Bad luck for Manuel Charr. The WBA #13 ranked heavyweight fighter suffered an injury nearly to the Universum Gym in snowy Hamburg, where the streets had been full of snow and ice during the last weeks. He injured his left knee and has a cruciate ligament rupture and a broken kneecap. He underwent surgery few days ago. Manuel Charr: “I fell on my knee. I’m doing better now but I will have a long recovery time. I’m devastated but I’m coming back even stronger then before. That’s sports! Docters told me that it will take five month of recovering. Have your fingers crossed that I can return to the ring very soon. Take care, Manuel.!”
PRINCE AIMING TO BECOME KING OF SCOTLAND
Former Scottish amateur champion and Commonwealth Games representative Mitch Prince will aim to push himself closer to British title contention at the St Andrew’s Sporting Club on March 15.
South-African born Prince – who changed his name by deed poll last year to Prince of Passion – will square up Glenrothes’ Stuart Green for the vacant Scottish light-welterweight title on the historic 300th St Andrew’s show at Glasgow’s Radisson Blu Hotel.
The showdown will be main support to unbeaten Edinburgh super-middleweight Kenny Anderson’s British super-middleweight title eliminator against Sheffield’s Paul King.
It will also be the 88th title fight at the Club’s since it was founded in January 1973 with the greatest all-Scottish battle in history – between Ken Buchanan and Jim Watt for the British lightweight title.
Club owner Tommy Gilmour said: “Mitch turned pro after the Commonwealth Games in 2006, but he will probably admit himself that his professional career hasn’t taken off in the way it should have due to injuries and long periods of inactivity.
“But he is still unbeaten in eight fights and lifted the British Masters title in his last contest, so he is moving in the right direction.
“If he is able to win the Scottish title it will act as a great springboard for him and will move him up the British ratings. Light-welterweight is probably the most talented division in British boxing, but if he keeps winning there is no reason why he can’t be in the mix and challenging at the top.
“But first he has to win the Scottish title and that’s no foregone conclusion. Stuart is one of the toughest guys out there and has vast experience against some real top-class fighters – in fact, he probably gave the recently crowned English champ Steve Williams his toughest fight as a pro.
“Stuart has also fought twice for the Scottish title at lightweight – against Lee McAllister and then Charlie King – and he will be determined to make it third time lucky.”
Tickets are going fast for the 300th show, which will feature numerous past champions and guests of honour on the top table and within the audience.
Scott Finds a Home Inside the Ring
They make them big in Texas, even their mortgage professionals. Just ask once-beaten heavyweight prospect Herman “Skip” Scott.
And if you’re wondering how a 6′ 8″ 255-pound destroyer with a heavy right hand can find the mild temperament to spend his days filling out home buyers’ paperwork and the aggressive temperament to spend his nights pulverizing opponents, you need look no further than the old real estate axiom: it’s all about location, location, location.
Skip Scott is a gentleman in business and a monster in the ring.
“I started out kickboxing for about 10 years. I was ranked #3 in the nation and #2 in Texas and went about 75-5 in 80 bouts. Then I hurt my leg, so I went to a boxing gym and fell in love with it,” explains the 31 year old of his introduction to the boxing. “I fought three amateur boxing fights total. I entered a Ringside Tournament in Kansas City and made it all the way to the finals. That was my entire amateur career.”
Despite the short time spent in the unpaid ranks, Scott (currently 6-1, 4 KOs as a professional) says he knew he had found his calling and set about putting together the team that will help him attain his dream.
“I have a new trainer now, Bobby Benton – not to take anything away from my original trainer I still take things into the ring I learned from him – but Bobby is showing me how to stand tall when I fight. Not crouching down and keeping my gloves high. He’s also showing me to shoot my straight shots down the middle and set them up with a jab.”
Fighting out of the Lou Savarese Promotions Boxing Gym in Houston, Texas, Scott also gets a top-flight education from his many sparring partners including Eugene Hill (19-1, 15 KOs), Nagy Aguilera (15-2, 10 KOs) and Texas amateur champion Justin Jones. “We also have some light heavyweights like Chris Henry. He’s like 22-2. Cornelius White. Larry Pryor. (Longtime heavyweight contender) Dominick Guinn even comes in and works out.”
With so little amateur experience to rely on, Scott says every fight is an important lesson. “I lost my first fight to a real tough guy. He ended up winning his next 10. I hurt him in the first two rounds, but threw too many punches. I threw a hundred punches in each of the first two rounds and wore myself down.” He has since run off six consecutive victories including his latest, a four-round decision over Chris Abercrombie in February 2010 in Houston. “I won by decision. I knocked him down with a jab, but the bell saved him. He got up and I couldn’t finish him because I got excited. It was my first time in front of my home crowd in a long time.”
Another key member of Team Scott is well-known boxing figure Kerry Daigle, who serves as manager. “Kerry is a great guy. The thing about Kerry Daigle — if you speak to ten different people you’ll hear ten different great things about him. You don’t find too many people like that, especially in boxing. Most people you meet, if you talk to ten people, five will have something good to say and five something bad. This guy, everybody loves him. He’s an excellent motivator and a real positive guy.”
Daigle introduced Scott to NSA’s Juice Plus Fruit and Vegetable supplements – a product Scott calls his “secret weapon” for fast recovery times in training. “I believe in it so much I’m a distributor!”
Scott says he realizes he’s currently getting an education in the ring and doesn’t plan on skipping any grades. “We’re not going to fight for the belt in the next few months. We’re just taking our time making sure we know all the steps before we get to the dance. My ultimate goal is not just to win the title but to keep it and be known as one of the best ever. I’m not in a rush to make that happen — just taking one step at a time to get there.”