Interviews
EXCLUSIVE: Raymond “Savage” Ford – In Search of a Legacy
“I sent a screenshot of him following me, I tagged his name and surname [in the post] and he DM’ed [direct messaged] SM. That’s how we started talking, he asked me if I was going to turn pro soon and I told him I was going to wait.
Raymond Ford turned pro with Matchroom USA, but his initial approach was a bit unconventional. Since connecting with Eddie Hearn via Instagram, “Savage” has been a perfect fit.
Ford is currently eight fights into his professional career and has a perfect undefeated record with his ninth fight coming up on the undercard with Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez vs. Juan Francisco Estrada.
Reflecting on his low career, Raymond feels there is room for improvement and is slightly disappointed with his early performances, but is nonetheless pleased with the progress he is making.
“I know I’m better [than I have shown]like I could do a lot more. Right now I feel like it’s okay, I’m going in the right direction,” Ford told proboxing-fans.com.
“Now I have an undefeated fighter that I’m going to be fighting soon, so I feel like that just gets me closer to being the world champion that I know I’m going to be.”
It’s refreshing to see a adolescent man looking to improve after his wins, rather than just settle for a win. The 21-year-old nicknamed “Savage” wants to entertain viewers.
“In the fights where I didn’t get knocked out, I feel like I could have done a lot more than I did.
“That’s why I enjoyed my last two fights. I basically left everything in the ring.
“I tried to go in there and start swift and early so I could break my opponents mentally.
“That’s what attracts the fans, that’s what makes them tune in and get knockouts. Especially at the beginning of my career, nobody wants to see me go the distance with these guys. That’s why I’m looking forward to the downtime!”
Aaron Perez is the next opponent Ford will try to impose an early victory on.
Perez also has a perfect professional record of 10 wins, stopping six fighters in the distance. This is the toughest test of Ford’s career on paper. Perez enters the ring somewhat unknown.
“I’d never heard of him. They brought him up in December, I was supposed to fight him in December, but I don’t know what happened. That was the first time I heard of him.
“There’s not a lot of footage of him, but I’ve seen a few bits and pieces of him and that’s all I need to see.”
While knockouts are thrilling to watch and generate a ton of buzz around a potential contender, there are opponents who will seemingly have “granite chins” and everyone needs a plan B, something the featherweight contender gleaned from his sparring days with Shakur Stevenson.
“[I learnt] to stay composed, relaxed and patient there. With Shakur, you can’t get too excited or just start throwing punches because he’ll pay you for it. You just always have to be sensible, especially with someone like him.
“So when I go out there looking for knockouts, if things don’t go my way, I know I can change that and just put it on cruise control, get some distance and box astute.”
The coronavirus pandemic put many careers on hold in 2020, but Ford was fortunate enough to fight three times last year and in 2021 he hopes to double that and win some gold.
“At least five or six times, it doesn’t bother me.
“I would like to win the Youth WBC [world championship]or an interim title. Just something around my waist until I get a real world title.
If Raymond gets his wish, he will be 14-0 by early 2022 and plans to become featherweight world champion at that point.
“I will be looking for a world title at the beginning of next year at the latest. I want to be 22 and be world champion before I am 23 and on March 16 I will be 22, so before March 16 next year I want to be world champion.
Ford’s motivation is clear – the path is hard, but worth taking.
“For me it’s about my legacy, I want to be a legend in this sport.
“I want to be great at this sport, it’s not just about money for me.”
Below you will find the entire interview with Raymond “Savage” Ford:
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.
Tyson Fury sends an ominous warning to Oleksandr Usyk
‘IF EUBANK JR VS BENN ISN’T NEXT, IT NEVER HAPPENS!’ – Ben Shalom also on Usyk vs Fury 2
“I Might Enjoy John Fury Spanking Me!” – Eddie Hearn On Whyte-Franklin
Max Holloway is on a mission at UFC 212
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Cris Cyborg ready to add a UFC title to her collection
‘IF EUBANK JR VS BENN ISN’T NEXT, IT NEVER HAPPENS!’ – Ben Shalom also on Usyk vs Fury 2
“I Might Enjoy John Fury Spanking Me!” – Eddie Hearn On Whyte-Franklin
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