Irish Boxing

r u trying 2 say that maloney was a **** r something:good

 

Just heard Macklin and Pavlik meet last night- unfortunately thats all i heard!!

 

sweet, although i think mack isn't ready yet.

 

Magee splits with trainer of 21 years before Larsen fight

Brian, manager Pat Magee, former coach Harry Hawkins and new man Bernardo Checa have their say to Steve Wellings

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NEW COACH: Checa takes the reins for the Larsen fight BRIAN MAGEE has landed a crack at the vacant European super-middleweight title and holds no reservations about travelling to Denmark on January 30. Now training out of his former amateur home of St. Agnes’ in West Belfast, the 34-year-old is feeling refreshed and ready to go after linking up with Panamanian trainer Bernardo Checa.
“Training’s going very well and for the short period of time I’ve been with Bernardo I feel rejuvenated,” enthused the former IBO ruler, now with a 32-3-1 (22) record.
“A year out is a long time so Bernardo’s been polishing me up and putting me back on track; introducing a few new things to compliment the strengths I already possess.
“No doubt the new surroundings have had a positive impact on me, coming back to St. Agnes’.”
Magee split from 21-year trainer Harry Hawkins to link up with Checa and will have been absent from the ring for over a year when he steps inside the ropes in Aarhus for his title chance. Opponent Mads Larsen is a former world title challenger who, due to promotional disputes, has been inactive himself in recent times, but Brian sees his world-class credentials as a threat.
“I think I’m catching Mads at a good time but they could say the same about me because I’ve been inactive for a good while as well. I feel it’s an evenly-matched fight and he’s undoubtedly a world-class operator as you can see from his record. Make no mistake, it will be a tough fight.
“I don’t mind travelling at all and if you want a title you have to do these things. The main issue was getting the fight and I was willing to do what was required to secure my shot. There are no concerns about going to Denmark whatsoever.”
Magee circled the globe as a top-class amateur and travelled to Germany in 2005 for a shot at this very belt. He dropped a close split decision to Vitali Tsypko before landing a fight with Carl Froch which was still in the balance when Brian was caught with a quality uppercut and dispatched in the 11th session. He trod the undercard scene for a while (also drawing with Tony Oakey for the British light-heavyweight belt) before some classy body shots stopped unbeaten Stevie McGuire for the domestic super-middleweight strap.
In 2008 a mixture of injuries and politics meant he has remained out of action until now, but Brian sees the positive side: “If I had been defending the British title over the past year then this is where I’d liked to have been at this stage anyway. The European title was in our plans way back last year so I’m glad it worked out.”
Former pro Checa, meanwhile, has been plotting a strategy of his own to ensure the title comes back to Belfast. “Pat Magee asked me if I was interested in training Brian and I said ‘why not?’ so here I am,” Bernardo explained.
“Brian’s working very hard in the gym. We’ve been concentrating on defence and movement as well as footwork and punching power. He’s getting good sparring with two guys from the South who are both southpaws like Larsen. We are well prepared to travel to Denmark and I believe we will be 100 per cent ready.
“It’s the right time to take Larsen, I think he’s past his best and Brian will win.”
Brian’s manager Pat Magee [no relation], gave me an insight into why his man felt he had to change trainers. “Harry [Hawkins] wanted Brian to go with another promoter in Brian Peters,” Pat said. “Harry found it difficult to work with myself and [promotional partner] John Rooney after the Poonsawat-Bernard Dunne situation [we cannot explore this further as it is the subject of an ongoing court case]. Brian wanted to stay with me. Don’t get me wrong, Harry’s a great coach and if I had another fighter who was better suited to him than Bernardo, I’d have no hesitation in recommending him.
“Bernardo has a long history of training world champions here. He came to Belfast in the 1980s when he was still boxing; he was No. 1 in the world super-bantam ratings. He used to struggle with the weight and he had a bent for coaching so he retired at 26-28, and joined the Barney Eastwood stable when Barry McGuigan, Dave McCauley, Crisanto Espana and Victor Cordoba were there. Brian knew of Bernardo by reputation and I used Bernardo for the Kiko Martinez in the last Rendall Munroe fight. He was in town and the obvious choice.”
Hawkins disputed Pat Magee’s version of events. “Brian was not getting any fights with Pat so I asked if we could put him on a Brian Peters bill in Limerick,” he countered. “I didn’t want him to work with Peters permanently. We also had a wee bit of bad blood over Poonsawat but of course I’d have worked with Pat. At the end of the day, it’s Brian decision, Pat can only advise him.”
The two southpaws brought in for fine tuning are the unbeaten McDonagh brothers, JJ and Paddy (both 2-0 novice professionals), managed by Gary Hyde. Brian’s manager Pat Magee is understandably delighted by the reported £270,000 purse that will be split 50/50 between the challengers. Magee has retained some ties with his former Holy Trinity residence with conditioning guru Alex Doherty still in camp.
Sparring partner JJ McDonagh has opened his professional account with two first-round knockouts and feels he is benefitting from the gym sessions.
“Being in the ring with a quality operator like Brian is great experience for me,” said the Mullingar man, when he caught his breath back following a heated three-threes. “I’m still making the transition, style-wise, from the amateurs and I realise that not every opponent will fall as easily as the first two. Brian is fit and strong and will be in great shape come January.”

 

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Hatton Promotions website said he was expected to be ringside. I hope he calls out Pavlik publicly. Not to early because no point in Macklin holding back now no big names in the division.

 

If macklin aint ready now at 27 nearly 28 with his experience in the ring he never will be..........

 

True enough. He may well come up short but theres not a great deal of point in putting it on the back burner much longer to be honest. Anyway, even if Pavlik beats him he can still come back and get another crack at a title

 

yip....go for it mack...tell pav hes a baldly goon...thats bound to get his attention

 

or call him an alco

 

Got given the new Bernard Dunne book The Agony and the Ecstacy as a present for my birthday there last week. I don't want to be overly derogatory of an Irish writer on here but suffice to say I wouldn't bother getting it if I were any of you. Not if you really enjoy high quality boxing writing rather than the same old tired stuff.

 

is there any dvds involving irish boxers past or present you can recommend

 

that'd be rich comin from Mack!!

 

What kind ? I have Dave Boy McCauley career box set. I have some of McGuigans fights too. The actual broadcast of the Pedrosa fight is good. I have Bernards career boxset all the way up to Faccio I think.

If you want to get a good boxing DVD then theres one with a HBO documentary on the Marquez -v- Vasquez trilogy as well as the full 3 fights going for about a tenner. I'll try rememebr where I got it from

 

or me being honest

 

who wrote is ya cranky ould fecker!

p.s. Happy birthday - twas me own last week as well!