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.”
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.
Lauren Price believes Natasha Jonas was pressured into fighting her ahead of their March 7 unification clash.
Price will put his WBA and IBO welterweight titles on the line when he faces IBF and WBC champion Jonas live at the Royal Albert Hall. Heavenly sports.
Jonas’ coach, Joe Gallagher, has said he would prefer to see the 40-year-old retire, and Price, who won Olympic gold in 2021, is doubtful whether her rival wants to face her.
“I don’t think either of them wanted this fight,” the 30-year-old said proboxing-fans.com.
“But like I said, she has two belts, I have three and it’s just a great fight.
“The fight is signed, sealed and announced, so on March 7 we will see who will be the best.
“If you look at my amateur record, Olympic gold medalist, I haven’t lost a single round as a professional.
“The performance I am up against [Jessica] McCaskill in Cardiff against the legitimate world champion, the proof is in the pudding.
“I’ve got it. I’m in my youth.
“She’s coming to the end of my career and I don’t blame her, but in the end she has something that I want and that’s really it, there’s nothing personal.”
Jonas secured the WBC crown with a unanimous decision victory over then-champion Ivana Habazin in December in Liverpool, moments after Price defeated Bexcy Mateus in three rounds on the same bill.
The pair then clashed during a heated post-fight interview to confirm their upcoming match.
The Welshwoman believes that her youth, speed and dominance in the ring will allow her to defeat the experienced Liverpool resident on Friday in eight weeks.
Asked what her advantage was over Jonah, Price added: “Probably my youth.
“Reading the fight, my ring IQ, my speed.
“The little feints, the triggers I do, people reading me.
“Everyone says they will do it, they will do it until I stand in front of them, so we will see on March 7.
“But overall I think I’m just better and I believe I’ll win.”
Watch the full interview with Lauren Price:
Start time of the Darren Till vs. Anthony Taylor fight at Misfits Boxing 20
Naoya Inoue claims he wasn’t in peak condition on the eve of his fight with TJ Doheny
‘ANTHONY JOSHUA KNOCKS OUT TYSON FURY!’ – Derek Chisora PREDICTS Dubois vs Parker
-
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