Steve O’Meara aims to take inspiration from pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jnr when he steps into the ring for his Southern Area light middleweight title bout against Ryan Toms.
O’Meara features as chief support to the Commonwealth Super-Featherweight clash between Liam Walsh and Paul Appleby at the York Hall, Bethnal Green on Friday 30th September.
The show is the debut of Queensberry Promotions, headed by Frank Warren’s sons Francis and George. Tickets are close to sell out and O’Meara is after more for his fans.
Last year, ahead of his appearance in Prizefighter, O’Meara, along with former British Super-Middleweight Champion James DeGale, had some sparring sessions with Mayweather at the American’s gym.
“The physical experience of sparring with him (Floyd Mayweather) was unbelievable and it is something I will always remember,” Said the West Drayton fighter.
“It also had an affect on me mentally sharing a ring with him. Floyd Mayweather is obviously the biggest name but I’ve sparred a lot of good fighters and I’ve always felt I’ve done well.
“Whenever I’m coming up for a fight or I need that mental strength, the sparring with Floyd Mayweather, Carl Froch, DeGale and Darren Barker, spending time in the ring with these types of fighters makes you mentally strong.”
O’Meara has had two loses on his record but has bounced back strongly after both and looks to continue his winning ways after victory last time out against Andrew Alan Lowe.
“I’ve tasted defeat and know what it feels like, I’m not scared of losing, I just want to win. Hopefully on September 30th I can show I’m a few levels above Southern Area title standard,” said the 27-year-old.
“I watched Ryan’s last match against Pat McAleese, there’s some good stuff but having watched him I feel like it is my fight to lose. He’s unbeaten and no fight against an unbeaten fighter is going to be easy because he doesn’t know how to use yet, but unfortunately I’ll be the one to show him.”
Both O’Meara and Toms are from west London and will be heading east for their showdown at the York Hall.
“The York Hall is almost like a home ground now,” he said. “The atmosphere is great in there and there isn’t a bad seat in the house,
“Ryan is from my neck of the woods as well, so it’ll be a bit of a derby. We don’t personally know each other but we know a lot of the same people. There is a lot of interest in our area around the fight,
“I’ve done well on my tickets and I’m after some more, but Francis and George are saying it’s close to sell out now. I’ve got a crowd coming down to see me and I’m going to win the title.”
Mayfield vs. Lopez on October 1
MEMPHIS, TN – Prize Fight makes a triumphant return on October 1st as it presents the latest installment of “Fights at the Fitz” from the Grand Ballroom at Fitzgerald’s Hotel & Casino in Tunica, MS. There have been many first class line ups featuring many world class boxers during the impressive seven year run of the “Fights at the Fitz” series, but the October 1st show may showcase the best match-up ever during this record breaking series. Boxing fans are in for an amazing fight as undefeated rising prospect Karim “Hard Hitta” Mayfield 14-0-1 (9 KO’s) meets former two-time Venezuelan Olympian Patrick Lopez 20-4 (12 KO’s) for the vacant NABO Jr. Welterweight Championship.
Mayfield, 30, rose to prominence in the boxing world as he stopped former World Champion Steve Forbes by way of tenth round TKO in front of a live viewing audience on ESPN Friday Night Fights this past June in Austin, TX. The Forbes fight was considered by many boxing insiders to be a risky fight and a big step up in competition level for Karim Mayfield, but Mayfield showcased himself to the boxing community as a contender to be reckoned with by stopping Forbes. Mayfield’s TKO stoppage of Forbes was the first time in forty-five professional bouts that Forbes has been stopped short of the scheduled distance. Standing in Mayfield’s way on October 1st at the Fitz will be the formidable Patrick Lopez. Lopez represented his country of Venezuela in both the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and also the 2004 Olympic games in Athens. The southpaw Lopez is no stranger to up and coming prospects as he has fought the likes Hank Lundy, Tim Coleman and Prenice Brewer to name a few. In August of 2010 Lopez entered the ring as an underdog against the undefeated Prenice Brewer and shocked many as he demolished Brewer on way to third round TKO. The Main Event between Karim Mayfield and Patrick Lopez is scheduled for ten rounds.
As if the stellar main event wasn’t worth the price of admission alone, Prize is set to deliver a star studded seven bout undercard. One of the fights featured on this undercard is the return to the ring of middleweight Mean Joe Greene 22-1 (14 KO’s). The southpaw Greene was on the rise to stardom when he met another undefeated prospect in Vanes Martirosyan on June 5, 2010 in Yankee Stadium. Joe Greene lost the fight to Martirosyan by unanimous decision in a bout that was filled with low blows from each side and tenth round knockdown of Greene. After the loss to Martirosyan, Greene has taken some time away from the ring and is now ready to return against Pete Johnson of Sardis, MS in a six round middleweight bout.
Another intriguing match-up on the card is a six round cruiserweight clash between Joell Godfrey 11-4-1 (5 KO’s) and Calvin Rooks 2-2-1. Godfrey, a former star of the reality series “The Contender”, looks to get his career back on track again the upset minded Rooks of Memphis, TN. Rooks was in the same situation when he faced the favored Sharif Kemp this past July at the Fitz. Rooks shined in that fight as he won an action packed four round unanimous decision over Kemp.
Rounding out the exciting night of fights will be an exciting female bout between Stacy Pollock and Lucretia Meacham in the lightweight division, local favorite Marlon Lewis goes up against Erik Hernandez-Perez in a four round lightweight clash, Gary Jones 21-2 (8 KO’s) of Washington D.C. is slated to do battle with veteran Chad Greenleaf in a six round middleweight affair and Polish featherweight sensation Kamil Laszczyk 3-0 (3 KO’s) will meet local Memphis Terrance Roy in a four round match.
Tickets for this exciting 8 bout card can be purchased by calling the Fitz Casino Gift Shop at (800)-766-LUCK(5825), by calling ticketmaster at (901)-525-1515, or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com. The doors for this event will open at 6:30 PM and the first fight will start at 7:30 PM.
Goodwin vs. Munika on October 15th
Championship boxing returns to the famous Roman City of Chester on October 15th for the first time since the 1990’s. The Fight Options promoted card will take place at the Northgate Arena and feature two title fights, both showcasing young local prospects endeavouring to gain their first professional belt, and in doing so, send the home crowd into raptures.
Hometown favourite Chris Goodwin will be topping the bill as he seeks to wrestle the International Masters lightweight title away from seasoned pro Geoffrey Munika of Kenya. Goodwin (12-1-1) is an exceptional stylist with skills to burn, but he will have seen nothing like the 37 year old Munika, (21-16-2 12KO) a man who shocked the British boxing scene when he ripped the title away from champion and former British title contender, Ryan Barrett in June, knocking him out in six rounds. Munika is an all action come forward warrior, so the clash of styles should make for an enthralling match up. Having waited so long for his first belt, Munika will have no wish to travel halfway across the world to meekly give away his title. Will the youth and speed of Goodwin prevail or will the experience and raw power of Munika prove just too much for the hometown boy? We will find out on October 15th.
Chester warrior Paul Economides will also be gunning for a title when he takes on Bradford’s Shaun Doherty for the Yorkshire man’s British Masters super-bantamweight strap. Economides (10-2) has already beaten his foe twice over four rounds, but both times he got the nod by merely a point. Now over the ten rounds distance Doherty (3-5-3 1KO) will fancy his chances of getting the result he believes he deserved previously. Doherty is no stranger to an upset. He won the belt when, on away turf down in Newport, with barely a friendly face in the crowd, he knocked out former British and Commonwealth title challenger Matthew Edmonds in the tenth. Having beaten a man of that ilk, travelling to Chester will cause no worries for the champ and he will no doubt be looking to take his title back home.
Also on the bill, Prestatyns ‘Discoball’ Paul Davies will be looking to get his career back on track after a devastating first round defeat last time out, which shattered his unbeaten record. Davies only has to look at Amir Khan to see how quickly a career can recover, but will need to show what he has learned in the Connahs Quay gym he shares with Tom Doran.
Chester light-welterweight Joe Lovell will be returning after a nine month layoff. Lovell (1-0) was scintillating on his debut, but seemed to fall off the map afterwards. Now, with a new trainer in Peter Buckley and a re-kindled desire, Lovell will begin his quest for the success many in the know have deemed a near certainty.
Leek super-featherweight Andy Keates will be hoping to stretch his unbeaten record to three wins when he laces on the gloves on the undercard. Keates, a stylish boxer with a pleasing style has earned good reviews at the start of his novice pro career and will be looking to continue his education with a victory.
Connahs Quay youngsters Cameron Halfpenny and Lee Quinn will be making their professional debuts on the bill. Both men boast quality amateur records and fight out of the same gym as Tom Doran and Paul Davies, under the tutelage of Shane Thomas. Every voyage has to start somewhere and their move into the paid ranks begins here.
So big time boxing has finally come back to Chester. One can only anticipate the thrills and spills that surely await us. In the words of MC Michael Buffer ‘LET’S GET IT ON’.
Tickets are priced at either £30 outer or £50 ringside and can be purchased from Ticketmaster (0844 844 0444) or from www.ticketmaster.co.uk
By Martin Dobbing