British Boxing News
An offer was made to Tyson Fury guaranteeing him a £650,000 purse to challenge David Price for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles.
Tyson’s promoter Mick Hennessy turned down the offer, describing it as a “joke” and added that David would have to “step up to the plate on our terms”.
By Phenyo Molefe: Given Tyson Fury’s previous bouts, recent outbursts and the clear articulation of his goals; one would not be at fault to believe that we were about to witness Tyson unleash punishment on an ‘ill-prepared’ but proven Kevin Johnson. Tyson had to make a statement.
In the opening round, Fury jumped on Johnson with some jabs to the body not giving him sufficient time to find his footing. It looked like we were about to see a new and revised Fury as he presented movement and a variation of punches from all angles. He moved with improved fluidity, comfortably establishing his range and following through with some meaningful combinations.
The second round, begun with the near feverish pace with which Fury had ended the last round. Fuming with a blizzard, setting the jab on a stinger as he pelted Johnson’s body with little restraint. Johnson did have a little success when he pinned Tyson in the corner for a moment or two; however Fury replied with a pivot setting pressure back on Johnson with some telling hooks. He was definitely boxing well and grew in confidence, taking firm control of the bout.
By James Slater: A penny for the thoughts of David Price!
Tonight in Belfast, Tyson Fury retained his unbeaten record in winning a wide yet dull points win over a safety-minded Kevin Johnson. Winning by scores of 119-110, 119-108, 119-108, 24-year-old Fury advanced to 20-0(14) and also moved a step closer to a shot at the WBC heavyweight crown currently held by Vitali Klitschko.
33-year-old Johnson, who promised so much beforehand but failed miserably in the delivery department, is now 28-3-1(13).
There was little action to speak of and tonight’s fight had no standout round. Fury boxed well at times, remaining focused and refusing to go wild at any point. Occasionally switching to southpaw, Fury jabbed well when he used his best weapon. Johnson, appearing to have no real ambition other than to hear the final bell, did get home with the odd jab of his own, as well as the even less frequent right hand.
Soon growing tired of the lack of action (and to be fair, Fury has never been in a stinker before tonight, and the lack of action has to be put firmly on Johnson’s wide shoulders), the crowd began booing in the middle rounds and by the 8th the boos were deafening.
by Phil Marshall: No doubt where Flintoff the cricketer would be – in the pub for some time. But exactly what he does next will tell us a lot. If it’s the pub he’s in trouble with his boxing. He’s no Ricky Hatton who in his prime could handle binge drinking and boxing.
If instead this is a new Freddie with a different mindset, and everything about his training says it is, let’s just go with him for the ride.
First, let’s get the negatives out of the way. He was like a booth fighter at the fair many years ago. Except he was the punter up from the audience who fancied his chance. Swinging away while the pro let him have a go. The right hand that first impressed McGuigan needs work. Then more work, Roundhouse, sloppy, nowhere near dangerous enough. But he got in a couple of left jabs that raised hopes especially when he followed up with the right.
By Michael Collins: Undefeated heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KO’s) has already counted tonight’s fight against American Kevin Johnson (28-2-1, 13 KO’s) as a victory in the win column and he’s looking past Johnson towards a much wanted fight against either Vitali Klitschko or his brother Wladimir Klitschko. It remains to be seen whether Fury can get past Johnson, but if he does he’ll likely get one of the Klitschkos in the ring because they’re interested in fighting him.
By Michael Collins: David Price (15-0, 13 KO’s) successfully defended his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles tonight with a nice 2nd round TKO victory over Mat Skelton (28-7, 23 KO’s) at the Aintree Equestrian Centre, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. Price took his time with the 45-year-old Skelton, but then turned up the heat on the aging fighter in 2nd round after hitting him with a nice body shot that sent Skelton retreating to the ropes.
Price then unleashed an 8-punch flurry that ended with two solid lefts to the body that put Skelton down on his hands and knees on the canvas. Skelton’s corner threw in the towel before the knockdown but the referee failed to see it.
Skelton landed several decent right hands in the opening round after rushing Price in the opening seconds of the round. However, Skelton didn’t have the power or the handspeed to worry the 6’8″ Price, and by the end of the round Skelton was already starting to look tired.
By Michael Collins: Making his debut tonight was 6’4″ heavyweight prospect Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff (1-0) who defeated American Richard Dawson (2-1, 1 KO’s) by a sloppy 4 round points decision on Friday night at the Manchester Arena, in Manchester, United Kingdom. Referee Richard James Davies scored the fight 39-38 for Flintoff in a close fight. Flintoff, a former English cricketer, didn’t show much in the way of power and he looked awful for the most part. I’m being kind. He looked worse than awful. Flintoff’s form looked wild amateurish to say the least. He also looked a little flabby despite being tall and slender.
In the 2nd round, Flintoff overextended himself after missing a shot and was knocked to the canvas by a straight left hand from Dawson. Instead of looking to finish off Flintoff after he got back to his feet, Dawson failed to throw any punches for the remainder of the round. It was very strange because all Dawson had to do was hit Flintoff one or two more times and he would have been down in out, but he did zero.
In round three and four, a tired Flintoff continued to rush Dawson while throwing wild punches in every direction seemingly without any sense. Many of the shots missed by a mile and Dawson just looked he wanted to survive. He probably could have knocked Flintoff out with one punch if he had the wherewithal to let his hands go, but he mostly just keep stepping back looking to avoid Flintoff’s wild shots.
In his younger days Freddie was known to his team mates as the Fat Slogger. He was overweight and didn’t really care. Neither did his team managers because Freddie could hit a ball like no other player. Spectators cheered when he walked out to bat. They knew the ball would be visiting all parts of the ground – and the stands – very soon.
But Freddie had to retire in his early thirties with knee and ankle problems. He was left hunting for a fresh physical and mental challenge.
Always a big boxing fan, he was chatting one day to former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan. Mostly out of curiosity, he asked if he could have a session on the pads with McGuigan, just to see what it felt like.