James DeGale has welcomed Paul Smith’s Sunday roast dinner offer – but says he will have the British super-middleweight champion for breakfast.
The pair meet on December 11 at the Liverpool Echo Arena on Frank Warren’s big 30th anniversary card that also features Nathan Cleverly, Kell Brook, Matthew Macklin, Tony Bellew and Frankie Gavin..
It could turn out to be one of the most brutal and explosive fights of the year, but the good friends will remain just that whatever the outcome.
“Paul’s very generous, offering me a Sunday roast at his house as well as the chance to take his belt off him,” said DeGale.
“I hope he’s still talking to me after I’ve walked off with his Lonsdale belt.
“Seriously, I’ve got nothing but respect for Paul and everything he has achieved.
However, the Olympic Champion and undefeated professional has harsher words for George Groves.
He added, “He’s never bad-mouthed me, unlike that ugly ginger kid George Groves.
“Groves is the kind of boxer I can’t stand because he’s trying to live off my name and my Olympic gold medal.
“And then when we gave him the chance to fight me, he said no.
“On the other hand, Paul could have gone on and fought for a world title, but he decided to take on me instead.
“I’m friends with the Smith family, and I hope I will still be friends with them after the fight.
“Boxing is a tough business and sometimes you have to make tough fights for whatever reason.
“Paul and I will knock ten bells out of each other and then we’ll be mates again afterwards.”
Tickets for the Return of the Magnificent Seven, priced at £40, £50, £100, £150 and £250, are available from:
The Liverpool Echo Arena
0844 800 0400
www.echoarena.com
Ticketmaster
0844 844 0444
www.ticketmaster.co.uk
See Tickets
0871 220 0260
www.seetickets.com
ROBERTS MAKES PRO-DEBUT ON BURNS CARD
Hot Scottish talent Michael Roberts will make his glittering debut on Frank Warren’s big Braehead Arena card in Glasgow on December 4th.
Roberts features on the undercard of Ricky Burns who makes the first defence of his WBO World Super-Featherweight title against Andreas Evensen.
But Roberts is hoping to make a real statement with the fans and media with a stellar performance as he kicks off his professional career.
The 21-year-old had a sparkling amateur career, and has even been compared to Burns by renown manager Alex Morrison.
“It’s nice to spoken about in the same sentence as Ricky, but I want to be own man,” said Roberts.
“Scottish boxing is on a high at the moment because of Ricky’s sensational win over Roman Martinez, and it’s fantastic to be a part of it.
“I grew up watching the likes of Scott Harrison and Alex Arthur dominating Scottish boxing and I aim to become a world champion just like them and Ricky.
“The Braehead Arena is going to be a pretty special place to be on December 4, and to be honest, being part of the card is a dream come true.”
A Scottish champion at featherweight, Roberts could follow Burns into the super-featherweight division.
“Scotland has already had two super-featherweight world champions in recent years, maybe I could become the third!” added Roberts.
Tickets for Monarch of the Glen, priced at £40, £50, £75 and £100, are available from:
Braehead Arena
0844 449 1700
www.braehead-arena.co.uk
Ticket Master
0844 844 0444
www.ticketmaster.co.uk
See Tickets
0871 620 7054
www.seetickets.com
Hammond And Lowe Headline Newark Fight Night On Nov. 20th
Former WBF Super Featherweight World Champion Carl Greaves will be featuring local fighters at his upcoming ‘The Boyz Are Back In Town’ event at the Grove Leisure Centre in Newark, Notts on Saturday 20th November.
Headlining the show will be former International Masters Light Middleweight Champion Kevin Hammond, who will be looking to turn round a three fight loss run, against Luke Osman
Hammond, who following his winning the International Masters title had two tough fights with recent British title challenger Martin ‘Immaculate’ Concepcion for the Midlands Area title,
Hammond came close to winning both, even sent Concepcion to the canvas on their second meeting, as in each case only one point was the difference between the two.
In his most recent bout, against Kurt Bromberg for the British Masters Middleweight title, again Hammond fought hard and was unlucky not to get the decision. Again the points difference was just a single point.
There will be five exciting match-ups supporting the Hammond versus Osman bout. Co-feature fight sees Newark’s Andrew (A.A.) Lowe take on tough Bristol based Turk Rocky Chakir in a six round Welterweight contest.
Next up, and probably deserving of headline status, is the highly popular Bulwell, Notts Cruiserweight/Heavyweight Shane McPhilbin will face a stern test against the highly experienced Brummy bruiser Hastings Rasani in a four round Cruiserweight clash.
McPhilbin recently stole the limelight from his more experienced competition at the Sky televised Prizefighter – Heavyweights 4 tournament, after stopping the previously unbeaten Declan Timlin after just fifty seconds of the second round. McPhilbin then went on to face eventual tournament winner Michael Sprott in one of the most exciting action packed bouts of the evening.
Rounding out the show will be two debut bouts, the first at Light Heavyweight, featuring Newark’s Jamie Norkett against new boy Ian Jenkins and Danny Gerrard gets his maiden outing against the highly experienced Ryan Clark. The final listed bout features Sneinton, Notts Terry Maughan in a Middleweight contest against a yet to be named opponent.
The Carl Greaves Promoted ‘The Boyz Are Back In Town’ event will be at the Grove Leisure Centre, Balderton, Newark. NG24 3AL on Saturday 20th November 2010.
Doors open 7pm – First bell 8pm
Tickets: priced £15 (Under 15’s), £30 (unreserved) and £40 (ringside) are available now on-line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or call 07960 850645.