Interviews
EXCLUSIVE: Martin Harkin – Following in his father’s footsteps
“This is what I have dreamed of since I was a little boy. This is the stage I want to be on to show what I can do, and I think my life will change if I go out there on Saturday night, put on a good performance and steal the show.”
That Saturday night could be the life-changing moment for Martin Harkin. The Scot returns from defeat to a straight British title eliminator against Kaisee Benjamin live on Channel 5.
Harkin was last seen last October fighting Michael McKinson, a fighter he believes has the potential to rise to the top.
“I lost my last fight, it was a needy performance and I was really disappointed.” Harkin told proboxing-fans.com.
“I took the fight because the guy was second-ranked in the UK, no one wanted to fight him, they were trying to get an opponent and everyone was turning it around, so I took the fight. I want to beat the best players in the league, I want to be the best.
“He is a very good and effective fighter. He is sneaky, he seems to bring fighters down to his pace of fighting.
“He’s very hard to hit cleanly, he’s very clumsy, he’s not the strongest hitter, but I think he’ll go far with his style, that clumsy southpaw. Any fighter will tell you that they hate fighting with clumsy southpaws.
Losing an unbeaten record is a bitter pill to swallow for any fighter and with hindsight the 29-year-old from Dumbarton states that a major part of his defeat was his preparation, or lack thereof.
“I have never had much sparring since my last fight, I have done less than 24 rounds of sparring.
“Sparring is the best preparation for a fight. It’s the closest thing to a reenactment of a fight, and I had never sparred that much before my last fight. I was well prepared, to some extent only because of the lack of sparring.
“This time it was different, I was in the south. I sparred Ohara Davies, in this fight I sparred Mason Cartwright, and most recently I sparred Lewis Ritson.
“I did well against them in sparring, they are top-class players and I rate them very highly.”
The silver lining to this defeat was that Harkin was now cleared to fight Benjamin in an eliminator for the British title, currently held by Chris Jenkins, a belt that had always been held in high regard by the Harkin family.
“It means the world to me. I’ve always said this since I turned pro and when I got into boxing, I would love to fight for the Lonsdale belt, the British title.
“My dad fought for this as a pro and for me it’s just personal. I think a win here at the weekend would definitely skyrocket me and as I’m a British title qualifier it’s a great opportunity for me.”
Martin’s father, Robert Harkin, fought as a professional from 1984 to 1990, unsuccessfully challenging Pat Barrett, Zelfa Barrett’s uncle, for the British title in October 1989.
Growing up with a father who was the Scottish Super Lightweight Champion, Martin was always drawn to physical sports.
“That’s basically how I got interested in boxing from an early age. You see a lot of fathers who play football and instill it in their children. My situation was that my dad was a boxer, so I just fell in love with it from a youthful age.
“My dad doesn’t train me, but he will give me tips and advice based on the positions he’s been in. He likes to give me this knowledge and facilitate me in my career.
“It’s second to none. I think that maybe many players should learn on their own, and of course I have to do that in my career, but it’s good to have a little insight into managerial and promoter issues, and which coaches deal with corruption, which some players learn about first-hand.
“Being a professional has benefited me greatly.”
It will soon be Harkin’s turn to fight for the British title, but first he must defeat Birmingham’s Kaisee Benjamin.
“He’s a really good fighter from what I’ve seen from him. I don’t watch much of my opponents’ previous fights. I usually focus on myself and make sure I’m prepared.
“But my coach watches a lot of material about fighters, if he can download it from YouTube, and there are a lot of my opponents on YouTube, he has some good fights there.
“He’s a good fighter, he’s got some good wins and he’s on a good streak.”
A very respectful attitude towards the opponent, but on fight night everything will be taken care of and Harkin will simply come for the victory.
“I’m always confident. I have a good feeling about this fight. I’ve been preparing for this for 12 weeks.
“I’ve put a lot of strenuous work and sacrifice into this, so I won’t accept anything less than winning.
“I just want to win convincingly on this platform, that’s all I’ve been thinking about since I signed this fight.
“I am extremely confident, every fighter should be like that.”
Daniel Dubois believes that Tyson Fury will return to the ring and claims that a fight between them may happen.
Fury ended hopes of All-British fights against the likes of Dubois and long-time rival Anthony Joshua after retiring last Monday, less than a month after his second successive defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
However, “Dynamite” believes that his compatriot will return in a similar mood as when he retired in April 2022, only to return seven months later.
If the “Gypsy King” ends his final retirement, Dubois insists the fight with Joshua must happen, which has opened the door for him to face the winner.
“I think he will definitely come back,” said the 27-year-old talkSPORT.
“He’s always done that throughout his career, mind games and all that.
“So I think he will come back. He plays various characters. He will definitely come back.
“Get them in the ring [Joshua and Fury].
“I want to see them fight now.
“I punched Joshua so he had to fight Fury.
“I want to see what’s left between these two.
“And then maybe I’ll fight the winner.”
The Londoner knocked out “AJ” five rounds in September at Wembley Stadium and on February 22 in Riyad, he will defend the IBF world heavyweight title against Joseph Parker.
Dubois stormed the ring after Usyk’s rematch victory over Fury, calling for a rematch from their August 2023 clash.
The Londoner’s argument for wanting a rematch is based on a controversial low blow in the fifth round of the fight against the Ukrainian, which he believed was a legal shot.
“Usyk, I want to take revenge,” he said.
“Good job tonight.
“I want revenge for the last robbery.
“Let’s sort this out. Let’s go.
Eddie Hearn believes Tyson Fury will retire after a legacy-defining clash with Anthony Joshua.
Fury stunned the boxing world on Monday when he announced his retirement from the sport, leaving behind a megafight with Joshua.
The “Gypsy King” announced his shocking decision less than a month after suffering, among other things, second defeat in a row against Oleksandr Usyk in Riyad, but Joshua’s promoter, Hearn, is convinced that the fighter from Morecambe will return to the ring to fight the long-awaited showdown with “AJ”, who is returning after a fifth-round defeat to Daniel Dubois.
“In my opinion, I think he will come back,” the 45-year-old said talkSPORT.
“But I don’t know him well enough to judge that.
“He’s coming back after two defeats, and these defeats hurt the boys.
“AJ was devastated by the defeat to Dubois and I’m sure Fury was too [with his defeats to Usyk]both are winners.
“I don’t know if Fury can leave one of the biggest fights in the history of the sport on the table.
“I know he’s a competitor. I know he will want to give the British fight fans what they want and I hope we see more of him.
“But if we don’t, God bless the speed and all the best.”
Fury hung up his gloves after defeating Dillian Whyte in April 2022, only to return eight months later for a third fight with Derek Chisora, whom he defeated comfortably at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Hearn said Joshua will now look to secure a clash with the winner of the February 22 fight between his former rivals Dubois and Joseph Parker, who will fight in Riyad for the IBF heavyweight world title.
If Fury returns to fight AJ, the Matchroom boss insists the loser would have nowhere to go.
“They would both be devastated by defeat,” he added.
“It’s one thing to lose the world heavyweight title, but at the same time losing in a fight of this magnitude is the biggest bragging rights.
“At this stage of their career, the last word is goodbye.
“Whoever loses this fight is finished and whoever wins it moves on and that’s what you fight for.
“You’re not just fighting for a legacy, you’re fighting to save your career.
“It’s a huge fight, but it’s not on the table right now.”
Callum Simpson defended his British and Commonwealth super middleweight titles after a second-round victory over Steer Woodall on Saturday at the Park Community Arena in Sheffield.
Simpson (16-0, 11 KO) proved too good for Zak Chelli in his last competition and went on to sweep wide and claim the British and Commonwealth titles last August. Woodall (19-3-1, 12 KO) picked up his best career win, stopping Lerrone Richards in six rounds in an upset in Bolton last June.
This attack ended quickly in the second round, with a right uppercut that left Woodall on wobbly legs, and then another attack punctuated by another right uppercut, leaving “The Stallion” on the deck.
Despite beating the count, referee Mark Bates waved off the fight shortly afterwards.
Simpson dedicated his victory his dead sisterwho died tragically in August in a road accident.
“It’s bittersweet,” the 28-year-old said Heavenly sports after the fight.
“I won these titles in front of all my fans, but there’s one person that I think everyone knows who I wish was here, but I know she’s looking down on me and I make her proud.”
Dubois is tied with Camara
On the card below, Caroline Dubois (10-0-1, 5 KO) made her first defense of her WBC lightweight title against Canadian Jessica Camara (14-4-1, 3 KO), but the fight ended in a technical draw.
The fight was stopped due to a cut to Camara’s left eye from the head collision, and she also went down in the first round.
Forrest stops Miller
Cruiserweight prospect Scott Forrest needed just two rounds to defeat Deevorn Miller.
Miller (8-3, 6 KO) lost once in the first and second rounds, while Forrest (7-0, 4 KO) won outright.
Undercard remaining
In the featherlight heavyweight division, where Billy Deniz defeated Mickey Ellison (15-8, 5 KO) by one point.
Deniz (13-0, 5 KO) won with a score of 77-76.
In the six-round middleweight division, Sam Hickey (2-0, 1 KO) stopped Lewis Howells (3-2) three times en route to a first-round victory, and Mauro Silva (7-0, 3 KO) scored a 59-56 victory against Emmanuel Zion (6-3, 3 KOs).
Ellis Price (2-0, 1 KO) stopped Liam Fitzmaurice (0-1) twice en route to a first-round lightweight victory.
‘YOU F****D IT!’ Darren Till vs Anthony Taylor • FULL PRESS CONFERENCE | Misfits Boxing
“I Want To Beat Eubank Jr Up!” – Hamzah Sheeraz
‘CONOR BENN, FANS DESERVE TO KNOW WHY HE WAS CLEARED!’ – Andy Clarke on Eubank clash
-
MMA8 months agoMax Holloway is on a mission at UFC 212
-
MMA8 months agoCris Cyborg ready to add a UFC title to her collection
-
Interviews3 months agoCarl Froch predicts that Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol
-
MMA8 months agoThe Irish showed up in droves at the Mayweather-McGregor weigh-in
-
Interviews3 months agoArtur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol
-
Boxing6 months agoLucas Bahdi ready to test his skills against Ashton Sylve
-
Interviews8 months agoI fell in love with boxing again
-
Opinions & Features3 months agoDmitry Bivol: The story so far