Irish Boxing

that was on www.irish-boxing.com late last year- he called out Pajo then too.

 

Alex Arthur v Michael Gomez: Modern Classic

Andrew Wake delves into his memory bank

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NO LAUGHING MATTER: Arthur's smile after being dropped will not last VETERAN whip Ernie Draper has witnessed some classic battles in his time in the sport so when he described the October 2003 encounter between Alex Arthur and Micheal Gomez as the best five rounds he’d ever seen, you knew it had to be something special.
Before the bout the two combatants were seemingly at differing stages of their careers. Arthur, a gold medallist at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, was 25, the reigning British champion and undefeated in 16 pro contests. He’d been training with all-time great Freddie Roach and was looking forward to opportunities at European level and beyond.
Manchester’s often rambunctious Gomez was only one year Arthur’s senior but people were already wondering about his future. He’d won the British super-featherweight title with a second-round stoppage of Gary Thornhill in 1999 and went on to gain the belt outright before defeats to Laszlo Bognar (avenged) and Kevin Lear in a WBU tilt left a serious question-mark over what the Irish-born scrapper had left in the tank.
Indeed, even Gomez himself acknowledged that this was possibly his last chance at winning domestic honours and hinted that a defeat to Arthur would lead to his retirement.
That said, Gomez was riding on the back of three straight wins since moving from Brian Hughes’ stewardship to Billy Graham’s Phoenix Camp in Denton and a small minority of people were beginning to believe his ability to whip in fast left hooks would be enough to earn him an upset victory.
Respected trainer Brendan Ingle wasn’t convinced though. He told Boxing News: “Take all this ‘New Gomez’ stuff with a pinch of salt. Alex Arthur will knock Gomez out in around six to nine rounds. Arthur’s not only a superior boxer to Gomez but he will hit too hard for him.”
Steve Connolly in his preview also predicted a late stoppage for the undefeated champion.
Gomez, however, wasn’t reading too much into what was being made of his chances. He was ready to take on the Edinburgh man in the lion’s den of the capital’s Meadowbank Sports Centre and was putting his previous shortcomings down to a poor lifestyle.
“The only person who's beaten me in the past is myself. I can't blame anyone because what happened was all my own fault,”Gomez commented to Jim Black of The Express.
“But for all the constant partying and arrests, I have never been a loser. I simply went off the rails for a time. I just didn't live the correct lifestyle for a boxer in the past. But nothing is going to stop me getting back to the top now. I'm going to nail Alex Arthur.”
Arthur countered: “I just can't see how he can beat me. I'm not a one-dimensional fighter and I have gained a lot of experience after so many fights as an amateur.
“I have also had a lot of good sparring. I must have sparred 500 rounds with Scott Harrison, for example, and Gomez isn't as strong, technically gifted or as intelligent in the ring as Scott.”
The fight itself erupted into a war from the opening bell and it was Gomez who took the upper hand as he rocked Arthur with a huge left hand in the first 20 seconds.
The champion battled back gallantly but Gomez’s lateral movement continued to allow him inside Arthur’s three-inch reach advantage to bang home hard hooks to the head and body.
Round two was a stark contrast to the first stanza. Arthur, with Roach missing from his corner due to commitments for the upcoming Manny Pacquiao-Marco Antonio Barrera fight, now used excellent footwork to skip into space and fire off quick combinations behind his jab.
The hometown man continued to suppress the turbo-charged Mancunian’s attacks by popping his stick early in the third until Gomez got close enough to connect with a hellacious right hand that left Arthur tottering on unsteady legs. The challenger followed up with a barrage of shots and Arthur was left clinging on for dear life before the bell sounded.
“He [Arthur] is the champion but in so many cases the fight could have been stopped,” declared Glenn McCrory, commentating for Sky Sports. “He was out on his feet and I haven’t seen many people take as much in a round.”
The fusillade went on in round four with Gomez like a man possessed. Arthur, though, incredibly turned the tables with a solid right cross and for the first time Gomez was having to cover up.
“This is spellbinding,” enthused McCrory’s broadcast partner Ian Darke. “This is pure undiluted boxing drama.”
Arthur remained gutsy in the fifth and ultimately final session, forcing Gomez to sag close to the ring strands with a series of shots around the elbows and into the ribcage.
Something had to give. Gomez bounced back with a weighty hook and in an instant Arthur’s legs were leaden. The champion looked to fight his way through the storm but with 31 seconds left on the clock a left hook detonated and sent him crashing backwards to the canvas.
Almost unbelievably, the champion looked into a camera and smiled before talking to someone at ringside as he quickly clambered to his feet.
He wasn’t smirking for long though as within seconds of the restart another hard blow had him over. Again he got up and referee John Coyle allowed him to box on but the writing was on the wall and Gomez ended things with a left and right which laid Arthur out.
Gomez never defended the crown and instead went on to win a WBU bauble before engaging in determined but losing title tilts against Carl Johanneson, Amir Khan and Ricky Burns. He retired last year and drifted into unlicensed contests.
Arthur would put that loss behind him and realised his potential with a short reign as WBO super-featherweight ruler. His record now stands at 29-3 (20) and he hopes to get himself back in the title picture – at lightweight – in 2011.

 

wouldnt mind seeing ormond ***an in the new year for irish super featherweight title if ***an gets a win under his belt and hyland vacates

 

watched 'the fighter' yesterday, all in all a good flick but a bit disappointing that his greatest achievement wasn't in the film

 

whats happening now with the European super bantam strap? Will Martinez be fighting Hyland?

 

i think Peters has control of the belt he has Martinez under contract and Matinez is the number one so Martinez versus Hyland in Dublin makes sense to me...

 

I think for some reason they werent allowed do the gatti fights......
Think i read somewhere that they want to make a movie about Gatti and his boxing career right up to when his wife bumped him off

 

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=279857


:think interesting

 

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Posted by: Frank Maloney on 1/4/2011 .

FRANK MALONEY has pleaded with any top British heavyweight to step up and face Olympic bronze medallist David Price.
Maloney is ready to fast track the 6ft 8in Liverpool boxer into world class this year, but wants his hopeful to mop up the best in Britain first.
Price, unbeaten in nine professional fights returns to action at Brentwood Centre on Saturday February 5 and hopes a top class domestic opponent will be in the opposing corner.
Among those approached to face the 27-year-old hopeful were Tyson Fury, Audley Harrison, John McDermott, Larry Olubamiwo, Martin Rogan, Sam Sexton, Michael Sprott and Matt Skelton.
Maloney explained: “Skelton took the job, but has since been sent to prison and the only other boxers to offer encouragement were Sam Sexton and John McDermott.
“An offer was made to Sam’s promoter on Sunday, but he wants to get a win first and it is the same with John.
“Big Larry turned down the job when I promoted him, Sprott is waiting for a bigger offer for another fight, while Harrison and Rogan don’t want to know either.
“An offer were made to Fury, but I haven't heard back.
“The heavyweight scene is wide open and this time next year, Pricey could be very close to a world title shot.
“David Haye is retiring in October and it would be no surprise if this was also the final year for Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko.”
The only name Britons Maloney hasn't approached is WBA heavyweight holder title David Haye and British and Commonwealth champion Dereck Chisora.
Maloney added: “Haye obviously has the Klitschkos to worry about and is adamant he’ll pack up in October.
“Chisora is also hopeful of a world title fight soon, but if that doesn’t come off we would take Del boy in a heart beat.”
Heading the Brentwood bill which is being televised live by Sky Sports is Sam Webb (17-1) who defends his British light-middleweight title against hard-hitting Bradley Pryce (31-8).
A super-flyweight contest sees recent British flyweight title challenge Ashley Sexton (9-0-1) box former British bantamweight title holder Martin Power (21-6)
Tickets for the show priced £30 and £55 are available from 0871 226 1508 and www.frankmaloney.com For additional information contact 020 8467 7647

 

Nice to see a bit of boxing in the echo tonight. No journos name but Id be pretty sure Podge didnt write it. Top 10 fights we want to see this year included Martin Ward-Tom Stalker and Tyson Fury-David Price. Pity the paper barely covers Irish boxing but can free up a page for that

 

Yup that's PA. Here, for what it's worth.

By Mark Staniforth, Press Association Sport
Forget politics. In a perfect boxing world in 2011, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd
Mayweather will square off in the richest fight in boxing history, and the
heavyweight division will crown an undisputed champion. Here are the 10 fights
we wish for:
1 MANNY PACQUIAO v FLOYD MAYWEATHER<QA1>
It&#8217;s the fight the world wants but it seems as far away as ever with Pacquiao
pencilled in to face Shane Mosley in April and Mayweather - with whom Amir Khan
has been rather fancifully linked - still harping on about drug test
procedures.
Chances: Slim
Verdict: Pacquiao pts.
2 DAVID HAYE v WLADIMIR/VITALI KLITSCHKO
After his Audley Harrison farce Haye needs to bite the bullet and accept one of
the Klitschkos&#8217; perfectly generous offers of a 50-50 financial split. Haye
versus a Klitschko is the only fight that can unite the division after a truly
dismal 2010.
Chances: Good.
Verdict: Haye KO Wladimir; Vitali KO Haye.
3 JAMES DEGALE v GEORGE GROVES
Degale&#8217;s scorching British super-middleweight title win over Paul Smith
promises to catapult him towards global honours in the new year. But first
British boxing fans would love to see him take care of unfinished business with
his amateur rival.
Chances: Decent.
Verdict: Degale KO.
4 GIOVANNI SEGURA v IVAN CALDERON II
Segura won their first light-flyweight classic in a manner which brought back
memories of the great mini-brawls between Michael Carbajal and Humberto
Gonzalez. A rematch, tentatively set for April, promises more of the same.<QA1>
Chances: Excellent.
Verdict: Calderon pts.
5 JUAN MANUEL LOPEZ v YURIORKIS GAMBOA
These two featherweight warriors have matched each other step for step through
their stellar careers and with both now unbeaten and holding world title
versions the stage is set for what would be a stunning unification showdown.
Chances: Good.
Verdict: Gamboa KO.
6 AMIR KHAN v TIMOTHY BRADLEY/DEVON ALEXANDER
For all the excitement of his win over Marcos Maidana, Khan is plainly not
ready for Mayweather. Instead he should try to clean up the light-welterweight
division by meeting the winner of January&#8217;s super showdown between Bradley and
Alexander.
Chances: Good.
Verdict: Khan pts.
7 FERNANDO MONTIEL v NONITO DONAIRE
With 51 knockout wins between them, Mexican warrior Montiel and and big-hitting
Filipino Donaire can be almost guaranteed not to go the distance when they clash
for Montiel&#8217;s WBC and WBO bantamweight titles in a fight tentatively set for
February.
Chances: Almost certain.
Verdict: Montiel KO.
8 CARL FROCH v LUCIEN BUTE
Forget the increasingly tenuous Super Six. It is arguable the best super-middle
in the world is Canadia&#8217;s IBF king Lucien Bute, whose claims for the tournament
were overlooked. Froch should turn to him to boost his claims to 12-stone
dominance.
Chances: Possible.
Verdict: Bute pts.
9 TYSON FURY v DAVID PRICE
It&#8217;s about time both the big-talking Fury and Liverpool giant Price each took a
big step in the right direction. They could start with each other in a bout
which would stand every chance of going down as a domestic classic.<QA1>
Chances: Unlikely.
Verdict: 50-50.
10 THOMAS STALKER v MARTIN WARD
Stalker and Ward are both battling for one GB lightweight spot for the 2012
Olympics. A foot injury to Ward scuppered their meeting in November&#8217;s GB finals,
but a 2011 showdown could settle who gets the chance at the London Games.
Chances: Probable.
Verdict: Stalker pts.

 

Anyone know when the press conference for Casey/Rigondeaux is scheduled for?

Heard Rigo is starting training very soon, can't imagine him interrupting it to fly all the way over here :?

 

I wonder who Andy Lee can line up now that Vera is tied up with another fight and the Duddy fight doesn't look too promising.

He should just man up and fight Macklin for the European title. He's not getting the breaks stateside. If he fights another cab driver I'll be seriously pissed off.

 

according to quotes from ronnie shields on maxboxing Rigo was reporting for training yesterday. I agree though, cant see Rigo coming over

 

i seen on Gary Hydes facebook that the presser is jan 17th in Limerick