Bentley v Cash. Plus undercard results. York Hall Bethnal Green

In the feature bout at the York Hall, undefeated British middleweight champion Denzel Bentley 14-0-1 (12 Ko’s) and Undefeated Commonwealth middleweight champion Felix Cash 13-0 (9 Ko’s) met in a tremendous matchup to decipher which man is ready to elevate his career to world level.  The opener saw both men start fast with Cash drawing first blood, rocking Bentley early. Both fighters settled into a rhythm, maintaining the aggressive tempo. Heavy shots were landed from both sides in the second, Cash appeared the more accurate of the two forcing Bentley to box more on the back foot. Cash dictated the majority of the third closing the distance, half way through the session, Cash landed a clean right hand, hurting Denzel who sagged on the ropes, Cash continued to land 5 further right hands that appeared to leave Bentley unable to defend himself forcing referee Victor Loughlan to halt the fight..  The despondent Bentley looked upset that the bout was stopped so quickly, yet the stoppage looked justified. Cash closed the gap and capitalised when he hurt Denzel with the first telling shots.  Felix Cash takes home the British and Commonwealth middleweight titles along with bragging rights as domestic top dog. 

 Karol Itauma 2-0 (1 Ko) scored his second outing by knockout at the York Hall tonight with causeda first round stoppage of the overmatched Ryan Hibbert 1-9 (2 Ko’s.) Hibbert tasted the Slovak National’s power early and took a count from a right hand left hook combination to the temple, moments later Itauma put his shots together in short combinations and put Hibbert down with referee Michael Alexander halting the proceedings.  The bout itself a disappointment with the promising amateur standout Itauma requiring a sterner test, Hibbert appeared to come with very little ambition on this occasion. 

Undefeated York prospect George Davey 3-0 faced Stoke based Jamie Stewart 2-1-1 at welterweight on the York Hall card tonight. The patient Davey kept the rugged Stewart on the outside for the majority of the early rounds, not allowing him the luxury of a close range affair. Stewart closed the distance and began causing Davey some troubles by the 5th forcing the youngster to fight up close. Davey regained control in the 6th keeping Stewart on the end of long shots to secure a comfortable decision.  Marcus McDonnell scoring the bout 59-56 in favour of Davey.

Undefeated Southpaw Henry Turner 4-0 outboxed Wolverhampton’s tough unorthodox Clayton Bricknell 3-3-1 over 6. Henry punched with authority throughout and forced the smaller Bricknell to adopt the back foot for the majority of the bout. Turner appeared to be loading up and telegraphing his shots on occasion and allowing Bricknell counter opportunities through the 3rd, yet regained his composure in the 4th and dictated the action. Turner controlled the bout through round 5 and maintained his lead with a dominant final session where he showcased flashes of his superior ability to secure a one sided decision. 

The experienced uk based Pole, Kamil Sokolowski 10-21-2 (4 Ko’s) forced the undefeated David Adeleye 5-0 (5 Ko’s) to box on the back foot in the early stages of an interesting heavyweight match up over 6.  Sokolowski took the action to the hard punching Londoner who had to adopt a patient approach to cope with the well travelled Pole. The inexperienced Adeleye showed maturity in adapting to the circumstances and work his way back into the bout having given away the opening 2 stanzas. Round 3 saw David start to panic and lose his composure, Sokolowski continued to pressure the younger man and in turn Adeleye began to load up and overreach with wide shots. Going into the 5th Sokolowski appeared to be enjoying a handy lead, with Adeleye requiring some urgency to salvage his unbeaten record, Kamil continued to apply pressure now tasting a hint of an upset. The final round saw Sokolowski continue to press Adeleye and force him out of his comfort zone, boxing going backwards. At the conclusion it appeared that Sokolowski had won a decisive points victory, against a considerably subdued Adeleye in a rare upset.

Marcus McDonnell however scored the bout 58-57 in favour of David Adeleye. 

Former world light heavyweight title challenger Callum Johnson 18-1 (13 Ko’s) overcame a back and forth opening round slug fest with tough Emil Markic  32-2 (24 Ko’s) to stop the capable Croatian in the second of a scheduled ten rounder for the vacant WBO Global title. Johnson had Markic pinned on the ropes and landed a flurry of unanswered shots before Emil slumped, forcing the stoppage. 

Meet Heavyweight, Jared Anderson.

                                

Toledo Heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson has jumped onto the scene with a bang over the last 18 months, the former two time US National super heavyweight champion has racked up 9 victories, all by knockout. Jared turned over in the October of 2019 scoring a 1st round knockout in Reno over one Daniel Infante and by following July had racked up 5 straight consecutive knockout victories yet had barely boxed a total of 7 rounds. Whilst getting ready for his third pro fight, Jared was hired as chief sparring partner for Tyson Fury in preparation for the Deontay Wilder rematch in Las Vegas, Anderson made such an impression on the Champion and his father John that the latter was quoted as saying, Jared would be the next great American heavyweight champion. The colourful heavyweight continued his knockout streak with a 4th round knockout of Rodney Hernandez on the Jamel Herring v Jonathan Oquendo undercard at the MGM bubble in Las Vegas. Jared would return to the bubble 6 weeks later, appearing on the Inoue v Maloney card and taking out the overmatched Luis Eduardo Pena in a round and again last February on the Commey v Marinez show when Anderson made a bold statement by scoring a striking final round knockout over once beaten Nigerian Kingsley Ibeh. Most recently Jared featured on the Joe Smith Jr v Maxim Vlasov show in Oklahoma where he appeared alongside fellow heavyweight prospects Efe Ajagba and Trey Lippe to score another stoppage, this time over the tough experienced Jeremiah Karpency in 2.  Jared is a tall agile boxer puncher who despite his brief time in the professional ranks appears relaxed and composed in the ring and showed in the Ibeh fight that he wasn’t over anxious to keep his knockout streak alive, despite finding the knockout late in the 6th, he used the rounds to gain valuable ring time against a live opponent. Jared has all of the apparent tools at this point in his career to move steadily and open doors for himself, Top Rank have exclusive promotional rights over Anderson and I expect them to slide him into some interesting matchups within the next year. Don’t expect opponents to be clambering over themselves to meet this feller, on paper he’s a novice pro, but big noise travels fast and all concerned fully understand that Jared Anderson is a bit special.

Joshua stops brave Pulev in 9.

In what I would class as a plausible performance last night, Anthony Joshua 24-1 (22 Ko’s) successfully defended his 3 legitimate championship belts by dispatching the rugged Kubrat Pulev 28-1 (14 Ko’s) in 9 rounds at Wembley Arena in front of 1000 social distanced attendees..  Pulev had become very animated in the days leading up to the fight, but failed to knock Joshua out of his groove, Anthony maintained his composure throughout the fight and never once looked troubled by the 39 year old Bulgarian.. Joshua dictated with the jab, setting up short combinations in bursts..  Anthony made the breakthrough in the third, dropping Pulev twice and almost forcing the Bulgarian to turn away from the onslaught..  Kubrat showed impressive mettle to hang in there for a further 6 sessions before Joshua finally moved through the gears, dropped Pulev for a third time before knocking his onto his back for the stoppage..  The time was 2:58 of the 9th.. 

Despite his brave effort, I have to question why a man who has barely beaten a ranked opponent in 5 years gets a shot at the unified championship..  Joshua v Pulev may have been the best passable option under social distancing circumstances before Hearn and Joshua move into more financially beneficial events once the Covid restrictions are lifted..  I expect AJ to face Oleksandr Usyk next, unless Fury and Top Rank make something happen in the meantime.

The undercard saw Martin Bakole and Hughie Fury win points decisions over Sergey Kuzmin and Mariusz Wach respectively..   

Usyk v Chisora, a look ahead.

                                 

The long awaited heavyweight battle between former unified cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk and former British, European champion and world title challenger Derrick Chisora is barely 24 hours away and many well educated onlookers have varied views on the outcome. Chisora came in looking a ready 255 having dug deep into a rigorous 10 week camp under the watchful eye of David Haye, the usually unhinged, unpredictable Version seems a million miles from the Derrick Chisora of today who appears calculated and very well equipped for the job in hand..  Usyk by contrast is everything Chisora is not, he’s an outside the box thinking maverick, who is calculated and often emotionless before fights, his 215 pounds barely stepped into the weight category and he prefers to allow his fists to do the talking as opposed to lip service. Oleksandr’s style at cruiserweight was dominant, he was almost untouchable, his fast feet and exceptional use of range made him almost impossible to overcome, however the move to heavyweight has shifted the playing field, opponents are naturally much bigger and stronger, leaving his options much slimmer when it comes to physical conflict. Usyk laboured when he appeared to struggle to subdue club fighter Chazz Witherspoon in his heavyweight debut, unable to impose his presence on a bigger man..  On this occasion the bigger man is a better man, an experienced and proven world class performer, Derrick has appeared on numerous pay per view shows, and win or lose has never once failed to bring 100% to the table, often driven by emotion it took him to a 2012 shot at then champion Vitali Klitschko, in a gallant showing that brought his name to the world stage.. since then Chisora has boxed 23 times losing only to the more prominent names in the division..  Derrick brings the one thing the Cruiserweight division couldn’t provide, an intensity and relentlessness outside of Usyk’s comfort zone, something that we won’t know the outcome of until it happens..  Oleksandr was a natural heavyweight throughout his amateur days, and understands the perils of mixing it amongst the monsters, but as a professional this may be an undesirable baptism that may either bring out the best in Usyk, or be to his detriment..   Either way, the respective styles make for a terrific show..  Many expect Usyk to dominate over the distance, whilst the more savvy of the oddsmakers can see Chisora pressing the Ukrainian into uncomfortable places he’s never been before, leading to a sizeable upset..  regardless, tomorrow’s show at Wembley should be memorable..   

RIP Angelo Rottoli..

Dreadful news came this week about the passing of former world cruiserweight title challenger Angelo Rottoli along with his parents from Corona virus in Italy... Angelo was a quality fighter who only lost 3 fights in a 34 fight career which included holding the European title and beating names like Guido Trane, Magne Havnaa and Bash Ali.. Pictured here following his only stoppage loss, in his bid to arrest the WBC title from the great Carlos Deleon.. RIP Angelo..

The WBC talk..... Judging..

Friday was the 5th session of the WBC Talks.
The subject of the day was boxing judges and was broken into both English and Spanish speaking sessions..
The English speaking panelist’s included Hubert Minn, the WBC Ring Officials Committee Chairman, Las Vegas Judge Duane Ford (NABF President)
Committee vice chairman Steve Morrow, WBC judge Craig Metcalfe, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman and Victor Silva as moderator..

The panelists, who are some of the best boxing judges in the world, had an enlightening conversation regarding vital judging aspects:

Points in question were, Judging Criteria.. Affective aggression.. scoring a 10-8 round without a knockdown.. Along with memories of each judges first title fight... Scoring controversial rounds... Pressure and neutrality.. Code of Ethics.. Honourability.. and finally, how most judges get their score, along with several other connected aspects..

The Spanish speaking panelist’s consisted of..
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, José Manzur (Judge).. Juan Carlos Pelayo (Judge).. Omar Mintum (Judge) among with Victor Silva acting as Mediator..

The President of the WBC, Mr. Mauricio Sulaimán opened the conversation, thanking all those who have made this possible, those who have followed the broadcasts and of course all the panelists who have gathered throughout the week to share your experiences and knowledge.
He explained that the task of a judge is of vital importance since they are the ones who administer and temper justice inside the ring. They must, therefore, conduct themselves with absolute integrity and honor. A judge must have eyes on the fight during the three minutes of the round, must have no preference for any boxer or country and be absolutely impartial.
Assuring that the World Boxing Council has honorable judges who would never compromise or betray the basic values of the WBC.

Mr. Jose Manzur explained that the greatest quality that a judge must have is impartiality and the ability to focus since sometimes it is difficult to achieve this, since being in the arena many factors can affect concentration. He assured that when he receives an appointment for a fight The first thing he does is watch videos of the fighters to find out their styles to make himself familiar with each participant..

For Omar Mintum, the work of a judge must be very precise, since they must record on the cards what is happening above in the ring and, like our other panelists, it is very important to arrive prepared for the fight that was assigned to them.

He assured that all the judges, like fighters should start their career with four-round fights and from there, according to their results, they climb until they reach the more meaningful fights, slowly progressing..

Juan Carlos Pelayo, was emphatic when saying that the impartiality with which he qualifies has to do with the judge’s experience since one must identify the most effective fighter. it is his responsibility to judge him impartially and fairly. He added that passion for boxing is essential for a judge because that is the origin of the need to become the man who administers justice.

Among many of the topics that were addressed, was the fear that many judges have when giving a score of 10-8, However, the leader of the organization assured that one of the tasks of the WBC is to educate the judges that when a fighter has been visibly punished and has not given adequate resistance, the round should be given on 10-8.
Responding to the doubts of the fans, who should be noted were very active, the invited judges as well as the President of the WBC, assured that the score of 10-10 exists, although it is not seen much, as there is usually always a winner of the round. However, it can happen even though some commissions are prohibited from 10-10.

To conclude, our judges agreed after seeing some examples of how to qualify a fight, that to give a fighter the round, he must show effective aggressiveness and that a fight is not won in a single round (unless there is a knockout) but round after round.

The WBC concluded by taking the time to offer Jose Manzur family their best prayers and wishes as his daughter is fighting against COVID-19. The WBC are sure she will win this fight by KO!

Recent Covid19 boxing news..

Amidst the hysteria surrounding the Corona virus outbreak it was revealed the WBA/IBF/WBO world heavyweight title holder Anthony Joshua is currently under self-quarantine after a recent meeting with Prince Charles.. The prince tested positive for Coronavirus only days later.. Anthony has not show any symptoms as of yet, and remains scheduled to defend his titles against mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev in London on June 20..
It was revealed yesterday that both a boxer and trainer from the Turkish team have been infected by the coronavirus. Both men were present at a recent Olympic qualifier in London. The Olympic committee revealed in a statement that it’s “not possible to know the source of infection.”
Former World Champion Amir Khan has generously offered a new 60,000 square foot four-story event facility building designed as a wedding venue and retail outlet to the British National Health Service to help people affected by the coronavirus, a wonderful gesture by Amir.

Roger Mayweather passes..

Last week we lost one of the iconic 1980s boxing characters, when we heard about the passing of Roger Mayweather.. Roger was thee original World champion Mayweather and paved the way for his talented nephews meteoric rise..

Roger won the WBA super featherweight title and WBC super lightweight world titles during a career where he compiled a record of 59-13 with 35 KOs. After retiring from the ring Roger became an award winning trainer, taking charge of his nephew Floyd jr..

Roger had suffered from health problems stemming from chronic diabetes since the 90’s
and had slowly been declining in private..
He was just 58 years of age.

Rest in Peace, Black Mamba. 

Derrick Jefferson in Detroit hospital with Covid19.

Detroit’s Former WBO heavyweight title challenger Derrick Jefferson is currently fighting for his life in Michigan after testing positive for the Corona Virus.. According to WXYZ in Detroit, Jefferson 53 is in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator after being admitted to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan last week..
Close family and friends did however confirm that his condition is slowly improving..
Jefferson first caught national exposure when he scored a devastating knockout over Maurice Harris in November of 1999, The fight that was televised live on HBO is still regarded as possibly the most exciting heavyweight bout of the 1990s..
2 years later Jefferson met Wladimir Klitschko for the WBO world heavyweight title, but was unfortunately knocked down 3 times before losing via second round knockout..
Throughout his 10 year career, Derrick faced notable names, Bert Cooper, Wladimir Klitschko, Oleg Maskaev, Phil Jackson, David Izoneratei and Levi Billups..
Jefferson last appeared in 2005 where he was stopped by hard punching Davarryl Williamson, leaving a record of 28-4-1 (21 Ko’s)

We wish DJ a speedy recovery..

Queensbury Boxing postpone upcoming events.

Following the cautionary guidelines advised by the British Government and The Boxing Board of Control, Queensberry Promotions have called an immediate halt to any of its scheduled live Boxing promotions throughout April and May. The Coronavirus situation is evolving at a rapid pace and we will continue to closely follow the Government’s guidelines to ensure the Health and Safety of all concerned.. Regarding the two high profile events we currently have on sale; The ‘Seek and Destroy’ Card at the O2 featuring Daniel Dubois v Joe Joyce on April 11 has now been rescheduled to Saturday July 11th, Tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled date, however people who cannot attend the new date can obtain a refund from their original point of purchase.

The May2nd return of Josh Taylor at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow will no longer take place on this date. Refunds are available from the point of purchase. We are currently working with the Arena, Top Rank and MTK Global to arrange a suitable alternative date to reschedule in Scotland..

Queensberry Promotions and Top Rank have agreed terms for Carl Frampton to challenge Jamel Herring for the WBO World Super-Featherweight Championship in Belfast possibly in June. This event was due to be announced in the coming days. At this particular time we are hopeful of being able to stage this event in, however, we will observe the ever-changing landscape surrounding the dreadful Pandemic. Changes to any dates,venues and location will be announced in good time..

Charles Martin heads decent undercard in Las Vegas on Saturday.

The majority of the Fury v Wilder rematch card has been put in place this coming Saturday, With 33 year old California based Former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin 27-2-1 faces a decent challenge in former WBC title Challenger Gerald Washington 20-3-1 in a crossroads match that acts as chief support to the huge Las Vegas show.. Martin is coming off a couple of decent showings in 2019 with inside the distance victories over Daniel Martz and the undefeated Greg Corbin.. The physically imposing Washington is coming off a decent win on paper, stopping the once promising Robert Helenius in July.. Both fighters have come up short against New York based Pole, Adam Kownacki, Charles losing a close decision in 2018, whilst Washington suffered a 2nd round knockout 13 months ago..

WBO super bantamweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete 30-1 will make the 5th defence of the title that he won back in 2018, against Jeo Santisima 19-2 in an intriguing bout with neither fighter having tasted defeat for the last 6 years..

Coachella’s 22 year old 6 foot 5 inch Super welterweight Sebastian Fundora 13-0-1 will take on undefeated Australian Daniel Lewis 6-0 in a special attraction whilst Longtime team Fury member, unbeaten featherweight Isaac Lowe 19-0-3 takes on Alberto Guevara 27-5..

The Event is Promoted by Leon Margules’ Warriors Boxing, Tom Browns TGB Promotions along with Bob Arums Top Rank Inc.