Andre Rozier, trainer of newly-crowned WBO Interim World Middleweight Champion Avtandil Khurtsidze, believes his man will ‘beat down’ undefeated Hatfield star Billy Joe Saunders when the pair face-off for the full WBO crown.
Khurtsidze – a short, stocky beast of a boxer – silenced the Leicester Arena crowd on Saturday by heavily flooring Birmingham’s Tommy Langford with a brutal left hand early in the fifth round to secure the vacant Interim strap.
Saunders and Khurtsidze had to be separated at a heated post fight press conference in Leicester and it looks like the war of words will continue until they settle their differences in the ring.
Speaking to Boxing Scene’s Steve Kim, Rozier said: “We’re going to get ready and we’ll probably put together a camp at SNAC over in San Fran and do what we have to do to make sure he’s prepared to keep pressure on Billy Joe, keep him off-balance and beat him down, literally.”
A confident Saunders replied to Rozier’s prediction via his Twitter account this morning, stating: “…until he plays the game of ‘Eat the Jab’ and I break his heart and stop him!”
Saunders: “All Khurtsidze Is To Me Is A Puffed Up Danny De Vito”
Birmingham’s Tommy Langford was beaten by Avtandil Khurtsidze with a fifth-round stoppage as the Brooklyn-based Georgian claimed the Interim WBO Middleweight belt to set up an intriguing bout against undefeated WBO World Champion Billy Joe Saunders.
Khurtsidze came out swinging, putting Langford under relentless pressure from the off. He caught Langford a couple of times with his vicious left hand and barely took a step back during the opening rounds.
British Champion Langford was drawn in to a slugfest at times, unable to keep the 5′ 4″ ‘mini Mike Tyson’ at bay. It was a huge left hand from Khurtsidze that finished the fight, Langford dropped his hands and was unable to avoid the shot.
Saunders was unimpressed with Khurtsidze’s win, stating: “No disrespect to him but I will show you what he is when I fight him. All he is to me is a puffed up Danny De Vito coming forward throwing punches.
“He will never beat me ever and I will make him look stupid. Tommy should have got on his feet and made him miss and made him pay.”
Full Results From The Leicester Arena
A slugfest; a Fight of the Year contender; and huge knockouts – bringing boxing back to Leicester delivered! Catch up with the results from the Leicester Arena below.
Fight # 1
6 X 3 Minute Rounds Super-Middleweight Contest
CHRIS BLANEY WPTS6 (58-56) V CHRISTIAN HOSKIN GOMEZ
Ricky Hatton’s Super-Middleweight charge Chris Blaney opened the evening’s action with a hard-fought points win over Plymouth’s Christian Hoskin Gomez. The ‘Ginja Ninja’ from Navan, Ireland was made to work for his win, with Gomez pushing him throughout.
Fight # 2
6 X 3 Minute Rounds Lightweight Contest
TOM STALKER WPTS6 (60-55) V CHRIS ADAWAY
Former WBO European Lightweight Champion Tom Stalker made a winning return against Chris Adaway. Stalker, 32, put the disappointment of losing his European title to Craig Evans behind him with a comfortable 60-55 decision over Plymouth’s Adaway.
Fight # 3
6 X 3 Minute Rounds International Super-Bantamweight Contest
RAZA HAMZA WPTS6 (59-55) V RAFAEL CASTILLO
Birmingham’s Raza Hamza improved his unbeaten record to 8-0-1 with a gutsy win over tough South American journeyman Rafael Castillo. Hamza, 24, put Castillo down in the first round but was unable to force the stoppage, despite landing some impressive combos.
Fight # 4
6 X 3 Minute Rounds Super-Welterweight Contest
SAM MAXWELL WTKO6 (0:55) V GEORGIE WRIGHT
Commonwealth Bronze Medallist Sam Maxwell moved to 2-0 with his first professional TKO win over Loughton’s Georgie Wright. Maxwell, trained by legendary Liverpool coach George Vaughan, produced an eye-catching performance, making Wright miss throughout. The stoppage came 55 seconds into the fifth round.
Fight # 5
4 X 3 Minute Rounds Welterweight Contest
EKOW ESSUMAN WTKO3 (0:26) V CASEY BLAIR
Nottingham Welterweight talent Ekow Essuman moved to 3-0 with an explosive stoppage win over Northern Ireland’s Casey Blair. Essuman, trained by Barrington Brown, was too strong for Blair, forcing the stoppage 26 seconds into the third.
Fight # 6 – 18:30 hrs
THE INTERIM WBO WORLD BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
12 X 3 Minute Rounds
ZOLANI TETE WUD12 (119-108, 119-108, 120-107) V ARTHUR VILLANUEVA
Slick South African Zolani Tete picked up the Vacant Interim WBO World Bantamweight crown after outclassing Arthur Villanueva at the Leicester Arena, live on BoxNation.
The fight, originally scheduled to be an elimination bout to determine the mandatory challenger for the WBO Bantamweight Title, was elevated to an Interim Title status after Marlon Tapales was stripped of the Championship for missing weight prior to his defence against Shohei Omori in Japan.
Tete (25-3, 20 KO’s) was well on top for the majority of the fight as Villanueva struggled to deal with his impressive timing and speed. ‘Last Born’, a former IBF Super-Flyweight Champion, landed several punishing shots on the Philippine and dropped him in the eleventh round.
Fight # 7
THE ENGLISH SUPER-MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
10 X 3 Minute Rounds
JAHMAINE SMYLE WSD12 (97-95, 96-95, 98-93) V DARRYLL WILLIAMS
‘Ferocious’ Darryll Williams and Jahmaine ‘Smasher’ Smyle fought a tremendous battle for the English Super-Middleweight title, with many describing the all-out war as an early contender for Fight of the Year.
Williams travelled to Leicester to take Smyle on in his own back yard and dragged him into a thrilling confrontation, seizing the belt on a split decision.
There was no love lost in the build up to their eagerly-anticipated clash, and the fight certainly didn’t fail to deliver. South London’s Williams moves to 15-0 with a career best win.
Fight # 8
6 X 3 Minute Rounds Light-Heavyweight Contest
ANTHONY YARDE WTKO1 (2:17) V DARREN SNOW
Ilford’s Light-Heavyweight ‘Beast’ Anthony Yarde finished Sheffield’s Darren Snow with a sickening body shot in the opening round.
Yarde unloaded a punishing combination and a brutal right hand body shot to drop Snow heavily to the canvas. It was the sixth first-round knockout win of his 10-0. 9 KO’s career.
Next up for Yarde is a shot at the Southern Arena title against Chris Hobbs at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday 20th May.
Fight # 9
4 X 3 Minute Rounds Heavyweight Contest
DANIEL DUBOIS WTKO2 (0:48) V BLAISE MENDOUO
Dynamite Daniel Dubois blasted out former Olympian and Commonwealth Games Bronze Medallist Blaise Mendouo (3-2) in the second round of his second professional fight.
Early in the second round a huge right cross and heavy left hook dropped Mendouo in the ropes to earn 19-year-old Dubois another impressive knockout win.
Fight # 10
THE BRITISH SUPER-LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
12 X 3 Minute Rounds
TYRONE NURSE V JOE HUGHES D12 (116-113, 113-115, 115-115)
Huddersfields Tyrone Nurse retained his British Super-Lightweight title after tough Malmesbury man Joe Hughes held him to a majority draw.
Hughes dug deep and took the fight to his much-fancied opponent in the early rounds. With Nurse boasting a superior reach, Hughes had to box clever on the inside and did well to wrap up his opponent, who had been out of action since September last year,
The contest continued to ebb and flow between the two contrasting styles in the closing rounds. After the fight, both fighters expressed a desire to settle the draw with a rematch.
Fight # 11
THE VACANT MIDLANDS AREA SUPER-FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
10 X 3 Minute Rounds
LYON WOODSTOCK WTKO3 (2:45) V PAUL HOLT
Exciting Leicester Super-Featherweight talent Lyon Woodstock forced an impressive third round TKO over Birmingham’s Paul Holt to pick up the Vacant Midlands Area strap – his first professional Title.
Holt came out all guns blazing and appeared to have Woodstock in trouble during the first round, attempting to bully him into submission.
Woodstock steamed into Holt in the third, forcing Holt to cover up and protect himself from a punishing barrage of well-timed combos. The Leicester man got his stoppage win 2:45 into the third round, finishing the fight with a big left hand followed by a brutal right before the referee jumped in.
Fight # 12
THE WBO INTERIM WORLD MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
12 X 3 Minute Rounds
TOMMY LANGFORD V AVTANDIL KHURTSIDZE WTKO5 (0:27)
Birmingham’s Tommy Langford was beaten by Avtandil Khurtsidze with a fifth-round stoppage as the Brooklyn-based Georgian set up a bout against WBO World Champion Billy Joe Saunders.
Khurtsidze came out swinging, putting Langford under relentless pressure from the off. He caught Langford a couple of times with his vicious left hand and barely took a step back during the opening rounds.
British Champion Langford was drawn in to a slugfest at times, unable to keep the 5′ 4″ ‘mini Mike Tyson’ at bay. It was a huge left hand from Khurtsidze that finished the fight, Langford dropped his hands and was unable to avoid the shot.
The stoppage came 27 seconds into the fifth round.
Unbeaten WBO boss Saunders was unimpressed with Khurtsidze’s win, stating: “No disrespect to him but I will show you what he is when I fight him. All he is to me is a puffed up Danny De Vito coming forward throwing punches.
“He will never beat me ever and I will make him look stupid. Tommy should have got on his feet and made him miss and made him pay.”
Fight # 13
8 X 3 Minute Rounds International Middleweight Contest
ALEX HUGHES WTKO1 V DANIEL URBANSKI
Maerdy Middleweight Alex Hughes took his unbeaten record into double figures with an impressive first round demolition of Poland’s Daniel Urbanski.
Fight # 14
4 X 3 Minute Rounds Super-Welterweight Contest
C.J CHALLENGER WTKO1 V DANNY LITTLE
In the final fight of the evening, Leicester Super-Welterweight CJ Challenger moved to 3-0 with a first-round TKO of Driffield’s Danny Little.