News: Anthony Farnell; Carl Froch; Macklin-Sosa Undercard

Top Manchester trainer Anthony Farnell will put his boxers that are featuring on the huge Newcastle show on December 5 through a power-packed media work-out this Monday. Former two-time WBU World Middleweight Champion, know as the “The Warrior” during his career, now runs a highly successful gym and trains some of the best young talent in Britain today, including Frankie Gavin, Tony Bellew and new pro Ronnie Heffron, plus Stephen Bell who challenges for the Commonwealth Featherweight title..

Farnell has a busy night at the Metro Radio Arena, which is headlined with Amir Khan’s world title defence against Dmitriy Salita, when his stars will be all out in action taking the next steps in their careers. Working out for the media on Monday will be:

FRANKIE GAVIN: Red-hot welterweight prospect and Britain’s first ever World Amateur Champion. Currently undefeated in five fights.

STEPHEN BELL: Model, actor, TV presenter and former England ABA captain. He challenges Commonwealth Featherweight Champion John Simpson for his title.

TONY “BOMBER” BELLEW: Liverpool’s Heavy-handed triple ABA Heavyweight champion and unbeaten in 11 fights with eight KO’s.

RONNIE HEFFRON: Unbelievable amateur talent from Oldham who won this years ABA Light-Welterweight title.

Amir Khan v Dmitriy Salita is live on Sky Box Office and in high definition on Sky Box Office HD on Saturday 5 December. To order the fight call: 08442 410 888 Tickets are priced at £30, £40, £50, £85, £125, £200 and £300, and are available from:

Metro Radio Arena
0844 248 5013 (dedicated line)
www.metroradioarena.co.uk

Froch gets in Festive Spirit

Carl Froch is used to turning people’s lights out in the ring but last night he was in Nottingham’s Old Market Square to turn the Christmas lights on in the city.

The WBC World Super Middleweight Champion was joined by former England manager and current Notts County’s director of football, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Lord Mayor Jeannie Packer as they lit up the city for the festive period.

Froch weighed in for his opening Super Six World Boxing Classic clash with Andre Dirrell in front of a huge crowd at the Old Market Square last month before handing the American his first ever defeat at the Trent FM Arena.

Garcia and Conlan add spice to Macklin undercard

Cuban Super Middleweight sensation Luis Garcia and new Belfast pro Jamie Conlan are the latest additions to the undercard for the Sierra Fight Night at the National Stadium, Dublin on Saturday, December 5th. The card is headlined by European Middleweight Champ, Matthew Macklin as he takes on Uruguayan Champ Rafa Sosa Pintos in a non title contest with the event live on RTÉ TWO. Former World Junior amateur champion Garcia will be looking to extend his perfect professional record to 6 straight wins while flyweight Conlan will be looking to build upon an impressive debut win earlier this month.

Garcia is one of a trio of World Junior amateur champions from Cuba who are now based in Cork and Gary Hyde who manages all three believes that Garcia is a future World Champion. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Luis can go all the way,” said Hyde. “He’s sparred some of the top pro’s in the U.K. including a stint as the chief sparring partner for WBC Champ Carl Froch and I saw enough in those sessions to know he can go all the way.”

The 21-year-old Garcia who goes by the name of “El León” has already racked up 5 straight wins in the pro ranks with 4 of those coming via KO. “Everyone that sees him knows they are looking at a special talent,” said Hyde. “The problem at this stage is finding opponents for him because so far he’s blowing away the kind of guys who would be expected to give a young pro the rounds he needs to develop in the pros.”

Another man looking to continue his professional development on the December 5th card is Belfast flyweight Jamie Conlan. The John Breen trained fighter made a successful pro debut at the Odyssey Arena in his hometown earlier this month and Breen believes that he’s a star for the future.

“Jamie’s really impressed me so far,” said the veteran trainer. “His attitude is very good and he’s adapted to the pro ranks very quickly. In the lighter weights you can fast track guys through the pro ranks as there isn’t the same number of boxers in those weights so I think if he keeps progressing and keeps improving in the gym there’s no reason why he can’t be knocking on the door for a title in 18 months.”

A pair of Irish title fights at Super Bantamweight (Paul Hyland V Eugene Heagney) and Super Middleweight (Anthony Fitzgerald V Lee Murtagh) also feature on the December 5th card alongside contests featuring unbeaten Dundalk lightweight Michael Kelly and exciting Dublin light welterweight Gavin “The Pimpernel” Prunty.

Tickets for the Sierra Fight Night priced from €40 are available from Ticketmaster (phone 0818 719 300 or visit ticketmaster.ie) and all usual outlets.