Congratulations to my friend Amir Khan who as I predicted in this column two weeks ago comprehensively beat Paulie Malignaggi in New York at the weekend. Just a s he did when I fought him Malignaggi had plenty to say before the fight however, unlike the other great talker Floyd Mayweather, Malgnaggi does not have the talent to back up his pre-fight boasts.
I am sure Amir will want to fight in Las Vegas, it is a tremendous buzz seeing your name in lights on the famous strip, however my advice would be to have a big fight in England this summer. Of all the great nights I have had, fighting in front of 58,000 people at the City of Manchester Stadium a couple of years ago is something I’m immensely proud of and will always have a special place in my heart.
There will be a lot of paper talk of Amir fighting myself but I would much prefer to promote him and am certain with my help he can become the big star that his talent deserves.
I have been back in training this past week but before people start putting two and two together it is not boxing related but my other great love, football. I will be representing England in the UNICEF football challenge against the Rest of the World at Old Trafford on the 6th June.
I celebrated my younger brother Matthew’s birthday this weekend and last week was the first anniversary of my health and fitness club in Hyde.
This Friday I am promoting Ryan Rhodes in his European defense over in Sheffield. The bill features St Helen’s Martin Murray who is challenging for the Commonwealth Middleweight title. Another fighter to look out for is 6’ 8” Richard Towers who I have high hopes for, excuse the pun, and I don’t think it will be long before he can fight Manchester’s Tyson Fury. The show also features Manchester fighters Andy Morris and Stephen Foster Junior who next season will be challenging for titles.
A week on Saturday I am bringing boxing back to Bury when Scott Quigg fights Andrei Kostin. There was a real buzz about the town and I’m sure the sellout crowd will have a night to remember. Scott is another fighter who I have high hopes for and I expect him to be either the British or European champion before the end of the year.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Back from Vegas
I’ve just returned from Las Vegas where I was over for the Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley fight. Whilst I didn’t particularly enjoy the fight it was good to be back in Vegas and to catch up with some old friends.
The MGM was very busy over the weekend but there was nothing like the atmosphere and intensity as there was when I fought Mayweather a couple of years ago.
30,000 English fans created an amazing atmosphere which will stay with me forever.
Las Vegas remains the boxing capital of the world and I am looking forward to the day when I am taking one of my boxers over there for a world title fight, I am hoping it will not be that long.
I don’t want to take anything away from Floyd’s performance and you have to admire his boxing skill, I think history will show that he is one of the best fighters of all time. I hope that the negotiations can be resolved and that he will fight Manny Pacquiao, which was the fight everybody talked about this weekend.
Another anticipated fight is the forthcoming Amir Khan and Paulie Malignaggi. Having beaten Malignaggi comfortably myself I do not envisage any problems whatsoever for Amir and expect him to win easily.
I was surprised to read that the fight will be shown on ITV, who recently pulled out of boxing, I had presumed it would be shown live on Sky Sports. It will be interesting to see if ITV, or indeed any other terrestrial channels show any more boxing. Sky must be praised for the fantastic support they have given boxing in the UK over the last few years, without their support it is difficult to see how boxing would of survived. When I was growing up, it seemed there was always boxing on the TV, boxers like Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Prince Naseem were household names.
One of my young fighters Gary Buckland fights Manchester’s own John Murray this Friday for the British and European Lightweight Titles. I know John well obviously promoting his younger brother Joe, I expect Fridays fight to be a real cracker.
I’d like to say a big thank you to all my fighters who posed as models for my new range of clothing. Whilst they’re all used to fighting in front of a crowd with plenty of cameras and televisions I think a lot of then found this far scarier than fighting.
I managed to watch City’s impressive win over Aston Villa whilst in Vegas and have my fingers crossed for our fourth place decider against Spurs this week.
I went to the PFA annual dinner last week, where I was very pleased to see my good friend Wayne Rooney pick up the much deserved player of the year award. Like every other football fan, I hope he is fit for the world cup.
The MGM was very busy over the weekend but there was nothing like the atmosphere and intensity as there was when I fought Mayweather a couple of years ago.
30,000 English fans created an amazing atmosphere which will stay with me forever.
Las Vegas remains the boxing capital of the world and I am looking forward to the day when I am taking one of my boxers over there for a world title fight, I am hoping it will not be that long.
I don’t want to take anything away from Floyd’s performance and you have to admire his boxing skill, I think history will show that he is one of the best fighters of all time. I hope that the negotiations can be resolved and that he will fight Manny Pacquiao, which was the fight everybody talked about this weekend.
Another anticipated fight is the forthcoming Amir Khan and Paulie Malignaggi. Having beaten Malignaggi comfortably myself I do not envisage any problems whatsoever for Amir and expect him to win easily.
I was surprised to read that the fight will be shown on ITV, who recently pulled out of boxing, I had presumed it would be shown live on Sky Sports. It will be interesting to see if ITV, or indeed any other terrestrial channels show any more boxing. Sky must be praised for the fantastic support they have given boxing in the UK over the last few years, without their support it is difficult to see how boxing would of survived. When I was growing up, it seemed there was always boxing on the TV, boxers like Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Prince Naseem were household names.
One of my young fighters Gary Buckland fights Manchester’s own John Murray this Friday for the British and European Lightweight Titles. I know John well obviously promoting his younger brother Joe, I expect Fridays fight to be a real cracker.
I’d like to say a big thank you to all my fighters who posed as models for my new range of clothing. Whilst they’re all used to fighting in front of a crowd with plenty of cameras and televisions I think a lot of then found this far scarier than fighting.
I managed to watch City’s impressive win over Aston Villa whilst in Vegas and have my fingers crossed for our fourth place decider against Spurs this week.
I went to the PFA annual dinner last week, where I was very pleased to see my good friend Wayne Rooney pick up the much deserved player of the year award. Like every other football fan, I hope he is fit for the world cup.
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