British Boxing

British Boxing News

Exclusive interview with Peter Fury

Exclusive interview with Peter Fury by Dan Emicus

When Tyson first came to you, his conditioning was sub-par and he was more a good fighter, as opposed to a good boxer. 18 months later and his conditioning has improved dramatically, he’s professional in his approach to fights, has solid boxing fundamentals, and has progressed leaps and bounds technically. How happy are you with his progress and do you expect a similar rate of progress between now and in another 18 months?

I’m delighted with his development and have put in endless hours every day over the last 12 months in particular. Every single area is painstakingly gone through. He is constantly improving technically, as well as in terms of conditioning, and come April we will see another level in Tyson again.

How did you rate Tyson’s performance last time out against Kevin Johnson? On the Channel 5 coverage, you were heard advising Tyson to stick to the gameplan and not allow the crowd to influence his boxing, so were you concerned at that point that Tyson might lose focus and try too hard to ‘entertain’ the crowd with a grandstand finish?

Fury hoping Wladimir will fight him on April 6th

fury34By Michael Collins: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko needs an opponent for his April 6th fight date in Germany, and thus far there isn’t anyone that his management team has picked out for him. Odlanier Solis was reportedly ruled out for Wladimir, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.

Unbeaten British heavyweight #4 WBC Tyson Fury (20-0, 14 KO’s) is hoping he’ll get the fight with the 6’6” Ukrainian. In fact, Fury seems almost desperate to get the fight because WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko likely won’t be fighting Fury anytime soon if ever.

Fury said on his twitter page “Klitschko, if you fight Solis you’re a p***y! Fight me!. Solis is a fat s**t! He got KO’d by Vitali in 2.”

David Price Vs Tyson Fury – Potential British Domestic Classic in 2013?

fury5423Jack Scales – 2012 proved to be a fruitful year for British boxing, in both the paid and unpaid ranks. The Olympic games showcased a plethora of young talent, whilst the professional game blessed us with emphatic performances from the likes of Carl Froch, Ricky Burns, Kell Brook, Toney Bellew and Carl Frampton. In spite of this success, 2012 still suffered its fair share of disappointment. Price and Fury’s failure to fight for the British title -as a result of Fury’s decision to vacate – was one of them, but hopefully this can be rectified in 2013.

With the exception of David Haye, these two behemoths are without question the best pair of Heavyweights that Britain has to offer. Additionally, because of their size and ever advancing skill-sets, they have been touted by some as potential conquerors of the Klitschkos. Are they presently capable of this? Most respected fight analysts would give you a resounding no. However, what these two fighters are capable of is offering the publican enthralling and potentially brutal contest.

Khan vs. Senchenko possible for April 20th in Manchester, UK

senchenko45By Michael Collins: Amir Khan is reportedly in negotiations with former WBA World welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko for a fight that is possible for April 20th at the Manchester Arena. To make the fight happen, Khan might have to move up to 147, but it’s also possible that Senchenko will come down to 140 for the right price.
It’ll be a big payday for Senchenko because he’s asking for a considerable amount to take the fight.

In picking Senchenko, Khan would be looking to capitalize on the interest that Manchester fans might have in seeing Senchenko beaten after he destroyed their hero Ricky Hatton by a 9th round TKO last November in Hatton’s disastrous comeback attempt. Of course, it wouldn’t be Hatton that is avenging the loss, but for some boxing fans in Manchester it might make them happy to see a fellow Brit to beat Senchenko.

If Khan does move up in weight it’ll only be for just this one because he still feels he’s got unfinished business at 140 against the likes Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson. Besides that, there are a lot of big punchers at welterweight and I really don’t know if Khan’s chin could handle getting hit hard over and over again by the likes of Victor Ortiz, Marcos Maidana, Kell Brook, and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Froch vs. Kessler 2 on May 25th at the O2 Arena in London, England

kessler343434By Michael Collins: Well, it looks like Eddie Hearn from Matchroom Sport has worked his magic and got a badly desired rematch for his fighter IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) against WBA 168 pound champion Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO’s) at the O2 Arena (Millenium Dome), Greenwich, London, United Kingdom.

The only thing that awaits now is the approval from the IBF for Froch to bypass his mandatory defense against Adonis Stevenson, but it looks like the IBF will grant Hearn and Froch permission to maneuver around that dangerous fight.

Froch believes that he should have won their previous fight back in April 2010 in Denmark.

Froch ended up losing by a 12 round unanimous decision largely because Kessler seemed to get the better of him during virtually every exchange they had. Kessler’s superior hand speed and better combinations enabled him to land the cleaner shots against the long-armed Froch. I don’t think much will change other than the fight now taking place in the UK, and perhaps Froch getting the benefit of the doubt if the rounds are close. We might see a controversial decision in this fight, and frankly I’d be surprised if we didn’t.

Khan considering Senchenko, Ortiz and Lopez for April fight; will be choosing this week

khan4343By Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan says he’ll be making an announcement about his next opponent for April this week. He’s meeting with Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer in the UK to pick from one of the following fighters: Victor Ortiz, Josesito Lopez and Vyachaeslav Senchenko.

Khan said to Sky Sports “There are several opponents we’re looking at. A lot of people are talking about Josesito Lopez, Victor Ortiz, Senchenko, the guy that beat Ricky Hatton. There are few names that we have been put there. I’m one of those fighters that will fight anyone. I never said no to an opponent and I never will. Whoever they find for me, we’ll find out in the next couple of days. I have to meet with Richard Schaefer and we’re going to talk about an opponent. So the next couple of days we’re going to announce who I’ll be fighting.”

I don’t care to see Khan fight Josesito Lopez. I’m not that interested in seeing Khan fight a guy that was just destroyed by WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. I don’t care that Lopez beat Victor Ortiz, I still don’t like the idea of Khan fighting someone that was beaten as badly as Lopez was. I’d prefer to see Lopez rebuild his career before fighting someone because it’s just off putting to see Khan get fed a guy coming off of a knockout loss.

Rees: I’m going to beat Broner; he can’t knock me out

rees45By Michael Collins: Former WBA light welterweight champion Gavin Rees (37-1, 18 KO’s) doesn’t see himself as an incredible underdog in his February 16th fight against WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s). Rees thinks he’ll beat him and then use the win to get a big unification bout against WBO champion Ricky Burns in 2013.

Rees said to livefight.com “I will win…this will put me on the map everywhere…It will open doors for a unification fight for me against Ricky Burns.”

You almost feel sorry for Rees because he’s going to be crushed in this fight. Here he is already looking at fights beyond the Broner fight as if the win is in the bag. It’s going to be tough on Rees to taste defeat and find out that he just doesn’t measure up.

Rees has been stopped once in his career in his loss to Andriy Kotelnik in 2008, but I think he’s going to be stopped again in this fight against Broner.