Stoke’s boxing enigma, Gary Reid, will travel to Nottingham on 7th March to enter the ring against Derby’s Scott Haywood in a light-welterweight clash. Reid and Haywood will appear on the same bill as Jason Booth who defends his Commonwealth bantamweight title and Rendall Munroe as he attempts to secure the European super-bantamweight title. Sky Sports will televise the Frank Maloney promoted event..
Reid, who posses a world class punch, is coming off the back of two successive defeats although he impressed in both. In June last year he took Commonwealth light-welterweight champion Ajose Olusegun the distance and in doing so proved both his fitness and the obduracy of his chin. In October Gary produced a belligerent performance against the classy John Fewkes but failed to persuade the referee that his aggression warranted the victory and consequently missed out by a narrow points margin. Reid’s record which now reads W 13 (KO 8) L 18 D 1 belies his undoubted talent and he remains a threat in both the light-welter and lightweight divisions.
The younger Haywood has won 16 of his 18 pro starts to date, his two reversals coming against the aforementioned Fewkes and Tony Montana, both on points. At first glance Haywood would appear to be the favourite but a closer examination of his record reveals that he has never previously faced an opponent with Reid’s firepower nor has he faced the same quality of opposition that Reid has.
“I’m really looking forward to this one,” said Reid (suffering from flu). “It’s time I got back to winning ways and I think Haywood presents me with a perfect opportunity. I thought I’d done enough to beat Fewkes and if I hadn’t taken the fight to him there wouldn’t have been a contest at all; I was bitterly disappointed by that decision.”
“I’ve seen Scott Haywood a few times and he is tall and rangy which will obviously cause me a few problems but it’s nothing new to me and I will be looking to stop him.”
“I won’t be taking anything for granted though and I will train for this as if it were a title fight. I hope to contest another major title before I retire and I am still serious about my career.”
Reid’s manager, Mick Carney added: “I still have a lot of faith in Gary and both myself and Frank Maloney are confident that he can still produce exciting performances. It’s frustrating that he hasn’t fulfilled his potential yet but he’s still very fit and very dedicated and I would like to see him get another shot at a major title soon.”
Tickets for the show at Nottingham’s Harvey Haddon Leisure Centre are available from www.frankmaloney.com