Moving up and moving home

James Oddy
19/05/2016 2:12pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTuHOKVNuz0

It goes without saying that boxing is a tough trade. But the job of a fighter without huge home support can make the game that much harder to navigate. Cambridgeshire warrior Tyler Goodjohn (12-4, 4 KOs) knows that struggle only too well. “You have to play to the business a bit,” the articulate Goodjohn told Boxing Monthly. “If you can sell tickets every month and your fans are just happy to see you beating guys who are there to be beat, then fair enough. For me, all my fights have been in London and Manchester. For me to sell 120 tickets every three or four months is hard work. It’s meant I’ve had to be the away fighter a few times. But I love that.”

Just in case you've forgotten...

Luke G. Williams
19/05/2016 10:54am

Luke G. Williams argues that Fury-Klitschko 2 is the only genuine World Heavyweight Championship fight on the horizon … Regular readers of Boxing Monthly online, specifically my ‘Ranking the Heavyweight Champions’ series, may already be aware of the strictly lineal approach I take towards the World Heavyweight Championship. Nevertheless, in the lead-up to the Joshua versus Breazeale and Fury versus Klitschko fights in June and July respectively – and at the risk of sounding like a broken record - I think it is an approach worth restating.

Surprise packages

John A. MacDonald
17/05/2016 2:19pm

Last Saturday, Lee Haskins made the first defence of his IBF bantamweight title with a wide points victory over Ivan Morales, live on Channel 5. Haskins performance was relatively dominant, but failed to capture the imagination of those in attendance or the viewers at home.

Stepping forward

Andrew Harrison
17/05/2016 9:32am

Murray’s Machines Boxing Gym sits on a congested, dead-end industrial estate in Reddish, on the outskirts of Stockport, sandwiched between a bedroom company and a professional make-up artist. A red brick building, it is almost impossible to locate in darkness. From the main road, it looks abandoned with shuttered doors and grills on the windows. "I’ve got a sign but it’s blown down,” says the owner, former European lightweight champion John Murray. “It’s on the road there with an arrow pointing up this way.”

Asian Boxing Scene: Inoue eyes US, Higa vs Diale is on

Marcus Bellinger
16/05/2016 5:57am

Marcus Bellinger rounds up the latest news from the vibrant Asian boxing scene including a hat-trick of victories for the Inoue clan and a potential barnburner between Daigo Higa and Ardin Diale.

Tudsbury turns life around with Moss Side Fire Station BC

Paul Zanon
15/05/2016 9:54am

When you win an accolade such as the national Junior ABAs, you would assume, aged 15, life was fairly simple and challenges far and few between. Boxing Monthly caught up with recently crowned 66kgs champion Conner Tudsbury to discuss the genesis of his boxing success. With a relaxed, calm and polite exterior, Conner Tudsbury explained to BM how boxing has helped mould him into the person he is inside and outside of the ring, and how the correct choices at an early stage can affect the rest of your life. “When I was younger, I was very hyperactive and always getting into trouble. Fights and stuff. I struggled with my schoolwork. When my mum read about a gym [Moss Side Fire Station Boxing Club] in a local newspaper, she decided to take me along. I was eight years old at the time.”

Tso bandwagon rolls on, Murata aiming at Saunders

Mathew Scott
14/05/2016 4:55pm

The Rex Tso bandwagon continues to gather momentum with Hong Kong’s first pro fighter landing his 19th straight win – and his 12th knockout – with a fourth-round stoppage of South Korean veteran Young Gil-bae Saturday night. ‘The Wonder Kid’ dominated the bout from the first bell and a volley of blows to the Korean’s head gave referee Danrex Tapdasan no option but to wave his hands and signal the end with 2.57 gone in the fourth. Young had emerged from a standing eight count in the previous round but the damage had well and truly been done, Tso working his combinations up and down, and in and out, almost at will. “I hit him bang on the chin with a left in the fourth and that’s when I knew I had him,” said the 28-year-old.

Ghaz on the road to glory

James Oddy
14/05/2016 7:15am

One of boxing’s great strengths is its ability to bring greatly different communities together. Afghan born, Bradford and Leeds-based 19-year-old Hamed Ghaz is the latest talent to tread that path. The 6-0 (2 KOs) light-welterweight has turned some heads on small hall shows and on the undercard of the Josh Warrington-Joel Brunker card last year with some all-action performances. “My style is more of an explosive, aggressive style” was how Ghaz described himself to Boxing Monthly over the phone. Like many, his entry into the sport was rather fortuitous.

 

Canelo-Golovkin: The straight dope

Michael Montero & Tiffany Lam
13/05/2016 5:07am

Michael Montero breaks down the ongoing negotiations between Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin as their promoters work to put together a potential super-fight. The WBC has mandated that Canelo must face GGG in his next bout or be stripped of his middleweight title. How might a possible Canelo-Golovkin fight look in terms of finances, date, venue, catchweight and PPV costs?

Mason Menard: 'Rock Hard Mighty'

James Oddy
12/05/2016 6:06am

In boxing, one shot can alter the course of a career, for better or worse. When Louisiana lightweight Mason Menard (31-1, 23 KOs) connected with a beautiful counter right to starch previously unbeaten Eudy Bernardo in Verona, New York, last month, he announced his arrival as one to watch in the division. The bout, broadcast on Showtime in the U.S., ended in what many felt could be the knockout of the year after Menard, nicknamed 'Rock Hard Mighty', had impressed with his all round skills. The 27-year-old Menard, back in his home State, was gracious enough to provide Boxing Monthly with some of his time.

The return of the Saint

Mark Butcher
11/05/2016 8:21am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKtLQCRte1Q

The Saint has risen. Career obituaries were being drafted by the usual suspects when George Groves was dropped and outpointed by WBC 168lbs champion Badou Jack in Las Vegas last September, but that split decision defeat prompted the West Londoner to revaluate and partner with trainer-of-the-moment Shane McGuigan. “I feel good at the moment. Shane and his team relieve a lot of the pressures that come with boxing,” Groves, 28, told Boxing Monthly recently in his PR team’s swish office complex in Soho, central London. “I feel confidence in Shane and his dad [Barry], his conditioning coaches, the way he structures the sessions. I felt that after the Badou Jack fight something wasn’t right. There was a lot of stuff that needed to be changed. I’m back feeling more comfortable with the way I’m training."