my book.

The second however was a much livelier affair, Turner was on the offensive in the early part and landed a couple of big scoring shots. As the round progressed McCauley started to push forward and managed to back Turner onto the ropes before letting rip with double handed flurries. Turner, taking a leaf from fellow TRAD TKO gym mate Kevin Mitchell’s book, just dipped and swayed to avoid every single shot. Another easy round to call, it was Turner’s all the way.

More of the same in the third, including Turner, back to the ropes, luring McCauley in and after a little dipping and swaying effectively countering with stiff jabs and big lefts. The lack of effect really started to get to McCauley, who started to resort to some dirty tactics, including late on in the round backing Turner up before blatantly head butting, which opened up a nasty gash over Turner’s right eye.

Needless to say this fired Turner up when he came out in the fourth, the Canning Town youngster went hard on the offensive, in response McCauley decided to stand and trade - which suited Turner fine, but not Jimmy and Mark Tibbs, who could be heard shouting at their charge to keep calm and just box McCauley.

With four rounds firmly in Turner’s favour McCauley decided he needed to step things up and started targeting the cut, albeit to no avail as Turner’s defensive skills are second to none. McCauley frustrations were clear for all to see as he started throwing wild shots in the hope that something will actually land. Turner responded with some cracking counters that clearly were hurting McCauley, both physically and mentally.

McCauley comes out hard and fast for the final round and tries to plain bully Turner, big mistake as this just allowed Turner to showcase his excellent ringcraft to even more effect as he see his way to a shutout 60-54 points victory.

Turner-McCauley was a seriously cracking fight, as was the fight that preceded it - when Cranham’s Lee Markham took on fellow Essex boy Danny Brown.

The first round was a close fought affair, with both determined to win the battle of the Essex boys, however Markham’s was just a little more effective and took the round in my book.

Markham stepped it up more in the second and landed a wicked shot to the body that caused Brown to take one knee. Brown made the count and continued, however deciding not to take too many chances overly protected his body which allowed Markham to land some big shots to the head.

Still protecting the body Brown came out on the offensive in the third and took the fight to Markham. For three minutes the pair exchanged punches in equal measure. However, as Brown was still wary of being on the receiving end of another big left to the body kept leaving his head unprotected, which made easy pickings for the Cranham boy big right hand.

More of the same in the fourth and final round, both letting rip with big shots as they again went to war for the full three minutes, much to the crowd’s delight. At the end of four excellent rounds no one was surprised that referee Ken Curtis scored the bout 39-36 in favour of Markham.

The opening bout of the night was an all action cracker too, between nineteen year old Alfie Smith and Jason Nesbitt.

Smith showed his intentions right from the start, attacking the body of Nesbitt with big left and right hands. The highly experienced Nesbitt tried to cover up to negate the onslaughts, which only encourage the teenager to play upstairs before returning to the body in style.

More of the same tactics, in the second, from Smith which was really beginning to take a toll on Nesbitt, who was huffing and puffing before the midway point. I had a good long hard look at Nesbitt between rounds and he really looked down hearted and honestly didn’t expect him to stay the course, but I was wrong.

For the final couple of rounds Smith continued his all out assault on Nesbitt’s body. The Brummy battler tried his hardest to take a part of the fight but each time he did the Rottweiler like Smith let rip with big left and rights to push him back. I would think Nesbitt was very happy to hear the final bell, although not as happy as young Smith who has the second win under his belt, and by a tidy shutout 40-36 points margin.

I have to say that as the final major fight show of the year Frank Warren did us all proud, it was a great show which had it all, drama, excitement and three stoppage victories. I know that after such I for one can head into the Christmas break happy in the knowledge that my appetite for boxing is well and truly sated and will see me through to the first big show of the New Year, Leon ‘Solid’ Williams’ first defense of his British Cruiserweight title at York Hall on Friday 13th January.

• Photos Description

1. Lee Selby lets rip with a big left against John Simpson
2. Steve O’Meara lets rip with a left jab-right hook against Nathan Weise
3. Billy Joe Saunders victorious
4. George Michael Carman and Robin Deakin in action
5. Freddie Turner throws yet another big left at Kevin McCauley
6. Lee Markham and Danny Brown in action
7. Alfie Smith lands yet another shot to Jason Nesbitt’s body
8. Lee Selby celebrates retaining the British and Commonwealth straps
9. Lee Selby stands over John Simpson
10. Nathan Weise face down on the canvas as Steve O’Meara goes to neutral corner

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Big Fight Preview - Katsidis-Burns, Groves-Smith, Boulden-Saunders

By Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

I’m sure promoter Frank Warren must have been chanting ‘Remember, Remember the Fifth of November’ as he was planning his upcoming triple Championship headed ‘Gladiators’ show, which will take place at Wembley Arena on Guy Fawkes Night and shown live on BoxNation (Sky platform 456).

The pugilistic pyrotechnics on display will culminate in an explosive finale as former WBO Super Featherweight World Champion Ricky Burns and the Brit Bashing Aussie Michael Katsidis lock horns for the interim WBO Lightweight World title.

Katsidis is no stranger to battling it out on British shores, having stopped both Graham Earl and Kevin Mitchell in spectacular fashion, so will feel quite at home when he faces Coatbridge’s former Super Featherweight supremo Ricky Burns.

It bodes well that Burns has been stating that he feels stronger, since vacating the WBO title and moving up to the Lightweight division, as his good pal Kevin Mitchell can attest Katsidis is one seriously tough cookie.

Since beating our Kev, Katsidis has been in three seriously tough fights, the first against World #1 Juan Manuel Marquez, who he sent to the canvas prior to being stopped himself, then he took World #2 ranked Robert Guerrero the full distance. In his last fight Katsidis came back, from those two back to back losses, to KO Mexico’s Michael Lozada.

Burns on the other hand is unbeaten since 2007 and defended his World Crown three times, since beating Roman Martinez to lift the coveted title in September 2010.

It’s going to be a great fight but unfortunately I have to say that I think Katsidis, who’s a big Lightweight, is the stronger of the two and has to be the bookies favourite to win the triple crown by adding Burns to his list of British victims.

Heading up the explosive undercard sees George Groves defend his British and Commonwealth Super Middleweight titles against former British Champ Paul Smith.

Groves is riding high after his magnificent victory over James DeGale, but can’t afford to be too complacent against former champ Smith.

Yes I know, Smith lost his crown to DeGale and Groves then went and took it from DeGale, but believe me this is no easy fight for Groves.

Smith is not going to make the same mistakes, tactically, as he did against DeGale and as such is likely to revert to his normal style and bring the fight to Groves.

Both Groves and Smith fought different fights to how expected when they faced DeGale so any comparisons to those fights is right out of the window. I feel that this fight we’re likely to see them playing their normal game and as such are likely to see Smith coming forward with Groves boxing of the back foot for the first three or four rounds, then the more it goes on the real fireworks are likely to start as they go head to head.

The third championship bout on the card sees undefeated Middleweight sensation Billy Joe Saunders challenge Gary Boulden for his BBBofC Southern Area belt.

Saunders, a former Olympian, is without doubt one of the most exciting young fighters around today and to be honest I can see this fight, against the defending Champion, ending very much the same way as his past four bouts.

Boulden is a great Southern Area level Champion, but BJ is way above regional level or come to that domestic level. In his last four fights he barely broke into a sweat before dispatching his opponents, all in under 6 minutes.

Also on the card is ‘Del Boy’ Dereck Chisora, making his welcome return to the ring, since losing his British and Commonwealth Heavyweight straps to Tyson Fury back in July. On November 5th ‘Del Boy’ will be facing fellow Londoner Larry Olubamiwo.

As with Boulden-Saunders I can’t see this lasting very long at all as big Larry O isn’t in the same class as Del Boy, by a country mile, and I reckon Olubamiwo will be seeing stars before the end of the first round.

Also on the excellent card are ‘Super’ Bradley Skeete, Darren Cordona, George Michael Carmen as well as Billy Joe Saunders are fellow Jimmy and Mark Tibbs trained/TRAD TKO gym mates Frankie Buglioni and Gary Corcoran.

Frank Warren Promotions ‘Gladiators’ headlined by the interim WBO Lightweight title clash between Ricky Burns and Michael Katsidis will take place at Wembley Arena, and broadcast live on BoxNation (Sky Platform Ch. 456), on Saturday the 5th November 2011.

Tickets, priced £150 (Ringside), £100 (Floor), £75 (Floor), £50 (Tier) and £40 (Tier), are available now on-line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or from the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym, Gillian House, Stephenson Street, Canning Town, London E16 4SA

PHOTOS: Ricky Burns with coach Billy Nelson

PHOTO CREDIT: Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

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Boxing News in Brief – Tuesday 21June 2011 - for: James Kirkland vs Saul Duran on 24 June, Devon Alexander vs Lucas Matthysse – on June 25, Macklin vs. Sturm – on June 25, Jones vs. Munoz – on June 25, Codrington vs Enriquez - on July 15, Saunders vs. Boulden on July 9, Soto vs Sasaki Update, Lucian Bute and Kelly Pavlik, Boxeo Telemundo, Maidana vs. Guerrero - on August 27

• James Kirkland vs Saul Duran on 24 June

Once-beaten light-middleweight contender James Kirkland has an opponent set for his return this Friday night. The 27-year-old southpaw, shocked inside a round by Nobuhiro Ishida in April of this year, will face veteran Saul Duran up at middleweight. Also on Friday’s card will be former “Contender” Brian Vera, 18-5(11). Vera, in his first fight since upsetting fellow “Contender” Sergio Mora, will face Eloy Suarez, 11-11-1(5). Vera is in line for a much bigger fight and should take care of Suarez without too much trouble. Also on Friday’s card will be former “Contender” Brian Vera, 18-5(11). Vera, in his first fight since upsetting fellow “Contender” Sergio Mora, will face Eloy Suarez, 11-11-1(5).

• DevonAlexander vs Lucas Matthysse – on June 25

This Saturday night former IBF/WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander (21-1, 13 KO’s) will be trying to get back to his winning ways against contender Lucas Matthysse (28-1, 26 KO’s) at the Family Arena in Saint Charles, Missouri. - IBF #1-ranked contender and USBA light heavyweight champ Yusaf “Mack Attack” Mack (29-3-2, 17 KOs) will get his first world title shot when he challenges defending IBF champion Tavoris “Thunder” Cloud (22-0, 18 KOs)

• Macklin vs. Sturm – on June 25

29-year-old challenger Matthew Macklin (29-2, 19 KO’s) will be fighting for a world title for the first time this Saturday night against WBA Super World middleweight champion Felix Sturm (35-2-1, 15 KO’s) at the Lanxess-Arena, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

• Jones vs. Munoz – on June 25

For Mike Jones the June 25th fight will be his first fight in Philadelphia since his March 6, 2024 second-round knockout over Dairo Esalas at the Blue Horizon. It also will be his 13th fight overall in his hometown and his 12th at this venue (South Philly Arena, formerly New Alhambra)

• Codrington vs Enriquez - on July 15

Super middleweight Jaidon Codrington (20-2, 16 KOs) will face Alvaro Enriquez (11-8-2, 3 KOs) on July 15 at the Buckhead Theater in Atlanta. Codrington lost to Sakio Bika in the finals of the TV reality series “The Contender” in what many called the fight of the year for 2007. Now working for the Atlanta Police Dept., he has only fought twice since against marginal opposition. Also on the card is a clash of former IBF title challengers as Paul Delgado (25-10-1) meets Osrael “Pito” Cardona. Tickets start at $25. Call 404-843-2825.

• Saunders vs. Boulden on July 9

Olympian Billy Joe Saunders will challenge for his first title next month at the Excel London as chief support on the Kevin Mitchell-John Murray undercard. The hard-hitting southpaw takes on the Southern Area Middleweight Champion Gary Bouldon from Shepperton.

• Maidana vs. Guerrero - on August 27

Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, has confirmed that the August 27th bout between two time world champion Robert Guerrero (29-1-1, 18 KO’s) and WBA light welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana (30-2, 27 KO’s) has been finalized. The bout will be shown on HBO and will be taking place at the HP Pavilion, in San Jose, California.

• Lucian Bute and Kelly Pavlik

IBF super-middleweight champion Lucian Bute is very close to signing to face former middleweight king Kelly Pavlik, for a fight that would go ahead in November. Unbeaten Bute must first beat Jean Paul Mendy on July 9th, but assuming he does so it looks like it will be “The Ghost” after that. Bob Arum and Kelly’s trainer, Jack Loew, spoke with The Vindicator at the weekend. “If Kelly wins, he’s back on top of the heap,” Arum said of the Bute fight. “If he loses, but gives the crown an incredible performance, he’s still right in the mix.”

• Boxeo Telemundo

Tickets are on sale NOW for All Star Boxing’s “Boxeo Telemundo” telecast on Friday featuring Jesus Pabon vs. Javier “La Zorra” Castro for Pabon’s WBO jr welterweight Latin title, plus Sullivan Barrera vs. Frank Paines for the vacant WBO Latin & WBA FEDELATIN light heavyweight titles at the Miami Dade County Auditorium. “This will be a great, an entertaining night of boxing. I am really looking forward to this duel , Mexico vs. Puerto Rico, always a classic, plus a great undercard!” said promoter Tuto Zabala Jr. Doors open 7:30pm. Tickets $25.00* Reserved Seating and there also VIP tables available. Call 305-547-5414.

• Soto vs Sasaki Update

On Saturday at the Parque Andrés Quintana Roo in Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico, WBC lightweight champion Humberto “Zorrita” Soto (55-7-2, 32 KOs) faces Japan’s Motoki Sasaki (36-8-1, 23 KOs) in defense of his world title. “I trained hard for this fight and I hope for the victory,” said Soto. “Fights between Mexicans and Japanese are interesting and I hope Sasaki is a great fighter. Sasaki is an aggressive fighter and strong and will surely come well prepared. We analyzed the video of one of his fights and in truth it won’t be easy, but I’m coming to do my thing.” Sasaki has already arrived in Cozumel. (Gabriel F. Cordero)

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