Revitalised Macklin knows career on the line

Shaun Brown
08/04/2016 10:16am

Matthew Macklin understands why Brian Rose is the favourite going into their sink or swim middleweight bout on Saturday night. Recent performances from the 33-year-old three-time world title challenger have not suggested he is capable of summoning up the displays that pushed Felix Sturm to the brink and gave the gifted Sergio Martinez a hard night’s work at Madison Square Garden in 2012. Macklin (34-6, 22 KOs), now trained by his younger brother Seamus, is honest enough to admit that defeat to Rose (28-3-1, 8 KOs) at London’s O2 Arena will put a 40-fight, 15 year career into retirement. “It’s been a rollercoaster,” Macklin told Boxing Monthly when he looked back on his career to date. “Lots of ups and downs. I’ve had a lot more highs and lows. I’m glad the lows happened as well because it makes you appreciate the highs, the good times and it builds character, the mental toughness."

Martin-Joshua breakdown & prediction

Michael Montero & Tiffany Lam
07/04/2016 6:09pm

Michael Montero breaks down the IBF heavyweight title fight between American champion Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21 KOs) and 2012 British Olympic gold medalist Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs). The bout will be aired live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and on Showtime Championship Boxing, starting at 5pm ET/2pm PT, in the United States.

The Selby brothers: Family business

Paul Zanon
07/04/2016 3:29pm

As the Selby brothers battled with traffic from Barry, Wales, to the Bristol Boxing Gym, Boxing Monthly was given an extremely warm welcome by the Sanigar family. A warm smile and a firm handshake from boxing veteran Chris Sanigar (who manages the Selby brothers with son Jamie) was swiftly followed by a guided tour of the brand new premises. In his other hand, he held a massive mug of what looked like pond water. Walking and talking, Chris explain, “Coconut water, broccoli, spinach and loads of other stuff. You chuck it into the NutriBullet and it’s ready in no time. Tastes great (whilst motioning the mug over to offer a sip – which for the records was declined). Treat your body well and it will treat you well.” Chris then pointed to a long list of champions on the wall whom he’d worked with over the years and, just as he started to praise his current cohort, on cue - in walked Lee and Andrew Selby.

Jose Ramirez’s fight for water

Ron Borges
05/04/2016 10:18am

For every prizefighter, water is a most essential nutrient. It cools the body, calms the soul and, at times, revives a flagging mind knocked half unconscious. Without water, no fighter, no matter how resolute or gifted, can last for long. Every fighter knows this but none more so than young American junior welterweight prospect Jose Ramirez, a 2012 Olympian now fighting under the banner of Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions. He knows this in an intimate way few other boxers could understand, which is why he is part of a fight for water equality in his native state of California that has put him in the forefront of a political movement as well as in the middle of his daily firefight to make a life for himself in boxing.

Pacquiao-Bradley 3 breakdown & prediction

Michael Montero & Tiffany Lam
04/04/2016 10:16am

Michael Montero analyses the third fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley in just sixty seconds. Bradley won a controversial split decision in their first match back in 2012 while Pacquiao won the 2014 return by unanimous decision. The 9 April undercard features several great bouts with established veterans, top contenders and rising prospects including Arthur Abraham-Gilberto Ramirez, Oscar Valdez- Evgeny Gradovich, Jose Carlos Ramirez-Manuel Perez and more.

Doran now a 'monster' middle

Shaun Brown
02/04/2016 2:54am

Sky Sports may have inadvertently created a middleweight monster in the shape of Tom Doran. The unbeaten 28-year-old Welshman (16-0, 6 KOs), managed by Dave Coldwell, was at the centre of criticism last November when the former Prizefighter winner came in half a stone over the 160lbs middleweight limit for his contest against Rod Smith. Doran finished Smith off in the third round with a crippling left hook to the body in what was supposed to be an eliminator for the British middleweight title. “I picked up a calf injury and it just stopped me on my roadwork. Struggled to get the last bit of weight off really,” Doran explained to Boxing Monthly. “I wasn’t happy about it myself as I’m sure a lot of other people weren’t. I was absolutely slated on Sky Sports, but I was saying to someone the other day, in hindsight it’s probably the best thing to happen to me because it really has created a monster. That negative criticism, which I’ve not been used to, I’ve not had it before. It really has made me step it up a gear.”

Smith primed for Mohoumadi hurdle

Shaun Brown
01/04/2016 5:40am

It would be fair to say that Callum Smith and Hadillah Mohoumadi don’t know a lot of the same people. Local pride and bragging rights won’t be up for grabs when the two super-middleweights square off for the Frenchman’s European title on Saturday night at Liverpool’s Echo Arena. That wasn’t the case last November when Smith (18-0, 13 KOs) took on Rocky Fielding in a domestic clash, for the British super-middleweight title, that had been bubbling for a while and came to the boil at the perfect time. “I believe I can go to the top but if I was going to lose to someone Rocky Fielding would be the last person I’d choose,” Smith told Boxing Monthly when he looked back at the build-up to what became a one-round blow-out of his rival. “I was going to get my haircut and everyone was talking about it. I’d be putting petrol in and someone would shout good luck with your fight with Rocky. Everywhere I was going. We know a lot of the same people, we don’t live too far away from each other so it was really a local derby.

Chunky and Porky

Paul Zanon
01/04/2016 1:17am

The headline is more appropriate for the media gang who were treated to an abundance of Domino’s Pizza and chocolate at a James DeGale open workout this week, as opposed to a reflection of the respective boxers’ current physiques. Rogelio ‘Porky’ Medina is reportedly in great shape and  ‘Chunky’ DeGale is well placed to produce his next winning performance after a great training camp. DeGale explained, “Training camp has gone really well. I’m fully focused and ready to go out there (USA) and do a job. He’s my mandatory – it’s not a massive fight. However, people don’t really know Porky Medina. They need to understand it’s still a dangerous fight.”

Cardle plans to exorcise Dodd demons

Shaun Brown
30/03/2016 6:45am

Scotty Cardle plans to exorcise some demons this Saturday night in Liverpool. The British lightweight champion (19-0, 6 KOs), from Lytham St. Annes, returns after a five-month break to defend his Lonsdale belt for a second time against the man who pushed him all the way last November. Sean Dodd (10-2, 2 KOs) will climb back into the ring inside the Echo Arena, where the two men squared off first time round, looking to prove that his original performance was no fluke. For Cardle, his own performance was one to forget. “Last fight I feel as if I under performed. It was quite a poor night for me if I say so myself,” the 26-year-old told Boxing Monthly. “I’m very critical of my performances anyway and, for me, that’s possibly my worst and I still came out with a win. My plan is to get rid of the demons from my last performance and finish this fight off in style really so I can put it to the back of me.”

Ryan Walsh: Familia supra omnia

John A. MacDonald
29/03/2016 5:39am

Familia supra omnia. The Latin phrase meaning family, above all others, is a mantra Ryan Walsh and his fighting siblings – twin brother Liam and older brother Michael – live their lives by. It has been emblazoned across their t-shirts on fight night and it’s not uncommon to see Ryan finish tweets with it on the social media platform. It’s a belief that their father John instilled in them from an early age and now that sense of family loyalty is engrained in them. This meant that Ryan found Christmas Day particularly hard as he was deep in camp in Tenerife isolated from his brothers. This sacrifice was worthwhile as Walsh made the first defence of his British featherweight title in front of a sell-out crowd at York Hall on 22 January. A four punch combination sent his challenger – Darren Traynor – sprawling across the bottom rope obliging referee Michael Alexander to halt the contest in the fifth round. This gave Walsh his first stoppage victory in over two-and-a-half years and resulted in an out-of-body experience. “It was euphoric,” Walsh told Boxing Monthly over the phone from outside the Kickstop Gym in Norwich. “When the crowd were mental, it was as if I was with them, outside of myself, enjoying it."

Smith still chasing world title dream

Shaun Brown
28/03/2016 7:42am

This weekend Paul Smith enters his 42nd pro fight staring into something of a fresh start whilst looking over his shoulder as the words ‘last chance’ creep up on his 13-year career. Liverpool’s Smith, 33, has been out of the ring since June 2015 where he stopped by Andre Ward in the ninth round in Oakland. A fight that Smith told Boxing Monthly he will never be happy with while holding his hands up to “a genuine, honest mistake” after failing to make the agreed 172lbs catchweight limit. It was Smith’s third fight mixing at elite level, beginning with an outstanding performance against WBO 168lbs champion Arthur Abraham in September 2014, only to be cruelly denied by the scorecards. The rematch five months later returned similar numbers without the controversy. “September 2014 to September 2015 was the best year of my life on a personal level,” Smith (35-6, 20 KOs) told Boxing Monthly. “I improved as a fighter a lot and I was getting shots I wanted. I was fighting on the world scene against two of the biggest names in the division. Topped the bill in the States, earned well and was active.”