By Neil Dempsey: The undercard of the recent Lenny Daws vs. Jason Cook draw saw the return to the ring of the young Polish middleweight Grzegorz Proksa, Proksa going up against Tyan Booth for the vacant EBU-EU Middleweight title.
Proksa struggled early on with Booth’s jab, height and reach. He was rocked by a right hand over the top which caught him on the temple in the 2nd, but he showed great resolve and soon enough his superior work rate and movement started to pay dividends.. He was readily catching Booth to the body and coming in throwing strong combinations. Proksa’s punch output was just too much for Booth and having dropped him in the 5th the referee called a halt to the action giving Proksa the title.
When Proksa comes over from his homeland he trains in the same Redhill gym as fellow countrymen and current European Heavyweight Champion Albert Sosnowski under the tutelage of Ian “Jumbo” Johnson. In what is becoming a feature of Johnson’s fighters Proksa has fantastic cardio and a great punch output but there is more to this young Polish star than his cardio. Proksa has now stopped his last 5 opponents and the power is really starting to show.
In direct contrast to Sosnowski, Proksa is an amateur and junior star having had 130 amateur bouts winning 117 and losing just 10. He also fought at international level before moving into the paid ranks. He held both the IBF and WBC youth titles following an inside the distance stoppage win against Kenneth Van Eesvelde in March of 2006.
Having fought predominantly in the UK Proksa is unusual in that he hasn’t had any pro fights in his native Poland. He has fought in the US, Germany and Ireland and similar to Sosnowski is building up a big Polish following in London.
Nicknamed Super G, a moniker given to him by none other than legendary ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Junior, Proksa will now no doubt look to make waves on the European scene potentially looking to step up to fight current European king Matthew Macklin. However being a young, unbeaten, hungry Eastern European who can punch could mean that Macklin may look elsewhere for a big payday potentially against fellow Irishmen, New York based John Duddy that would certainly generate a lot of interest in the Irish communities in the US.
Having spoken to Proksa’s trainer Johnson, the plan will probably take them down to light middle as according to Johnson, they see this as his natural fighting category and have targeted Ryan Rhodes as a potential future opponent. Fights at light middle in the UK have been difficult to come by for Proksa so in order to keep busy he has been taking fights at middle,beating and stopping fighters at the higher weight. Anyone who has seen his last couple of fights at will acknowledge that he is not a natural middleweight and he struggles early on with the taller, rangier fighters at this weight, that is, until he gets his rhythm and punch output going and he steps in and stops them regardless.
Belts as we are all aware mean that doors will start to open for Proksa. Currently not ranked in the top 15 of any of the 4 major bodies, Proksa must look to take on fighters that have this ranking and make it difficult for fighters to avoid him. UK Domestic fighters such as Anthony Small, Jamie Moore, and Bradley Pryce (although this might well change after his dismal Prizefighter showing) all have some sort of ranking with the major bodies. Small for example holds a ranking of 14 with the WBA and 7 with the WBO.
Proksa has a great team behind him and with Barry Hearn’s Matchroom as his promoters they will certainly look to move him along at the right pace. When I caught up with him at his Redhill base before the Booth fight it was abundantly clear that Proksa is hungry for titles and wins. He has made a number of sacrifices in order to make it this far and it is obvious he is prepared to make more sacrifices in order to reach his goal of a world title shot. It was certainly refreshing to speak to a boxer who has a great attitude to training, fighting, his team and his family, someone who is prepared to fight anyone domestically or internationally in order to reach his goals and there is something in me that says he may well reach his goal. One thing is for sure, he is definitely one to watch.
If you would like to know more about Proksa or any other of Johnson’s fighters please email me at doofus7981@hotmail.com