Boxing News

Posts Tagged ‘TKO’

TRAD TKO Boxing Gym
Hard Knocks Boxing Promotions
Presents
MITCHELL BALKER Vs. CHINA CLARKE
Friday, 23rd March 2012 @ The Troxy, London

By Rio

London - Thursday, 1st March 20121

Balker-Clarke Added To Spencer Fearon’s ‘Shamrock Showdown II’ On 23rd March

After six months without a fight, London based Dutch Cruiserweight Mitchell Balker finally gets the chance to return to the fray at Spencer Fearon’s Hard Knocks Promotions first event of the year, Shamrock Showdown II, at The Troxy in Limehouse, London on the 23rd March.

Ever since Balker relocated to the UK, to train at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town, his manager Johnny Eames has found it hard to secure his talented charge any bouts, especially after word got out that prior to turning pro that Balker had traveled to America to take part in, and win, the prestigious New York Golden Gloves tournament at the famous Madison Square Gardens.

However finding fights for the Dutch #1 here in the UK was made virtually impossible following a sensation against the odds victory over World ranked Blackpool based Slovakian knockout maestro Richard Turba back in August last year, which unsurprisingly rocketed Balker to the top of the domestic Cruiserweights ‘Fighters to Avoid’ list.

Things now look set to change for Balker though, as the aforementioned Spencer Fearon was so impressed by the Dutchman’s never say die attitude, as well as the victory over Turba, that he decided to add him to upcoming Premier Sports (Sky platform Ch 433) televised show, and true to form matched him in a genuine 50/50 fight against unbeaten Leeds hardman China Clarke.

Following yet another sparring war, with former British Cruiserweight Champion Leon ‘Solid’ Williams and Caine Brodie, a jubilant Balker said, “I feel very good and very excited about it, you know I’m always ready, so let’s do it.

I know nothing about my opponent, Spencer (Promoter Spencer Fearon) told me there is an opponent, China Clarke, so there is an opponent so we are going to have a fight and we’re going to make a special fight for the fans, and the TV, as they haven’t seen me fight for so long.

Even when there was no fight coming up I still stay in the gym, training and sparring, so I am always ready, my manager Johnny (Eames) and trainer Barry (Smith) make sure of that.

I have been sparring Leon (Williams) Caine (Brodie) and Paul (David) a lot, it’s the best preparation I could hope for, Leon was British Champion, Paul is the English Champion and Caine is a tough competitor at any time, so it’s good hard sparring with three of the best fighters in the UK.

Knowing Spencer it will be a hard fight, a 50-50 fight, but to me It’s a very special fight, my first with Hard Knocks and Premier Sports, so I will be really up for it and looking to win big.”

Mitchell Balker versus China Clarke will feature on the support card of Choi Tseveenpurev’s challenge for the vacant WBC Silver International Featherweight title at Spencer Fearon’s Hard Knocks Boxing Promotions ‘Shamrock Showdown II’ event at the Troxy in Limehouse, London on Friday 23rd March and broadcast live on Premier Sports (Sky platform Ch 433)

Tickets, priced £35 are available on-line now at www.tkoboxoffice.com or in person at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym, Gillian House, Stephenson Street, Canning Town, London E16 4SA

PHOTOS
Mitchell Balker on his way to victory over Nick Okoth in 2011

PHOTO CREDIT
Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

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.

.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

LEON ‘SOLID’ WILLIAMS Vs. SHANE McPHILBIN
British Cruiserweight Championship
13th January 2012 @ York Hall, London

As I said here at the TRAD TKO I have a great team around me, got plenty of great sparring partners and it’s all good, it’s almost perfect and the guy that’s fighting me now is gonna get crushed.

PHOTOS
Leon Williams ready for McPhilbin on Jan 13th

PHOTO CREDIT
Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
JustListen2This Publicity & Promotion
London, UK, Gzira, Malta & Philadelphia, USA

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

By Rio

London - Thursday, 22nd December 2011

Super Flyweight sensation Michael Maguire’s much anticipated return to the ring earlier this month failed to materialise, following opponent Najah Ali’s having to withdraw the day before they were due to face each other on the undercard of the Lee Selby-John Simpson British and Commonwealth title clash.

Earlier today Francis and George Warren announced that the match up, between the former Junior European Champion Maguire and 2004 Olympian Ali, will now take place on the undercard of Maguire’s TRAD TKO team mate Leon ‘Solid’ Williams British Cruiserweight title defense, against Southern Area Champ Tony ‘The Conqueror’ Conquest, at York Hall in London on Friday 13th January 2012.

Following a full on sparring session with Super Featherweight George Jupp, who is also on the card on the 13th, former World under-nineteen #1 Maguire said, “Najah had the flu so obviously couldn’t fight me then, so we’ll fight on January 13th instead.

He’ll be fitter, he’ll be training hard to try and beat me, which he wont because I’m going all the way to the top.

I’ve started training hard so I’m ready for the new date. I’ve been sparring George Jupp, I really rate him, he’s really good. He’s two or three weights above me and I can stand and trade with him, which is good

Also been sparring with Martin (Power), he’s all right, you know what I mean, he’s strong on the inside but too easy to pick off.

I’m 22, I’ve always cheated myself in life yet still won my fights, now I’m doing everything right so I come back better and better.

It’s hard being away from my family over Christmas but I just have to knuckle down and do all the stuff that I hadn’t done before and it’ll pay off so it’s worth it. I’m taking this return serious, no messing I’m going all out to beat Najah on the 13th.”

Michael Maguire versus Najah Ali features on the undercard of Leon ‘Solid’ Williams British Cruiserweight title defense against Tony ‘Conqueror’ Conquest which headlines Francis and George Warren’s Queensberry Promotions first event of the New Year, which takes place at York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, on Friday 13th January 2012 and broadcast live on BoxNation (Sky platform Channel 456 & Virgin 546)

Tickets, Standard Seated £40 and Ringside SOLD OUT for Williams vs. Conquest are available now on-line at www.tkoboxoffice.com. Tickets are also available direct from the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym, Gillian House, Stephenson Street, Canning Town, London E16 4SA.

PHOTOS: Michael Maguire ready for New Year action

PHOTO CREDIT

Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

JustListen2This Publicity & Promotion

London, UK, Gzira, Malta & Philadelphia, USA

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark It

Hide Sites