Kal Yafai interview

By Frank Walsh: We caught up with British prospect Kal Yafai ahead of his October 26th return.

BR : Before a lightening start to a pro career, you carved out a highly successful amateur career. European Silver in 2005. BBC 2005 Midlands Junior sportsman of the year, after becoming England’s first U17 World Champion, having won the World Cadet title. British ABA Champion, 2007 European / 2008 European Union Silver medalist, and you competed at the 2008 Olympic Games. What do you view as your greatest moment, as an amateur?

KY : Winning the World Cadets & qualifying for Beijing Olympics when I just was 18 years old.

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Ronald Gavril talks boxing, ‘TMT’ and Floyd Mayweather

@boxingroundup –  Firstly Ronald let me congratulate you on Saturday night’s victory. Tell me how did it feel to have the first 8 round bout of your career?

Thank you! It felt great, I needed to see how I perform in a lengthy, physical fight with a more experienced opponent.

Fighting Shujaa El Amin was a bit of a step up in the calibre of your opposition considering he has shared the ring with Periban and Stevenson amongst others. Was this a learning fight for you and what experience can you take away from this victory?

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Steve Cunningham interview

stevecunningham_heavyweightFollowing service in the US Navy, where the moniker, ‘USS’ comes from, and a successful amateur career, in which he won the 178lb National Golden Gloves, Steve Cunningham embarked on a professional career in 2000. Cunningham headed into the Krzysztof Wlodarczyk IBF Cruiserweight title bout on a 19 fight win streak. Wkodarczyk recieved a disputed split decision. In the rematch, Cunningham settled the score, winning the IBF Cruiserweight title.

Later that year Cunningham stopped Marco Huck in Germany. Currently, Cunningham competes in the Heavyweight division. Although Cunningham lost his last outing to British Heavyweight hope Tyson Fury, a bout in which Cunningham dropped the much larger Fury in the second round, Peter Fury was impressed enough to invite Cunningham into the Fury camp, to spar Tyson in preparation for David Haye.

This week Boxingroundup caught up with Steve Cunningham, to find out how camp has gone.

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Burns vs. Beltran: Fight Day Predictions

beltran223Scotland’s two-weight world champion Ricky Burns (36-2) returns to the ring tonight to face the tough Mexican native Raymundo Beltran (28-6). Coatbridge fighter Burns will be making the third defence of his WBO lightweight title in front of an army of hometown fight fans at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, Glasgow.

Ricky will be eager to put on an impressive display after admitting he was far from his usual best in his win against the awkward Jose Gonzalez last time out.

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Mayweather v Canelo: Boxing Fan Predictions

canelo22On September 14th Floyd Mayweather and Saul Alvarez will bring an unprecedented fight tally of 86-0 to the ring. With Floyd an eight-time world champion and Canelo the current unified light middleweight belt holder, it promises to be an epic encounter between two undefeated champions.

We asked our followers if Mayweather v Canelo would be a closely contested bout and for their predictions on how the most eagerly anticipated fight of 2013 might play out.

Presented below is a collection of responses we received from professional fighters, boxing journalists and fans of the sweet science.

Money will do what (he wants), when he wants and might even hurt Canelo if his hands stick up ok. The bookmakers don’t often get it wrong!

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Ronald Gavril: #TheOne to Watch

Q.1 Ronald, you made short work of Dave Courchaine at the StubHub Center on Saturday night. How happy were you with the performance?

I am very happy of course, I had very good training for it and the result is a great
satisfaction.

Q.2 Were you hoping the fight would last a few more rounds or is getting the early
KO something you are always happy to take?

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An Interview with Caleb Truax

Q.1 Caleb, you discovered your talent for boxing quite late on. Tell us a little about your introduction to the sport.

Yes, I didn’t begin boxing until I was 19. I was always a big boxing fan, but never knew it was accessible in MN. Ultimately, I saw an ad in the local City Pages for a tough guy tournament, decided to enter with a friend, and that’s how I was introduced to competing in the sport.

Q.2 Growing up in Minnesota you were heavily involved in team sports. How did it feel to step into the individual environment of a boxing ring for the first time?

As a kid, I played every sport there was to play, but outside of golf, I never played individual sports. It was definitely a change not to have any teammates to rely on, but I welcomed it. I enjoy having everything start and stop with me in the ring. I think not having any safety valves to the left or right, as is the case on a team, brings out the best of me.

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Fight Day Questions with Ronald Gavril

Super middleweight prospect Ronald Gavril (5-0) takes on Dave Courchaine in the StubHub Center, Carson, California tonight. ‘The Thrill’ has made a perfect start to his promising career and will be looking to add another victory to his resume in a few hours time.

The Romanian native has turned his career around since relocating to Las Vegas and with the experience of trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad in his corner Ronald has made a smooth transition into professional prize-fighting.

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American Olympians: Life after London

Twitter: @boxingroundup – Historically the U.S has always featured heavily on the medal podium in men’s Olympic boxing. The American athletes have provided some of the most memorable performances in Olympic rings down through the years.

The United States enjoyed immense success between the ropes from as far back as Helsinki 1952 until as recently as Seoul 1988. However there has been a noticeable decrease in number of times The Star-Spangled Banner has echoed across boxing medal podiums since the Korean Games.

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Ready to Thrill the World An Interview with Ronald Gavril

If America is the land of opportunity, Ronald Gavril has seized his big chance with both hands. Born in Bacau Romania ‘The Thrill’ is now an exciting young prospect fighting out of Las Vegas. Ronald is the epitome of hard work, determination and hope. Since turning professional in 2011 the 27 year old talent has swept aside his first five opponents with his action packed aggressive style.

However the future of the promising super middleweight was once in doubt until his management made the brave decision to relocate to Las Vegas. Ronald’s profile immediately inflated as he put his impressive fighting ability on display in the gyms of Sin City.

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