Ibo world featherweight title

Jackson Asiku's team including his trainer Craig Christian would accept the fight in a heartbeat. The only 1 avoiding the fight is Billy Dib quite clearly.

 

hi mate, to be quite honest I don't really want to say anymore publicly. The fight isn't going to happen that's all I'm prepared to say at this stage, cheers

 

Arrrr ****

 

Obviously, you do... How do you know he was the one who knocked it back? How do you know there was an offer on the table? Was it talk or did the two respective managers get together? The jury's out. Phil doesn't want to add any more to the story (and he would be best placed for some clarity) so I imagine we will just hypothesise as to what really occurerd.

 

Phil, I appreciate you replying, thanks mate.

 

Good afternoon,

I'll qualify from the outset who I am and my interests in relation to this thread.

My name is Nathan Butler and I manage Billy Dib.

I am compelled to correct some of the complete inaccuracies that have been quoted on this 'thread' by various posters.

I'm all for debate on the 'Sweet Science' and generally speaking, quite enjoy the 'lively' banter that comes with the various forums; however some of points noted on here are inaccurate and utter rubbish.

For the record:

1.) At this point in time, there is no Asiku /Dib bout.

2.) Mr Phil Austin is correct in saying that the Asiku/Dib bout would be sanctioned as he would for any other boxer who fit into the IBO criteria when he kindly offered our team the potential opportunity. We as a team are sincerely appreciative of his and the IBO support’s of Billy as a boxer as I’m sure he and the IBO do for other boxers in affording opportunities also.

3.) We were offered the Asiku bout for the recent 'Green Machine' promoted card, however the terms were not suitable and therefore no bout made.

4.) We have since (post the Asiku/St.Clair bout) been approached by various promoters/match-makers 'floating' the Asiku/Dib bout, but at this stage, we HAVE NOT been offered a formal proposal of terms.

Points 3 & 4 are the telling points in all this 'debate'.

Do I as a manager allow my fighter to take the original proposed purse which was unacceptable, simply because the fans 'call' for it?

I reiterate my point, at this stage, there is NO formal proposal of terms put forth for a bout with Jackson Asiku and hence, how can a bout be made?

Boxing is a sport where the combatants are classed as 'prize fighters', hence reward for preparing, contesting and providing entertainment to the audience.

Do the people on these forums who question why bouts cannot be made, or more so, criticise the particular boxer and cast aspersions on them as people, their pride, etc, etc fully understand the complexities of Australian boxing or is more easy to cast aspersions with a keystroke and from behind a faceless computer screen? Mmmmmmm…....

Following the discussions regarding the potential IBO opportunity, I prepared a detailed proposal which outlined costs/expenses, etc and presented this to various promoters who all were very receptive and thus began the exhausting process of sourcing fighters to fit the budget/criteria, etc.

Australian boxing isn't the plethora of cash and reward some people may think and as such our proposal include a more than generous input of corporate table and general ticket selling from our team/supporter base to help offset the costs of the bout. We even went one step further and were introducing potential sponsors to the show to help offset costs.

World title bouts, actually any bout, costs quite a bit to put on. It's not a case of two blokes squaring off down at the pub and Australian boxing and the promoters, managers and most importantly, the fighters work bloody hard to support it. Sanctioning fees are substantial, sourcing fighters from overseas is expensive, marketing the fight is expensive and also add in the respective fighter’s purse.

No case is better highlighted than the recent article in 'The Fist' by Elias Nasser who stated that the when the 'Raging Bull' himself contested his last fight here on Australian shores, mind you as a two-time world champion, it was in front of 700 at a suburban RSL club!

Please do not ever question Billy Dib's, nor for that matter any boxer's courage, commitment, pride or braveness to step inside the lonely square all by themselves. There’s no hiding in there and they do it without question. However, back to my first points, shouldn't they be remunerated appropriately for it?

The prospect of a Dib/Asiku bout is one that rightly so, salivates not only Australian boxing fans, but boxing fans as a whole and one, as Team BTK hope eventuates in the future as I sure Team Asiku do also. However, and I'm sure Jackson's management will feel the same, do they contest it like seagull's fighting over a chip with the chip being the only prize, just to satisfy the person who threw it?

Jackson’s a tough, worthy opponent and we should be appropriately remunerated for it, as would Jackson as I know he would feel Billy is a worthy opponent. Do the ‘posters’ posting comments/threads on this forum, do tough, hard jobs every day for inappropriate wages? Before you all answer there “yes I do actually” remember all workers have a choice to look for other work and better remuneration, hence the same as the boxer.

A bout with Jackson is a bout we feel we could win, as I'm sure no doubt, Jackson's camp do also. We have our next bout planned, so rightly/wrongly Jackson would have to wait regardless to fight us, as we are firm in our goals and commitment to the respective promoter we have finalised the deal with to be on his upcoming show.

There has to be appropriate remuneration for fighters as it's a hard, un-forgiving sport, but each fighter I know lines up at times, with blinded enthusiasm because of their want to 'get it on', but when they retire, we also do want them to have something to show for it.

All promoters in this country, to a man whom I have dealt with and / or spoken too, want for the fighters to be better paid, absolute no question and hopefully over time, this will build.

Billy prides himself on his performances and at 23yrs of age has realised some great successes and also experienced some of the lows that is boxing. However his inner pride and determination cannot be questioned and under new trainer, the renowned Billy Hussein, Billy returned on March 11th as I assume you all saw with an impressive and well received performance over Davey Browne and this is just the first step towards future goals.

Both Billy's and I sat down earlier this year and at that stage, Jackson with the greatest respect or for that matter, an IBO title or title opportunity wasn't even on our radar. We as a team had a focus this year to stay busy, (no one realises we have had 4 dates/bouts fall through since our March 11th fight!) building on each fight as it was Billy Dib, to a degree harnessing his own style and adapting to Billy Hussein's method's and ideals, and for that part, Billy Hussein doing the reverse for Billy Dib. To this day, Billy Dib has never questioned away from those goals we agreed upon and we firmly believe we can develop and position ourselves accordingly in the future for some potential big bouts to be made.

We aim at every fight being an improved opponent and the obvious, hopefully an improved performance and outcome and thus continuing our positioning for the right opportunities in the future, at the right time of our preparation and for the right reward.

Getting back to the IBO opportunity, Billy Hussein and I viewed countless footage of ranked fighters and unfortunately, due to numerous factors of either purse or one fighter moving up to S/F/Weight and not wanting to take the fight, our choice of opponents (again all ranked with the IBO) fell through. Mind you, not through fault of effort and therefore at such time, obviously the IBO potential opportunity isn't meant to be ours.

We do move on now and stick with our focused and agreed goals and over the next week or so, will announce our next fight against a highly credentialed international fighter on an exciting new development for Australian boxing.

People seem to forget that Billy is 23yrs of age and yes, achieved quite a great deal, however he's not 33yrs of age at the end of his career and were looking for our 'last shot of glory'. The average age of the Top 25 BoxRec rated F/Weights is just under 28yrs of age, what does that tell us for our goals and the management and training of Billy Dib? “ROME wasn’t built in a day” as the old saying goes.

The legendary Johnny Lewis has been quoted many a time saying in his opinion, Billy won't fully realise his potential until 27-28 and both Billy Hussein and I support this judgement.

To bring this post to a close, there was a thread posted which was entirely inaccurate claiming Billy Dib said in an interview that he believed he was the best F/Weight around. Utter rubbish and as Billy’s manager, all interviews are facilitated through me and 9 times out of 10, most writers email through their questions and Billy and I sit down, I ask him the questions and he gives a truthful answer to each question and never has he answered in such tones. He did answer as the ‘poster’ noted, that at some point in the future, would love to face Chris John as I’m sure each F/Weight wants too. He qualified himself and answered this question with absolute respect to Chris by saying Chris’s credential’s spoke for themselves as a great champion and Billy’s only comment was that he believed he had the tools to take into what should be a great fight and wanted an opportunity to show this.

I trust this clears up some major mis-conceptions and instead of bagging fighters when not fully conversant of the facts, maybe it’s best left by saying nothing. Billy Dib one tough little bugger and I can assure you wants the bout to be made. It’s in everyone’s interests to make such a bout if the terms are right in the future and yes I do think a bout like this will happen, I certainly am positive towards it.

Debate an Asiku/Dib bout on these forums, call for it, demand it even and Australian promoters will listen, but don’t bag or carry on with some of the rubbish that’s on here when you don’t know the full facts or more importantly, know the individual’s such as Billy who are a credit to their families, themselves and Australian boxing with trying to develop and perform time and again and on the biggest stages and with the biggest fighters.

 

Thank you Contendo. It was a very detailed response. Bloody long...but you make some very clear points about reasons behind the fight not taking place.

I agree with you in having all the cards on the table.

Please wish Billy all the very best. I have stated on this forum before, that I respect him from a totally different perspective. He was a great ambassador at a charity event I attended. No heirs of grace. One of the most humble and impressive people I met amongst a room full of sporting legends all set on their own ego.

I hope the fight does happen down the track and the best person wins. If it's about money, that's fair enough. I thought it were a surprise that some posters questioned his courage.

Thanks again.

 

Long freakin' post!

Is Billys next fight on Channel 10?

 

At the end of the day Billy gets into a boxing ring - no-one should ever, ever question his courage

 

Is Dib still with GBP?

 

Welcome contendo to ESB....please post more often and maybe a little shorter in length....us aussie posters dont have the attention span to read that amount of info...let me help you sum it up for next time...

"I am Dibs manager.....stop talking **** when you dont know the truth....the cash is not right for the Asiku fight....no formal contract offer yet and not enough cash round at the moment for aussie boxing.

Dibs is focused for his next fight on TV......hes on the improve and we are managing our fighter with his best interest in mind....if ya nice I will fill you in some more soon...cheers contendo"

 

Ashley sums it up quite well

 

Good morning one and all.

Ashley, Daz, certainly didn't start out with the intent to be a long post, however I wanted some fact to baseless rubbish and context provided to the situation and how things come together (or don't).

Wrangler, thank you for your comments as Billy has recently done some speaking engagements and been immensely well received, donating signed gloves etc and been very willing of his time and efforts. He is a great ambassador for boxing behind the scenes.

Daz, what I can say is with pending media release & announcements, Billy is set to appear on a major, exciting development for Australian boxing very shortly.

Cheers to all.

 

Fair enough. I have been a critic of Billy as a fighter but i have much respect for him as a person. When Willie Kickett got KOed cold, he (Billy) was in Elomars camp but ran straight over to Willie to help him and make sure he was ok. Acts like that show what type of a person Billy Dib is so he will always have support even if i dont like his style.

Hopefully Billy Huessein can calm him down in the ring and get him more focused on boxing/fighting and not have such a "flashy" style that many concieve as being more of a showboater then fighter.