You’ll hear boxing fans lament, “They don’t make fighters they way the used to,” and few will argue with that point, but every now and then, there are rare exceptions. British light middleweight champion Jamie Moore is one such example, a hard as nails pressure fighter as tough as they come but also a southpaw who can stand back and take an opponent to school with his pugilistic skills..
The man from Salford, Manchester is a major player among the fight fraternity in the UK and a true local hero in and around the north of England. Moore didn’t achieve that status by getting easy fights or soft title opportunities, but rather had to claw his way back from bitter disappointment and career setbacks.
Now Moore is ranked highly by the WBC and is one bout away from contending for the European title, currently held by undefeated slugger Zaurbek Baysangurov.
But before he can get his crack at the Russian’s continental crown, Moore, 27-3 (18), must once again turn back the aspirations of Britain’s most difficult boxer, Andrew Facey of Sheffield, whom the British champion meets this Friday at Robin Park Centre in Wigan.
Facey, 19-4-1 (6), was gunned down by Moore in the seventh round when they last met in the ring in November, 2004 but the 35 year old has shown improvement since then, pushing Commonwealth king Bradley Pryce the 12 round distance before spoiling the undefeated record of Moore’s promotional stablemate Gary Woolcombe to win the English title this past January.
For his part, Moore is fully aware that beating Facey again is the key to meeting his future goals and isn’t about to let his focus slip.
“A lot of people think that I’ll underestimate Facey, but the opposite is true,” said Moore.
“I know how difficult a fighter he is; I had him on the floor five times in our first fight and he kept getting up. He’s a really awkward customer but I have the added incentive of the European title fight if I beat Facey so no question, I have to win this fight.”
Moore is coming off his highest profile win to date, a dominating points victory over world class operator Sebastian Andres Lujan of Argentina this past April and the 28 year old Englishman’s promoter, Frank Maloney, has confidence that Moore is primed for bigger things.
“Jamie should get past Facey but it won’t be an easy fight,” said Maloney. “He’s the mandatory challenger for the European title and that’s a fight I strongly believe Jamie will win after the Facey contest.
“Should that happen, Jamie will then be ranked very highly by the WBC and we’re then looking at a world title shot. Providing all goes well this weekend in Wigan, we should be making an announcement next week about the European title as I’ve been negotiating with the champion’s manager.”
With so much on the line, Moore realizes that looking past the opponent in front of him is possibly the biggest danger of all.
“I don’t know that much about the European champion right now because I’m not thinking about that fight,” he said. “If I don’t take care of Facey, there will be no European title fight.
“I have no doubt in my mind that I can beat both Facey this weekend and Baysangurov, when the time comes. I’ve been waiting so long for a European title fight and I’m not going to let these opportunities slip by.
Frank Maloney Promotions presents ‘National Service’, featuring Jamie Moore fighting challenger Andrew Facey for the Light Middleweight Championship of Britain at Wigan’s Robin Park Arena on Friday, October 26. Sky TV will televise live.
Tickets are priced at £65 and £35 and are available by logging onto www.frankmaloney.com or by calling the Box Office at 0871 226 1508. For any further press information please call 0208 267 7647.