RICHARD TOWERS is ready to show his credentials when he faces Harold Sconiers on Saturday night. The unbeaten Sheffield heavyweight bids for his 13th straight win when he tackles the American (18-23-2) over eight rounds in his hometown at Ponds Forge Arena. Newport’s Gary Buckland heads the bill when he risks his British super-featherweight title defence against Middlesbrough’s Paul Truscott..
Sconiers, 35, once lost a split decision to Razor Ruddock and last month outpointed three-time world title challenger Jameel McCline.
Towers, 32, who will be targeting his 10th KO win and to send a warning to Britain’s top heavyweights Tyson Fury and David Price.
He said: “Sconiers is a tricky guy.
“I have got to be sharp, strong and aggressive. I have got to let him know that if he makes any mistakes he is paying the price.
“We are all big fellas and we all hit hard. If we catch each other on the button it is good night.
“I am going in there with ultimate respect for the fella and a strong knowledge that he knows his way around the ring.”
Other fights: Patrick Mendy v Bradley Pryce, Sergey Rabchenko v Ronny Gabel, Adam Etches v Stilian Kostoc, Scott Jenkins v Adrian Fuzesi, Mitchell Butler v Francis Maina, Carl Bell v TBA, Jason Cunningham v Ryan McNichol and Jak Perry v Beki Moyo.
Boxing starts at 6.15pm and the handful of tickets remaining are priced £35 general admission, £55 floor seating, £75 ringside and £100 VIP Ringside. You can buy by calling The Hatton Box Office 01925 755 222, Ticketmaster 0844 847 2500, Ticketline 0844 888 9991, any boxer on the bill or online www.hattonboxing.com
French assignment holds no fear for Rees
Welshman out to prove he will fight anyone, anywhere
Gavin Rees is relishing defending his European lightweight title against Anthony Mezaache in Paris on Friday night live on Sky Sports 4 and HD4 from 9pm – and says victory will prove he is willing to fight anyone, anywhere.
The Welshman defends the belt for the second time against Mezaache, the Parisian fighter who won the belt on foreign soil himself in February 2009 when he beat Jon Thaxton in Norwich.
Rees enters Mezaache’s backyard aiming to kick his 2012 off with an impressive defence that could land him an exciting British fight against lightweight rivals Ricky Burns, Kevin Mitchell, John Murray and Anthony Crolla – and the 31 year-old says he’ll prove he can fight anywhere.
“Every boxer wants to fight at home but I don’t mind going to France,” said Rees. “I don’t think it’ll be a hostile crowd but even if it is, it’s only a crowd, they can’t get in the ring and help him when he’s in there with me at my best. I only have to worry about my performance, not his – if I do what I do best, I’ll get the job done.
“I’ve seen a few clips of him from his fight against Thaxton. He beat him quite comfortably but I think that wasn’t the best of Jon, he was on his way out. So I think that this is a job I am confident of doing.”
Rees’ first defence ended in a technical draw against Derry Mathews in October when a clash of heads left the Liverpool man with a broken nose. The champ has been itching to get back into the ring to show the benefits of his new attitude to training, which he attributes to trainer Gary Lockett and nutritionist Renzo Algieri.
“I’ve been a professional nearly 14 years and only lost one fight so I’ve done well, but I think I’m improving all the time,” said Rees. “I’m 32 in May and I’m feeling so good I could go on forever.
“I’ve got older and got wiser. When you are younger you think your career is going to go on forever. This is my last chance at World title glory really so everything has to be done 100 per cent right. I was eating the wrong foods, drinking water at the wrong times, and in the championship distance, like against Andy Murray, I died after four rounds. So we’d been tinkering with that before the Derry Mathews fight and we got it right. That didn’t go beyond four rounds so no-one got to see the difference, but it was a lot better then and it will be even better now.
“There are some big domestic fights out there for me with Burns, Mitchell, Crolla and (John) Murray and I want all of them. I’ve been training hard for Mezaache and once I’ve got past him I want to fight one of the big name Brits. I don’t believe that I have been truly recognised for my achievements so hopefully beating one of those boys would get me there. I sparred with Ricky and we had some great sessions and I know it would be a crowd-pleaser.
“I’d like to have a go at Ricky or maybe I could win another one of the World titles and we could have a massive unification fight. We’ve got a great group of lightweights in Britain at the moment, maybe one of the strongest ever, so hopefully we can all fight each other soon.”
TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR “REAL STEEL” – WOODHOUSE VS MILES
Tickets are now on sale for the much anticipated British light welterweight title eliminator between Curtis Woodhouse and Dale Miles.
On June 8th at the Magna in Rotherham, both Woodhouse and recent Prizefighter contestant Miles will lock horns in a contest that is already being predicted as a fight of the year candidate.
“This will be a fight that I have to bite down on the gumshield to get through,” declared Woodhouse when he recently spoke to coldwellboxing.com.
Priced at a generous £30 and £60 (ringside), this is a fight not to be missed and with demand already high be sure to get in early and book your tickets.
Despite the bout being a few months away, promoter David Coldwell is already licking his lips at what lies in prospect.
“This is a genuine 50-50 fight and it’s going to be a fight of the year contender, their styles can’t help but gel.
“This is the kind of fight, that if it was on television you would tune in to watch. We’ve got two honest fighters who have had to get respect the hard way.”
DAVID COLDWELL FOR COLDWELL BOXING PRESENTS “REAL STEEL” FROM THE MAGNA SCIENCE CENTRE IN ROTHERHAM, FRIDAY 8TH JUNE 2012.
TICKETS ARE PRICED AT £30 AND £60 rRINGSIDE WITH MORE INFORMATION TO FOLLOW.
TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED AT
WWW.COLDWELLBOXING.COM