Boxing News 16 December 2021

ENJOY THESE EXCLUSIVE PRINT SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS: ● FREE DELIVERY OF EVERY ISSUE TO YOUR DOOR ● ENJOY THE DIGITAL EDITION OF EVERY ISSUE ● UNLIMITED ONLINE ACCESS TO OUR CONTENT ● PAY A FRACTION OF THE SHOP PRICE! ORDER TODAY: VISIT SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/BXIBIM21 OR CALL 01959 543 747 AND QUOTE BXIBIM21 UK Direct Debit offer only. You will pay £4 for your first 4 weekly issues. Your subscription will continue at a rate of £9.99 per month. Discounts are calculated on the full cover price. For overseas and UK credit/debit card offers, visit our website at shop.kelsey.co.uk. Order lines open 8.30am-5.30pm, Monday-Friday. Full T&Cs can be found at shop.kelsey.co.uk/terms. Kelsey Publishing takes your privacy seriously and will only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the products and services you have requested from…

RADLEY SKEETE was thumped three times in quick succession while on the canvas during the eighth round of his bout with Hamzah Sheeraz on December 5. Skeete, a heavy underdog who was winning prior to being dropped, did not recover. He was stopped in the ninth. On Monday December 13, the British Boxing Board of Control ruled that the result will stand, and referee Steve Gray will face no punishment for allowing the contest to continue. They added they will support the WBO, who sanctioned this as a European title fight, in the ordering of a rematch. Within moments of the Board announcing its decision, there was an outcry among fans and industry members, including Skeete himself. For the record, Gray – who began his officiating career in 2004 – is an…

I SET my alarm for 3.45 on Sunday morning to get up and watch Vasiliy Lomachenko outclass Richard Commey at the Madison Square Garden in New York, the Mecca of boxing. Every time I watch Loma, I simply cannot believe how skilful he is. On this early Sunday morning I was yet again reminded of just how good the man they call "The Matrix" is. He has everything – the fantastic footwork where he combines pivoting around his opponent and edging in and out of distance, the quick and accurate combination-punching that is made even more impressive by the punch variety and the timing. Then there’s the unbelievable angles he creates in order to land punches his opponent cannot see. It really is a beautiful sight. As I watched the…

WHO IS THE BEST LIGHTWEIGHT IN MEN’S BOXING RIGHT NOW? Anthony Crolla Former WBA belt-holder You’ve got to rate George Kambosos as number one because he’s the man who beat the man. However I would back Vasiliy Lomachenko to beat all of them. Matt Macklin Former top contender I think Lomachenko by a fair stretch. He got caught on the hop a bit by Teófimo López and that’s taking nothing away from Teófimo. He was slow out the gate and gave himself a mountain to climb. Then Teófimo got caught with complacency against George Kambosos. Tony Jeffries Olympic medallist For me it’s Lomachenko as he has by far the best resumé in the division and is the most complete fighter. His only loss was to Teófimo López after a long layoff and I believe he wins a rematch. Declan Taylor Sports…

1 PARKER VS ANDY RUIZ A good win at the time, Parker’s disputed 12-round decision over Andy Ruiz in 2016 only grew in significance once Ruiz shocked Anthony Joshua in 2019. 2 PARKER VS DEREK CHISORA I Parker has boxed better, and is capable of much more, but his 2020 decision win against Chisora nevertheless stands as one of the best wins of his career to date. 3 CHISORA VS CARLOS TAKAM Takam was a little long in the tooth by the time Chisora got hold of him in 2018, but that should take nothing away from the thrilling manner of victory, nor the decisiveness of Chisora’s knockout finish in round eight. 4 PARKER VS CARLOS TAKAM Parker and Takam produced an entertaining back-and-forth battle in 2016, with the difference in the end Parker’s speed and sharpness.…

@BigDaddyBunce Voice of boxing THE last Setanta boxing hour was on a Thursday in June of 2009 and five days later the channel vanished. The last guests were – all live – Enzo Maccarinelli, Frank Warren, Steve Farhood, Tony Jeffries and Darren Sutherland. And, about 100 of your emails. Less than three months later, I took the show on the road. It was a total disaster in many ways; a comedy, a mix of ego, dire planning, no planning, lies, more lies, bad hotels and, in there somewhere, some glorious nights. Late, late nights, by the way. The plan was for a 12-city tour, but that shrunk a little bit when I found out the venue in Cork was abandoned. The man organising that show insisted that he could get a generator, a portable loo…