Interviews
April Hunter talks about connecting with Bellew, Marshall sparring and McCaskill
In just 12 fights, Jessica McCaskill holds all four major welterweight belts, and April Hunter looks to follow in her footsteps in the coming years.
Hunter (3-0) is in the unique position of being the first professional boxer to come from Newcastle and appears to have everything at her disposal to achieve that ambition ahead of her fourth professional appearance on the undercard of Lewis Ritson’s IBF final eliminator against Jeremias Nicolas Ponce Eagles Community Arena on Saturday.
The welterweight prospect has secured three straight decision victories since his debut in October 2019 and ended a more than 16-month absence with a victory in Barcelona in April.
Hunter, a former stablemate of Joe Laws, abandoned her North East routes and moved to Liverpool, specifically to the notable Rotunda gym, where she was trained by Joe McNally and Declan O’Rourke.
Since the move, the 26-year-old has added former WBC cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew to her team in a management role and believes she is in good hands under “Bomber’s” guidance.
“I obviously train outside the Rotunda,” Hunter said Tuesday during a Zoom media conference call.
“And everyone there is like a little family, so I know that with Tony I’m really well taken care of, he has my best interests at heart.
“As you say, he got us in Barcelona and I’m playing at home again, so he’s doing well.”
In the UK, particularly over the last year, women’s boxing has arguably received the most attention and recognition, highlighted by the Matchroom Act of November 14, 2020, which was spearheaded by Irish great Katie Taylor as well as WBC super featherweight champion Terri Harper , and currently WBC interim super bantamweight champion Rachel Ball.
WBO super middleweight world champion Savannah Marshall is another top talent who is on track for a future undisputed clash with three-division world champion Claressa Shields, and Hunter has benefited from sparring with Marshall, which she considers to be invaluable experience.
“Terrible headache!” Hunter joked when asked how she found sparring.
“Savannah is a really good friend of mine. I was going to Peter Fury’s gym on Wednesday night to spar with Savannah on Thursday morning and we’re going to keep that as a regular feature of this camp because for a boxer it’s like the equivalent of Tom Hart in the gym going to spar with Canelo.
“I have it at my fingertips and she’s a friend of mine, so I’m going to continue to apply it as much as I can and I think it’s going to be one of the most vital parts of my career that will take us an extra long time.
“You can’t buy it and especially with women’s sparring, I think it’s demanding to get a pool in the UK for sparring, I fight myself.
“So having this car on my doorstep, 40 minutes away, and Sav taking the time to lend a hand me and drive me around is just crucial to my career.”
According to Boxrec.comHunter is ranked 24th in the world welterweight rankings, although some of the names mentioned above the Wallsend fighter have similar experience.
Leading the way is undisputed champion Jessica McCaskill, who defended her belts with a rematch victory over former long-reigning champion Cecilia Braekhus in March.
“CasKILLA” has won all of her titles within her first 11 fights, and while Hunter will need more experience before facing the likes of McCaskill, she believes a world title shot could be a realistic goal within 10 fights.
Hunter also admits she would be open to fighting McCaskill’s stablemate and undefeated welterweight, Summer Lynn who was identified as a potential future opponent by the manager and coach Rick Ramos on social media earlier this week.
🤔🤔🤔 #RickRamosBoxing @lato_lynn9151 #Box pic.twitter.com/OH9GqCz4XV
— Rick Ramos (@RickRamosBoxing) June 8, 2021
“It obviously depends on my coach, it depends on my team, but the way he talks, I would say 10 fights and we will be ready. [for world titles].
“As a warrior, you will fight anyone, right. I’ll leave it to Tony and my coach Joe and I’m sure if it makes sense we’ll get that fight done [against Summer Lynn]”
Natasha Jonas unified the welterweight division by defeating Ivana Habazin by clear points on Saturday to add the WBC title to her IBF crown at the Exhibition Center in Liverpool.
Jonas (16-2-1, 9 KO) was last seen defending her title in January in a hard-fought split decision over Mikaela Mayer, while Habazin (23-6, 7 KO) won the vacant WBC welterweight title in her home country. time out, winning by wide points over Kinga Magyar.
After a technical opening round, Jonas settled into a steady rhythm before landing a powerful right hand in the fourth round that crushed Habazin.
There was a rivalry, but the home favorite was much better in the rallies and seemed to be losing round after round.
This situation lasted until the final bell, when Jonas became the winner by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92.
Price is closing in on Jonas’ match
Lauren Price definitely stayed on as a collision course with Jonas and easily defended her WBA and IBO welterweight titles after a third-round fight against Bexcy Mateus.
Mateus (7-1, 6 KO) was on board in the first round, after the Welshman landed a powerful left hand, and the Colombian struggled to match Price’s speed.
The same shot caused the 29-year-old to repeat the punch in the second round, and the round later ended when another stinging left hand stunned Meteus and she fell to the canvas, after which the fight was stopped.
Price (8-0, 2 KO) has agreed to face Jonas next, and promoter Ben Shalom revealed it could be announced next week.
Knife edge passes McKenna
Lee Cutler scored an upset victory to claim the silver WBC International welterweight title after winning a majority decision against Stephen McKenna.
McKenna (15-1, 14 KO) was eliminated in the first round, his knee touching the canvas after being tagged, and Cutler (15-1, 7 KO) took full advantage of his opponent’s weakness in the seventh round when his right hand plunged into his knee. The Irishman who ultimately fell once again.
McKenna was relentless in his attacks and landed a huge number of punches.
The balance of 94-94 was surpassed by the scores of 95-93 and 96-92, which ensured the victory for Cutler.
Jeffers stopped Quartey
Mark Jeffers is on track for large fights in 2025 after defeating Joshua Quartey to defend his silver Commonwealth super middleweight title.
A pair of right hands put Quartey (10-1, 9 KO) on the board, and although he broke the count, a well-placed body shot after the restart by Jeffers (19-0, 6 KO) blew the guy away again.
A crazy attack after the restart forced a stoppage.
Riley secures Chamberlain’s face-off with a stoppage
Viddal Riley finished the heavyweight fight and stopped Dan Garber in the second of the scheduled six rounds.
Riley (12-0, 7 KO) hit Garber (7-4, 2 KO) with his right hand, and then his next attack forced the referee’s intervention.
Riley’s next match will be against Isaac Chamberlain on February 1.
Undercard remaining
Mason Cartwright (21-4-1, 8 KO) won all six rounds at super welterweight against Dzmitry Atrokhau (16-25, 7 KO), and Hope lightweight Frankie Stringer (9-0, 1 KO) did the same in the fight against Tatenda Mangombe (3-9-1).
In the flyweight division, Mikie Tallon (6-0) defeated Benn Norman (7-7) with a body shot in the first round of the match, and then settled for a 59-54 victory.
The only fighter to fight four rounds in the super featherweight division was Mason Devine (6-0, 1 KO), who won every session against Jayo Fernando Duran (15-34-1, 14 KO).
Dillian Whyte has revealed his predictions for the hotly anticipated rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury on December 21.
Fury, who knocked out Whyte at Wembley Stadium in 2022, will seek revenge for the only defeat of his career in just 11 days, after losing to Usyk by split decision earlier this year.
Despite losing the night, “The Gypsy King” was a major success and many are struggling to pick a winner in his second battle against the imperious Ukrainian.
Some experts believe Fury needs to be more aggressive and take the lead if he is to win.
I’m talking to Social boxingWhyte revealed he shared that view, asking the Morecambe man to return to the game plan that saw him destroy Deontay Wilder in the return leg.
“It’s a great fight, man, I’m still trying to think – how will this fight go?
“Okay, Fury can make changes, but Usyk can make changes too. It’s a tough fight, a very, very tough fight for both fighters.
“If I were Fury’s coach, I would tell him he has to play aggressively.
“Fight him like you fought Wilder the second time.
“Bring back the aggression, bring back the tyrant!
“This is heavyweight boxing – you never know.”
It is unclear whether Fury will heed the advice of Whyte and others in the boxing world who have advised him to take the fight to Usyk, but looks noticeably heavier than before the first fight.
What are the changes? ❌@Tyson_Fury says he will exploit exactly the same game plan as the first time when he faces Oleksandr Usyk at the end of the month.
Thinks? 🧐 pic.twitter.com/VtpEwLJkWx
— Professional boxing fans (@ProBoxingFans) December 6, 2024
Win or lose, the 36-year-old could face a long-awaited home fight against Anthony Joshua, even though “A.J.” interrupted defeat against Daniel Dubois in September.
While it may not have been as great a spectacle as it once was, a clash between Joshua and Fury would still be by far the biggest all-British fight in recent memory.
As for Whyte, he returns to the ring next Sunday night and will face Ghanaian heavyweight Ebenezer Tetteh live on DAZN in Gibraltar.
The All-American fight between lightweight world champions Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson is one of the most anticipated fights in all of boxing.
Both Davis and Stevenson are undefeated multi-weight champions and are staples on any respected pound-for-pound list.
With this in mind, you could be forgiven for assuming that the pair locking corners in their prime years is a given, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen in the near future.
“Tank” spoke to the media at the press conference inaugurating his performance March 1 fight with Lamont Roach, and when the prospect of fighting Stevenson arose, he didn’t seem particularly interested.
The Baltimore hitter even went so far as to question what his compatriot did to deserve him.
“What for? Who has Shakur [beat]? What did Shakur do?
“What has he achieved in sports? He didn’t do anything! Juvenile people look better than him!”
“Keyshawn [Davis] you look so much better than that nigga! Shout it out nigga, he ain’t done nothing!
I asked Gervonta about a possible fight with Shakur… #Box #TankRoach pic.twitter.com/T1eNFJ9iIO
— Dwa O Dwa Z.. (@Noo_Barzz) December 3, 2024
“Why the hell are you saying his name?”
Like Davis, Stevenson will also return to action in the first quarter of next year, fighting against up-and-comer Floyd Schofield on the February 22 Riyad season card.
The Newark southpaw has been sidelined since his July decision victory over Artem Harutyunyan after he had to withdraw from a proposed October fight with Joe Cordina due to injury.
Saudi boxing boss Turki Alalshikh has expressed his willingness to have a fight between the two virtuosos, provided both are successful in their upcoming fights.
‼️ His Excellency Turki Alalshikh stated that he wants the Gervonta Davis vs Shakur Stevenson fight: “My plan for Shakur is this fight [vs Floyd Schofield]then William Zepeda, and then let’s see if Tank wants to come on our show.” [@DAZNBoxing] pic.twitter.com/Mmi6hO7Fjo
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBenson) December 3, 2024
While he undoubtedly has the talent to rival Davis, Stevenson is not as commercial a star as his rival, and some critics believe he needs to start giving more entertaining performances if he wants to get substantial names.
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