New British and Commonwealth Featherweight Champion Lee Selby will make the first defence of his titles at York Hall on the 18th November against John Simpson. The bout is part of another action packed event from George and Francis Warren’s Queensberry Promotions which will be LIVE and exclusive on the UK’s new home boxing, BoxNation.
The 24 year old from Barry in Wales claimed both belts with a sensational 8th round knockout against the heavily fancied Stephen Smith in September. Whilst Simpson of Greenock, Scotland has previously held both belts in the past.
Selby, raring to step through the ropes again said “I’m looking forward to defending my titles, it was such a career milestone to win them and now I have absolutely no intention of letting them go. Simpson is a good fighter but until I fought for a title I was holding back my punching power to get some rounds under my belt, but in my last four bouts I have let my punches go and have knocked out three out four opponents, so he should expect the same treatment.”
The undercard for the event features the Cruiserweight dust up between Tony Conquest and Toks Owoh, and with another Queensberry fighter having captured the British Cruiserweight title this week in Leon Williams, the bout is a chance for the winner to stake their claim for a shot at Williams. Conquest, who sat ringside watching closely as Williams beat Norton with a split decision victory, said “with Norton having lost a title that he has held on to for so long, it means that the division has now been opened right up; and with my showdown with Owoh on the 18th November it means that I can now look to stake my claim for a shot at the Lonsdale belt”
Francis Warren anticipating a card full of hard-fought battles said, “It’s another hard hitting competitive card. Lee Selby, who has made a speciality of scoring knock out wins when fighting for titles, will be looking to pick up where he left off against Smith. He’ll be looking to make the most of that big punching power, but in Simpson he faces a fighter who has never been stopped, it’s a really intriguing matchup. Tony Conquest also gets his chance to start making his claim for a shot at the British Cruiserweight title. I sat ringside with Tony as Leon Williams overcame long standing champion Rob Norton, and you could see how keen he is to kick on and make himself a contender for the belt.”
Exciting prospect Billy Morgan of Canning Town also features on the bill and gets the chance to impress in front of his home town crowd.
Tickets are priced at £40 and £60 are available from the Queensberry Promotions Box Office on 01992 550 888 or www.frankwarren.tv
Kronk vs Chicago!!! – STEWARD LEADS A TALENTED TEAM AGAINST CHICAGO’S FINEST
The legendary Kronk gym has its historical roots firmly cemented in the world of boxing. Kronk Gym is perhaps one of the most renowned gyms in the world, the gym located in “The Motor City” of Detroit, Michigan has served its purpose over the years and raised a fair share of world champions. Kronk skyrocketed to the top of the boxing world during the late 1970’s with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward leading the gym to historical status. Fighters such as Hilmer Kenty, Thomas Hearns, Duane Thomas, Mickey Goodwin and brothers Milton and Steve McCory trained at Kronk all the fighters eventually became world champions.
Yet, before becoming a world champion every fighter must fight their way through the amateur levels and gain the much-needed experience before fighting on a professional level. Steward knows all about what it takes to have a successful amateur background; he compiled a record of 94 wins and 3 losses as an amateur boxer, including winning the 1963 national Golden Gloves tournament in the bantamweight division. Afterward, Steward became interested in training amateur boxers. Steward trained many of the nation’s top amateurs. He eventually translated his success with amateurs into a career training championship-level professional fighters.
In the ‘Windy City” of Chicago, Illinois the fighters welcome any challenge from any city or gym for that matter. Chicago has always been known for creating fighters who push forward no matter what, it seems as if they are trained at a early age that non stop pressure will eventually make their opposition fold. “King” David Estrada showed that same Chicago style when he defeated the highly touted undefeated Mexican Olympian Orlando Lora, during that fight Estrada’s non-stop pressure eventually led to Lora’s dismantlement. One thing for sure is the pressure will be heavily weighing on the shoulders of all the trainers and fighters as well as the fans as after this event is over, a city will hold bragging rights.
Everyone is eagerly waiting October 28th to arrive and one person in particular is Bill Hillman of Chi-Box Radio/FightNews.com, he was quoted earlier this week about his thoughts on “KRONK VS CHICAGO in which he replied “I think this could save Amateur boxing across the country. This is something that used to happen a lot. Especially the New York versus Chicago rivalry. When city pride is brought into a boxing ring people come out to support. It’s a wonderful idea. This needs to happen more and Kronk versus Chicago is a wonderful match up Detroit and Chicago is close and has been rivals for nearly their whole existence. The fact that he’s [Cericola] got Emanuel Stewart behind this is a sign that he is a real and smart and dedicated promoter with a great idea.”
Representing Chicago will be Fidel Navarette, Semajay Thomas, Shawn Simpson, Jose Arambula, Jimmy Murphy, Raymond Johnson, Omero Siller, and Johnny Lewus Jr.
“I think this is very unique and I had this idea on my mind for a very long time – Said Mike Cericola of LUDUS Promotions “KRONK vs CHICAGO will help raise interest in Chicago’s amateur boxing scene and provide our kids a chance to be challenged by a world famous gym” Cericola went on to say.
What will make this event even more spectacular will be those responsible with the task of matchmakers. Emanuel Steward and Chicago’s Iconic Sam Colonna will handle that task. If anyone knows boxing its definitely these two gentlemen who are both a walking book on the sweet science.
In addition to the KRONK fighters challenging CHICAGO, other bouts have been added to this stacked event. In typical LUDUS PROMOTIONS fashion the night will be capped off with a DJ, Food, Drinks, Raffles and a Mariachi band. Tickets to this Tickets has been economically priced at the low price of $20.00
Sponsoring “KRONK VS CHICAGO” will be TECATE, HOY, JIMMY’S RED HOTS, ACADEMIA TRUCK DRIVING, and BRACKENBOX.
KRONK VS CHICAGO will be held on October 28th 2011 at El Rey Ballroom, which is conveniently located at 3504 S Western Ave, in Chicago, Illinois. For more information please contact (773) 841-7350
Warriors Congratulates O’Connor and Jack
Warriors Boxing President Leon Margules wishes to congratulate two of his most promising prospects for their impressive victories over the weekend at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
Fighting in support of the Edwin Rodriguez vs. Will Rosinsky ShoBox-televised main event, 2008 United States Olympic alternate Danny O’Connor (16-1, 4 KO’s) continued to show improvement since relocating to Houston to train with the legendary Ronnie Shields.
Fighting in front of a large group of fans who had made the drive from his hometown of Framingham, Massachusetts, super lightweight O’Connor didn’t disappoint, as he won a six-round unanimous decision over Schenectady, New York’s Bryan Abraham (5-8-2, 5 KO’s).
Being taught to sit down more on his punches by Shields, O’Connor dropped Abraham in round one and landed the harder shots throughout. The scores were 60-54, 59-55 and 58-54.
Also that night, former Swedish Olympian Badou Jack “The Ripper” (8-0, 7 KO’s) scored a TKO 5 over Eddie “Thunder” Caminero of Lawrence, Massachusetts, with a monster left hook to the body at 1:47. The powerful Jack had been dominating with his educated accuracy and although Caminero bravely got to his feet, Referee Ricky Gonzalez felt he had seen enough.
“Both guys looked great tonight,” said Warriors Boxing President, Leon Margules. “Danny O’Connor looks like an all-new fighter since moving over to train with Ronnie and Badou Jack is making believers out of everyone who sees him fight. Danny is already a big ticket seller and Badou Jack will continue to develop his fan base as well with continued performances like tonight. They’re both future champions.”
For more information, visit www.warriorsboxing.com.