Interviews
Meet Frank Warren’s potential clients who want to shine at the Copper Box
Frank Warren on Saturday at the Copper Box Arena will showcase many of its prospects on a cumulative bill, live on BT Sport.
On the undercard of Hamzah Sheeraz’s main event against Hall of Fame promoter Francisco Torres, Warren will fight 11 fights featuring some of the most highly touted juvenile fighters.
Nick Ball, fresh off his brutal fight against Isaac Lowe at Wembley Stadium in April, looks set to continue his scorching streak as he defends his WBC Silver featherweight title against Nathanael Kakololo, and the 25-year-old has WBC world champion Rey Vargas in his sights .
Dennis McCann is also looking to extend his undefeated streak by winning the WBC International featherweight title against James Beech Jr, while Lennox Clarke and Mark Heffron will face off in their highly anticipated British and Commonwealth super middleweight title clash.
Here we look at five potential candidates we met over the week who are keen to take center stage in Hackney.
Massood Abdullah
Masood Abdullah is hoping to claim a fifth straight knockout victory when he meets another undefeated prospect, Tinko Banabakov.
The Islington fighter moves up to super bantamweight and hopes to win the title before the end of the year.
Abdullah (4-0, 4 KO), who stopped Sandeep Singh Batti in six rounds at Wembley Arena in March, has tasted top-level sparring with world champions such as Leigh Wood and Joe Cordina and insists he wants to leave his mark on his career a prospering national scene that includes Queensberry stablemates Brad Foster, Chris Bourke and Jason Cunningham, among others.
When asked which fighter he learned the most from, Abdullah said: “It would be Joe Cordina, a phenomenal boxer.
“Every time he boxes, he has a great fight IQ.
“Every time I spar him, I try to steal little things here and there.”
Umar Khan
Umar Khan is also looking to maintain his undefeated record against Nicaraguan Engel Gomez.
Khan (3-0) is fighting for the fourth straight year at the Copper Box Arena, having dominated his opponent early in his career.
The 20-year-old moved to the professional ranks after an impressive run in the amateur category, during which he won one national title, and the super bantamweight prospect has moved training to Spain, where he is working with former Roberto Duran coach Bernardo Checa.
Khan hopes to make two more appearances in his first six rounds of competition after Saturday’s performance.
“They are tough [Nicaraguan fighters].
“I train in Spain. It’s kind of like their base there, where everyone is Nicaraguan.
“That’s why I spare them a lot, they’re tough.”
Sonny Liston Ali
Sonny Liston Ali has a name few will forget, although he insists his family did not give him the names of two former heavyweight champions to encourage him to pursue the sport.
The 3-0 super lightweight has performed brilliantly as an amateur, winning two national titles and two British crowns, and is proving to be a complex boxer in the professional ranks.
On Saturday, the 23-year-old will take the next step in his early career when he faces highly experienced journeyman Chris Adaway, who has only been stopped eight times in his 72 defeats.
The Essex player says he wants to focus more on his striking in the match against Adaway.
“You haven’t seen the best of Sonny Liston Ali yet.
“I hope [on] On Saturday night that will happen because of course you can only be as good as your opponent.
“So when they come, they come to survive, it’s challenging to look good.
I know he comes to win, he comes to fight, so I pray he comes and we fight the good fight.
“I want to show a little malice. I want to show that I’m not just a classy boxer.
Sean Noakes
Sean Noakes (1-0) is part of a fighting family and has joined his brother Sam as part of the Queensberry stable.
Sean, the older of the pair, won the Haringey Box Cup as an amateur and on Saturday he fights for the second time as a professional against experienced journeyman MJ Hall.
The Maidstone fighter says he wants to box at least twice as much by the end of the year, and the 27-year-old has future plans to share the bill with his brother, who won his first nine fights by stoppage.
“I would love to get on the same card [as Sam].
“We haven’t boxed together since 2013.
“It’s been a long time since we fought on the same show.
“Hopefully when he fights for the British title or something essential like that, I’ll get on the card and we can do it together.”
Khalid Ali
Khalid Ali is a fighter with a huge fan base, and over 200 of his followers will be packing the Copper Box Arena for his third professional fight.
Ali (2-0, 1 KO) describes himself as a “versatile fighter” with “power, class and speed” and will face Des Newton on Saturday.
The welterweight fighter intends to be suspended twice more after Saturday, and his goal is to fight at York Hall.
Ali came to the attention of Frank Warren thanks to Hamzah Sheeraz’s father, and he admits that Sheeraz was a great inspiration to him.
“I feel he is a huge inspiration to the Queensberry players.
“He started out just like me, starting shows.
“One fight, two fights, he can sell tickets and move up the rankings, and now he’s headlining the show.”
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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