TKO Box Office Boxing News

Amateur Heavyweight Star Kasiulevicius Pro Debut, York Hall 1st June.

Two time Lithuanian Amateur Heavyweight Champion Paulius Kasiulevicius is set to debut in the professional ranks, on the Johnny Eames TKO Events promoted ‘Two Tribes’ show, headlined by Colin Lynes versus Beka Sutidze at York Hall on Saturday 1st June 2013.

Kasiulevicius, who throughout his amateur career amassed numerous national and international accolades, is being hailed as a seriously exciting prospect, with World Championship potential by his manager and promoter, the aforementioned Mr. Johnny Eames.

Currently training both at the VK Gym in Bognor Regis, with John Murray, as well as the TRAD TKO gym in Canning Town, Kasiulevicius will be facing fellow debutant Adel Badawy on June 1st.

Following a full on sparring session with fellow TRAD TKO Heavyweight prospect Tom Little, Kasiulevicius spoke briefly on his amateur career and his impending debut.

“I started boxing when I was nine years old, my father put me in a boxing gym, so I’ve been training and boxing for fifteen years.

I had one hundred and eighty five amateur fights, won over a hundred and thirty fights. I won many titles in my career in juniors and seniors and was two time Lithuanian Champion.

I’ve been training with John Murray, at the VK Gym in Bognor Regis, and Johnny Eames at the TRAD TKO in London.You get best sparring here at the TRAD TKO.

I think the fans will like me, I’m exciting fighter and I will beat that guy, he’s not lucky.”

Paulius’ head coach at both the TRAD TKO and VK Gym’s John Murray then added.

“I’ve been training Paulius about three months down at the VK Gym in Bognor Regis, obviously I’ve been helping Johnny out also with Joel McIntyre and Andy Gattenby.

When I see Paulius up here the first time sparring I could see he needed some help with his fitness, so Johnny took me aside and asked me to work on that and his technique.

We’ve been working on his stamina and endurance as well as developing his power really.

Paulius has aspirations to be a World beater, but he’s still a baby as a Heavyweight at twenty four, so we need to be patient.

Saying that though we’re expecting an explosive debut on the 1st June.”

Paulius Kasiulevicius against Adel Badawy features on the undercard of Colin Lynes versus Beka Sutidze which headlines the Johnny Eames promoted ‘Two Tribes Go To War’ event at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London on Saturday 1st June 2013.

Tickets, priced £35 (Standard Seated) and £60 (Ringside) are available on line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or in person at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town or from direct from Paulius or any of the fighters taking part.

www.tkoboxinggym.com

Tough Test For Freddie Turner, Faces Jay Morris At York Hall On June 1st

Canning Town’s Freddie Turner is set to make his second outing under the TRAD TKO banner on Saturday 1st June, when he takes on Jay ‘IOW Assassin’ Morris at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, on Johnny Eames’ TKO Events promoted ‘Two Tribes’ event, headlined by TRAD TKO gym mate Colin Lynes versus Beka Sutidze.

Turner, who signed management papers with Johnny Eames back in January, was clearly overjoyed at the resurgence in his career, as the 24 year old said.

“This is a massive shock, two fights within a couple of months it’s an absolute shock, that’s a hundred percent improvement from before I was with Johnny (Eames), I mean I fought just once in a year.

Yet here am I in the same gym I train in, my manager’s here and he’s already telling me I’m fighting again after June 1st.

It’s been a blessing signing with Johnny, I’ve been waiting a long time for a breakthrough and it really looks like this is it.

I’m really ready for this, Jimmy and Mark (Tibbs) train me the same every time, we train hard and I mix it up with all the big names here, so I know I will be ready for Jay Morris on the 1st June.

We always work hard here at the TRAD TKO, never cut corners, so yeah we’ll be looking to put on a great display for the fans.

I boxed well last time out, I feel I boxed well in the first two rounds and feel I could have stopped him in the last two rounds, he was getting well marked up and I was catching him with some good shots.

Hopefully now I can let the boxing flow and the punches go.

I’m not looking past Jay, he’s a tough, experienced fighter, but I’m looking forward to the new season. Johnny says he has big plans for me, including lining me up for a title fight late on this year.

I’ve known Johnny since I was a kid, I trust him and he’s clearly looking for my best interests so I know he wouldn’t move into title contention if he didn’t believe I am ready for it.

I’m quite mature, even though I’m only twenty four, I’ve had a hundred plus amateur fights, yeah I know I’ve had a slow start in the pros but under Johnny’s guidance I’m moving on at pace now so feel comfortable to be put in.

I love the support I get from the fans, even though I hadn’t been in action as much as I and them would have liked previously, I know it’s difficult to get to all the shows but it’s great that they get out in force to support.

That’s what keeps us going, I mean I enjoy entertaining, that’s why I do it, so I’m really pleased with having such a good following, so I’m going to put on an entertaining display on June 1st to give my fans something to really enjoy.”

Freddie Turner against Jay ‘IOW Assassin’ Morris is the main support to headlining Colin Lynes versus Beka Sutidze at the Johnny Eames promoted ‘Two Tribes Go To War’ event at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London on Saturday 1st June 2013.

Tickets, priced £35 (Standard Seated) and £60 (Ringside) are available on line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or in person at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town or from direct from Freddie or any of the fighters taking part.

www.tkoboxinggym.com

Lynes Wants Another Title Shot, But First Faces Sutidze At York Hall On 1st June

Back in May 2012 Colin Lynes lost his British Welterweight crown to Junior Witter, in an extremely close fought battle at the Hillsborough Leisure Centre in Sheffield. At the time many expected Colin to call time on his illustrious career, that see him win many accolades, including both the IBO Intercontinental and World Light Welterweight titles as well as both the British and European Light Welter crowns and more recently the British Welterweight title.

Not so, Lynes clearly has no intention of hanging up his gloves, not for now anyway, as just over a year after losing the coveted Lonsdale belt Lynes returns to York Hall, where he faces Georgia’s Beka Sutidze in an international non-championship battle that headlines Johnny Eames’ TKO Events promoted ‘Two Tribes Go To War’ event on Saturday 1st June.

What’s more the forty six fight veteran firmly has his eyes set on returning to championship action as soon as possible, which he made clear when he spoke earlier.

“I’m really excited about being on this TKO Events show on the 1st June.

It’ll be my first fight with them as well as the first show for Johnny (Eames) and the TRAD TKO Gym so I’m really looking forward to it and I can see us all going big places from here.

I’m looking to get back into title action again and carry on with my career. I’m in the shape of my life, I live well so there’s no reason I haven’t got another three or four years left.

He’s young and obviously a dangerous opponent, but having had 46 fights myself I can’t be choosy and to be honest I wouldn’t want to be choosy. My job is to get in there and do the business and it’s down to the trainers to make sure that whoever the matchmakers bring that I’m ready for them.

The TRAD TKO is my home now, I’ve been here for the last two years and am now really looking forward to going places under the gym’s banner.

I’m here with Jimmy and Mark Tibbs, who both coach me, as well as a lot of good young fighters on the show that train with us, we’re fighting just round the corner at York Hall and it just doesn’t get better than that.”

Colin Lynes versus Beka Sutidze headlines a stellar card, crammed full of local young stars, at the Johnny Eames promoted ‘Two Tribes Go To War’ event at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London on Saturday 1st June 2013.

Tickets, priced £35 (Standard Seated) and £60 (Ringside) are available on line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or in person at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town or from direct from Colin or any of the fighters taking part.

www.tkoboxinggym.com

Tom Little Interview – Discusses Tom Dallas, Luke Martin, Graham Earl and more.

Interview and photos by Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

I’m sure that anyone that watched Prizefighter – International Heavyweights – back in June 2012, will remember 25 year old Tom Little from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, not because he won or anything like that, but for the surprising way he exited the competition in the quarter-final against Tom Dallas.

I say surprising as Tom seemed to be cruising to victory, but after two sensation rounds dominated by the Hatfield man he ran out of steam mid-third round.

Doghouse Boxing’s Iain Dolan, who was ringside on the night, wrote in his report:

“Fight of the night was the 4th quarter final between Hatfield’s Tom Little (18st 3lbs) and Tom Dallas. The flabby Little, in only his 4th paid bout showed surprising hand speed and a big heart as he threw the kitchen sink at Dallas from the off.

Finding success with jabs and hooks both upstairs and down, Little looked to be on course for an unlikely victory as Dallas neglected defense in order to meet fire with fire.

Little started the 2nd round with similar ambition but, from quite early on, was looking up at the big screen to see how long was left in the round. Little continued to throw leather and give Dallas problems although he was clearly gassed by the end of the round.

In the 3rd it all fell apart for Little as he had just completely run out of steam. Dallas landed some good shots but it was 90% exhaustion that caused Little to crash to the canvas.

He managed to get to his feet but could barely stand so the fight was waved off.

If Little can find the discipline to spend more time in the gym and less time in KFC, he has plenty offer on the domestic heavyweight scene.”

That final comment may just have been the catalyst for the ‘rebuilding’ of Tom Little that has been taking place at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town over the past couple of months.

That may sound a little dramatic, but believe me I have seen the transformation, both physical and mental, that has taken place.

I first met Tom when he was preparing for his pro debut, against Rolandas Cesna in July 2011. I was invited by Graham Earl to come to Luton to interview his fighters that were to take part in an event promoted by him at the Liquid Night Club in Luton.

To describe the difference between the Tom I met then and the one I spoke with earlier today is unreal. Back then Tom was yet another flabby heavyweight.

He’s biggest selling point was his hand speed, ridiculously fast for a Light Heavy, let alone a Heavyweight, but his stamina was very, very poor, he was running out of steam after just a couple of rounds on the heavy bag.

Today Tom is almost a lean, mean fighting machine. Whilst yes he is still carrying a bit of excess weight, he really is beginning to look much more ‘fighty’

I watched as Barry Smith put him through the paces, six rounds on the heavy bag, followed by another six on the pads – oh and I don’t mean pitter-pattering I mean full on ‘fight level’ stuff.

The change is so extreme that I for one am looking forward to watching him in action, at Johnny Eames’ TKO Events promoted ‘Two Tribes’ event at York Hall in London on Saturday June 1st.

If he performs at the level he did in the training sessions Tom Little may just be the breath of fresh air the Heavyweight division needs to ignite the fans interest once more.

As I said before I was amazed at his extraordinary hand speed, as well as the ease he is able to open up his opposition with both hands, so am sure he will become a serious crowd pleaser.

OK, enough of my praising the youngster, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Following the grueling regime Barry Smith, young Tom took some time out to talk about his career to date, his disappointing loss to Tom Dallas and of course the transformation since his move to the TRAD TKO.

Rio: So you’re fighting Luke Martin at York Hall on the 1st June, what do you know about Luke and how do you see the fight going?

Tom: Luke Martin, well I don’t know a thing about him, don’t care all I know is I’m going to flatten him.

Training’s been really good, the sharpness is there and everything is coming together just right.

I’ve got a week of sparring to go, I’m really looking forward to that, then I’m ready to go, so Luke Martin watch out.

Rio: This will be your fifth professional outing, how has your pro career been to date?

Tom: I’ve had four fights, this will be my fifth, won three of them and my only loss was against Tom Dallas in Prizefighter.

I’m not going to make excuses, anyone that see it see that knows I didn’t get beat by the better man.

I was in a very bad place in my life at that time, I shouldn’t have been in a boxing ring, to be quite honest with you I shouldn’t have been around people full stop, I should have been locked away, because of the things going on in my head at the time.

That’s all behind me now though, I’m moving forward and I’ve got a good team behind me at last, in manager Johnny Eames and trainer Barry Smith as well as having a great camp at the TRAD TKO gym in Canning Town.

Rio: So you were lucky to get the three wins you have then?

I’ve been lucky, I fought the very capable Hastings Rasani in my second fight, funnily enough I was up here two days before my fight, Graham got Barry to give me some pads and he blew me out in two rounds, so you can tell what sort of fitness I was at.

It’s all changed now though, I’ve been at the TRAD TKO about fifteen weeks now, come down from about twenty stone and now weigh seventeen stone five. I’ve never boxed below eighteen stone before, ever.

For Prizefighter I only ever done roadwork and bag work and no other training for two weeks, so I’m confident now that I’m getting into good condition.

Rio: So you’re now in a ‘Good Place’ mentally and physically, so what can the fans expect to see of Tom Little in the future.

Tom: I know that people spout their mouth and say whatever, but I know there’s not a heavyweight in Britain that I can’t beat when I’m fit and believe me I am going to be in the condition of my life thanks to Barry.

This is literally a new start for me and I’m real pleased that Johnny and Barry have given me the opportunity to have this new start.

That loss to Dallas, a lot of people wouldn’t have given me a second chance, thankfully Johnny see something he liked and was happy to work with me.

Barry’s always liked the way that fight and he’d seen the things that needed changing. Everyone’s been working together and I’m confident that we really are going to shock everyone when they see me in action on June 1st.

Rio: Changing tack slightly, could you tell the readers a little about your early amateur career please?

Tom: I was amateur from the age of twelve, up to seventeen. I had twenty two fights won eighteen of them, done real well as an amateur.

The last time I boxed as an amateur was as a Middleweight, then I went away and done my own thing.

Rio: So you walked away from boxing whilst an amateur, what changed for you to come back straight in and campaign in the pro ranks?

Tom: Funnily enough I went back into the gym to help me give up smoking and met Graham Earl.

Graham then offered me the chance to turnover, it all happened really fast, I got my head down, had three fights, which I won, under Graham Earl whilst I was training out of Luton.

Never did feel myself that I was fit, always felt there was something missing, someone was missing something out of the camp.

It really did open my eyes up when I went in Prizefighter under short notice and was literally left to train myself.

My current trainer Barry was there on the night, he noticed but obviously couldn’t say anything because I wasn’t his fighter at the time.

It really showed, I went in against someone I wasn’t expected to get anywhere with and gave him the hiding of his life for two rounds, but in doing this literally collapsed with exhaustion.

This really opened my eyes, so I went away to think things over. I then left my manager, left everything and come up to the TRAD TKO, where I was welcomed with open arms.

Rio: Has this change of management and coaching made that much of a difference then?

Tom: Barry Smith has really turned things around for me, before I couldn’t do two rounds in sparring for any of my other fights because I just didn’t have it in the tank, now I can spar up to ten rounds.

It makes so much difference being here, I’ve always got a coach, everyone puts in the best work to help, but the biggest thing is there is always sparring here, not just sparring but quality sparring against great opposition.

There’s a couple of good heavyweights up here, plus fighter friends of the gym. I had some sparring with Dereck Chisora and that, so the TRAD TKO has done a lot for me, in the short time since I’ve been up here, I’m very grateful to them.

Rio: I know you are focused on the fight with Luke Martin right now, but after that is there any fight you really want Johnny to make happen for you?

Tom: I’m really eager to get the rematch against Tom Dallas, I want to prove to everyone that the better man didn’t win on the night.

If he wants to hide behind his manager so be it, they say he doesn’t want it yet, but he can’t hide for ever and I’ll be there in his way wherever he wants to get to.

This will be my first fight under the TRAD TKO banner and I know that it’s the start of bigger things for me, including hopefully the rematch with Tom Dallas, I’ll go to Kent and drag him out if I have to.

Rio: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today, finally is there anything you would like to say to the fans out there?

Tom: To all the fans out there, come to York Hall on the 1st June and see the real me, see what they were missing out on before because I didn’t have proper training before, they’ll see what I can do now that I have a serious people behind me and I’m in a good place.

Tom Little, against Luke Martin, is a supporting bout on the Colin Lynes versus Beka Sutidze headlines the BBBofC sanctioned Johnny Eames promoted ‘Two Tribes Go To War’ event at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London on Saturday 1st June 2013.

Tickets, priced £35 (Standard Seated) and £60 (Ringside) are available on line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or in person at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town or direct from Tom Little or any of the fighters taking part.

Johnny Eames Announces Line-up For 1st June Event At York Hall

Earlier this year TRAD TKO Boxing Gym head honcho Johnny Eames announced that he will be promoting events in 2013, keeping to his word Johnny last night announced that his first UK event, tagged ‘Two Tribes Go To War’, will take place at York Hall, in Bethnal Green, London on Saturday 1st June 2013.

Headlining Johnny’s first show is former IBO Light Welterweight World and British Welterweight Champion Colin Lynes in an International contest against Georgia’s Beka Sutidze.

Supporting Lynes-Beka Johnny has put together a solid card featuring many of the rising stars from his TRAD TKO stable, as well as a couple from Alan Smith’s squad.

On making the announcement a clearly pleased Johnny said.

“June the 1st sees the launch of TKO Events, something that should have been launched in April and then May but eventually ended up being in June.

As it’s our first show we’re really excited here at the gym, it was supposed to be a co-promotion with Spencer Fearon but Spencer has other commitments and he can’t do it, so no hard feelings there but I promised the boys fights so obviously we’ve had to go ahead with it.

I’m really looking forward to it, although I have promoted events with other promoters this will be the first time I’m promoting my own show.

It’s been a challenge, but with the help of Rio (Gianluca Di Caro), Dave Murphy and Tony Vincent we’ve slowly got it together.

We’ve had promises of sponsors, but they didn’t materialize for whatever reason but now we’ve got another sponsor in place, who put his money where his mouth is and come up with the money straight away, which has helped make the show possible.

We’ve got five or six of our own fighters on the show, plus a couple from Alan Smith in Adam Dingsdale and Lewis Pettitt.

I’m looking forward to working with Alan again, it’s been a long time since we’ve worked together.

Headlining our first show is Colin Lynes, I’ve know Colin since he was a kid so it’s a real pleasure to be promoting him.

I believe Colin’s still got a couple of titles left in him and if we get the opportunity we will progress him onto the title trail once again.

On the 1st June we have Colin fighting Beka Sutidze in a non-championship International bout.

This should be a really great fight, both boys like to go to war, so it is an appropriate headline fight for our first show, which we named ‘Two Tribes Go To War”.

Our Freddie Turner gets his second outing since signing with us in March, he’s another one we want to move onto the title trail as soon as possible.

I don’t need to say too much about Freddie as I have said it all before, Freddie is one of the most exciting young prospects around and it’s an honour to have him on board.

On the 1st June Freddie will have his work cut out, as he’s facing Jay Morris, who as I’m sure you know is as tough as old boots.

Another of the TRAD TKO boys on the show is Festim Lama, with Festim it’s a matter of what you see is what you get. He’s a tough kid, who comes to fight. He’s very, very entertaining and will be a crowd pleaser I’m sure.

Also on the show I’ve got the debut of my big heavyweight Paulius Kasiulevicius from Lithuania. Paulius is only twenty three years of age but has had plenty of amateur experience.

He’s been training with John Murray down at our sister gym, The VK Gym in Bognor, so I know he’s going to be in excellent condition for the fight.

Another new signing I have on the show is Tom Little. Tom’s improved so much under the guidance of our Barry Smith, not only in ability wise but also fitness.

In Tom’s previous five fights he’s never been totally fit, but now he’s certainly never been fitter and he’s never had as much sparring as he has had since joining us at the TRAD TKO.

It’s great to have two young heavyweight involved on our first show.

From Spencer’s camp we have Kreshnik Qato, who again I’m sure I don’t need to say too much about. Everyone knows what a warrior Nik is, he’s record says it all.

Finally we have a late addition, Eddie (Ediz) Hussein, so late we don’t even have him on the poster. I’m really pleased to have Eddie on the show, he’s another one that you know will always put on a fantastic performance.

So as you can see our first event may have been a little late coming but it’s here now and it’s going to be a great show.”

Colin Lynes versus Beka Sutidze headlines the Johnny Eames promoter ‘Two Tribes Go To War’ event at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London on Saturday 1st June 2013.

Tickets, priced £35 (Standard Seated) and £60 (Ringside) are available on line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or in person at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town or from any of the fighters named.

www.tkoboxinggym.com

Frank Maloney Interview – Talks Heavyweights, Audley Harrison, ‘Bums on Seats’ and more

By Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

This coming Friday, March 15th, promoter Frank Maloney returns to the York Hall in Bethnal Green for his latest offering ‘Loaded and Dangerous In London’, which is headlined by Matt Skelton versus John McDermott for the vacant English Heavyweight title.

This event is a sort of homecoming for Peckham London born Frank, having not promoted at the Capital’s home of boxing since his huge show in June 2009, which was headlined by Jason Booth’s successful British Super Bantamweight title defense against Rocky Dean.

This classic Frank Maloney Promotions event featured the cream of his stable, including sadly missed former Beijing Olympic Bronze medalist Darren Sutherland, Akaash Bhatia, Ashley Sexton, Martin Power plus a host of local prospects and debutants. Of course being a FMP event it had to include a Heavyweight bout, in this case Tom Dallas versus Stas Bilokon.

Before I get carried away and start talking too much about that excellent event, I’ll change tack and move on to Frank’s greatest passion within the sport and of course his interview.

Frank is Mr. Heavyweight Boxing, OK, he lives and breathes boxing so maybe that should be Mr. Boxing, but that aside he has singlehandedly worked his socks off to try and breath some life into the Heavyweight division over the years.

His love affair with the ‘Big Boys’ may not have started when he began managing Lennox Lewis, but I can’t help but feel that was the biggest shot in the arm to this particular tryst.

Over the years Frank has taken virtually every British Heavyweight under his wing at one time or another, so when we got together, following the ‘Loaded and Dangerous in London’ press conference at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town, I didn’t have much difficulty getting him to talk about Heavyweights and Heavyweight Boxing.

RIO: You have a big Heavyweight fight coming up on Saturday at York Hall. You’ve always been one of the biggest supporters of the Heavyweight Division, why is that?

FRANK MALONEY: I wouldn’t say a big Heavyweight Championship fight, I’d say an interesting Heavyweight Championship fight.

You know you’ve got two Heavyweights that people say are past their sell by date, but I’m a great believer that no Heavyweight is past his sell by date, because one punch changes the whole history of the Heavyweight division.

You know how many times we’ve written people off, they’ve written off Mohammed Ali, they’ve written off George Foreman, you know they’ve written off Larry Holmes, yet they kept coming back. They had written off Kevin McBride, then he came back and knocked out Mike Tyson.

The Heavyweights is an interesting division, an interesting situation, there’s Boxing and then there’s the Heavyweight division and everyone knows I love Heavyweights.

I’d like to bring all the old Heavyweights together, get them in a tournament to just see who the best man standing is, but they did that with Prizefighter didn’t they. The average age in that was thirty eight years old and guess what the guy that everyone loves to hate, Audley Harrision, has reinvented himself and come back bigger then ever.

Just imagine if Audley Harrison won a World title, he would have been the greatest star British Boxing could have ever had. Boxing would have been in every National Newspaper, every TV station, because this guy is a crossover star.

I have a lot of respect for Audley Harrison, I’ve had the pleasure of working with him, I’ve had the pleasure of slagging him off, but have to say knowing the guy I would have loved to have handled his career for him. Could I have made him a better fighter, I don’t know but if he had ever won a World title Boxing in this country would have totally changed.

RIO: You worked with Lennox Lewis, who was the most successful British Heavyweight, besides your current boys, such as David Price, which other Heavyweights did you take under your wing?

FRANK: Yeah I worked with Lennox and James Oyebola, he won the WBC International title and the British title under me.

I worked with Julius Francis, who was an average Heavyweight, yet he won the Lonsdale belt outright and ended up in with Mike Tyson.

I built Kevin McBride’s career up, until a bookmaker came chasing me for his debt and I gave him back his contract.

RIO: With the current World Heavyweight division being dominated by the Klitschko brothers and the domestic scene by upcoming stars such as Tyson Fury and David Price, is there a future for the loser of Friday’s big fight?

FRANK: It’s interesting, obviously there is a future for the winner of this weekend’s Heavyweight fight, but even the loser still has a future, he could still easily be recycled.

I mean it’s Boxing, every promoter is trying to recycle fighters from all divisions, as we have no new stars coming through.

We haven’t got great trainers out there no more, we’ve got fitness coaches. Saying that you come here, they’ve got some really good trainers, Johnny Eames is a very good trainer who learned his trade in the amateurs, like myself.

I look at it this way, when you go to secondary school you don’t take your primary teacher with you, when he finishes senior school and goes to university, he doesn’t take his senior teacher with him.

In Boxing it’s a little bit different as you can take your amateur coach with you when you step up to the pros, but you have to have someone else from the pros involved as well.

No one is learning how to box, every fighter now is much fitter than they have ever been but they haven’t got the skills they need to fight, that’s the problem.

RIO: You say about the lack of ‘stars’ these days, is there anyone from the current crop that you feel could one day become a true star?

FRANK: I think the simple answer is that there was no rush to sign any one of the 2012 Olympians, which was actually staged in our own City of London.

The last big signing was 2008 Beijing, and none of us promoters have got our investment back from then.

TV has changed the face of Boxing, I would say we are just about above a minority sport in Britain, you know and there are still people trying to bring it back.

If you find the right fighter, you will bring it back, but at this very moment we are a struggling sport.

Football’s taking everything, look what Sky bid for the last football and who got cut back the most, Boxing.

I’m not a great believer that there should be one promoter, which would be bad for the sport if it becomes a monopoly.

We had that during the time of Mickey Duff and the BBC, Boxing was OK but no one else got a look in.

Frank Warren took on the establishment, now in a certain way you could say Frank Warren is in the Mickey Duff situation and you’ve got young Eddie Hearn taking him on.

It’s interesting, is it even history repeating itself, we don’t know. Personally I think there’s still a lot of life in Frank Warren, I wouldn’t write him off as he’s a little bit more adaptable than Mickey Duff and them was in their day.

Frank’s got his sons working in there, which seems to be the new trend in Boxing.

Yeah it has changed, when I started there was no Internet, there was no Twitter, there was no Facebook, there was no mobile phones, I think I had one of the first mobile phones, it was as big as briefcase, I remember being down at the Becket with it.

So it has changed, but if we’re going to survive we need to adapt. Look at Don King, the greatest promoter the World’s ever seen, look at Bob Arum, the oldest promoter but still top of the pile.

You’ve got Golden Boy trying to make it more corporate, Boxing can’t be run like a corporate business, I don’t care what you say Golden Boy are bankrolled by a major TV station, let them go out and promote, you know work to get bums on seats, then see how well they do then.

RIO: OK, so do you think that’s because we look at Boxing just as a sport, instead of taking the wider view that Boxing is part of the Entertainment business and needs to compete with other sectors for those ‘Bums on Seats’ as you put it?

FRANK: It’s the entertainment business, Boxing isn’t recession proof and people in Boxing need to learn that.

Us promoters know that, as we have to put our hand in our pocket, but now you’ve got lawyers coming into your office, you’ve got trainers coming into your office and they’re telling you how much a fighters worth. I’ve got a message for them, put your hand in your pocket and you pay that sort of money, because you’re not recession proof, you know we are hit by recession.

We’re the only sport where the TV rights have been cut down, instead of going up, everything else has had them go up, Darts, Football, Formula One, which are the main sports on TV at the moment and they are taking all the money at the moment.

Sky have cut back so much on Boxing, that was a business decision by them because they claim they were not getting the viewing figures, you can’t blame them.

Loaded have come in on the ground floor, they’re like a Conference league team in Boxing at the moment, they’re just dipping their toes in the water, but you know what but if people start coming and demanding a hundred grand for a show and all that, even thirty grand for a show, Loaded will walk away from Boxing.

It’s just not there at the moment, we’re not recession proof and we have to accept that. Maybe fighters may have to take a pay cut, maybe we’ll have to sit down and look at the whole thing again and rebuild the game.

RIO: Funny that you have made such a point of the recession, I can’t help but notice that the tickets for Loaded and Dangerous in London start at £30, whereas the starting price over the past couple of years have been £35 or £40.

FRANK: We’re trying to bring people back to boxing and there’s not a British title fight on the show, so we haven’t got the same sanction fees.

We as promoters, well my company we do sit down, myself, James Russell, Mark Harnell and my daughter Emma, who is now on board, and we look at the situation and then cost a show, we say we need x amount to break even and this is what we’ve got to aim for.

I don’t know if it’s true but I’ve heard that Amir Khan’s cheapest tickets are £75, as I said I don’t know if that’s true, I’m waiting to see the posters.

Our average ticket for David Price is £40 and that’s up North, so yes, it is unusual for standard tickets to be just £30 these days.

Saying that I do believe the right fight sells, now will Carl Froch-Mikkel Kessler get the PPV numbers, which will be interesting as neither of them have crossover appeal, it’s just within Boxing they’re known.

Will they do as well as people think they will do, I’ll be watching that with great interest.

RIO: Getting back to this week’s show, I know you would prefer to remain neutral but I’m sure the fans would be interested in knowing who you think will emerge victorious on Friday.

FRANK: It’s a very interesting fight, I think that Matt Skelton can’t change the way he Boxes, so he will try and bully John to the canvas, he’s got it in his head that he’s already knocked John McDermott out.

John, who talks a great fight, the problem with John is he doesn’t have a lot of confidence in himself, you know if John gets it right John McDermott is one of the best Heavyweights out there.

He’s got a great jab, but he’s never believed in himself, he’s the unluckiest fighter in the history of British Boxing in the Heavyweight division.

RIO: So you’re not going to make a prediction then, OK, we’ll move on, you’re showcasing some upcoming young talent on the show, are there any standouts in your view?

FRANK: I’ve got to hold my hands up and say I don’t know much about them, because I’ve not promoted in London for about two or three years now, so it’s nice to come back to London and York Hall.

I’m really looking forward to it and working with Johnny (Eames) here at the TRAD TKO, who some of the young fighters are with.

I’ve left James Russell to put the whole card together, James is the sort of oil in my engine, he takes full credit for this show.

It’s the young upcoming fighters that need exposure, that’s what we’re selling to Loaded, it’s the upcoming fighters that they can highlight and develop. They’ve got the magazine, in fact I’m going to try and get them to come down and do an article on the TRAD TKO gym, because this is an old traditional gym and it’s a proving ground for young fighters so yeah I am hoping to get Loaded to do an article on it.

We’ve got a years contract with Loaded, with a years option, we’ve sat down with their management team and we’ve discussed the way forward, I do believe there’s an opening there for young fighters to get the exposure they deserve, but if people do not tune into it they’ll pull the plug on it as well.

It’s down to all of us, promoters, trainers, boxers, media and to get it out there and the fans up and down the country to watch the shows.

RIO: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today and I wish you all the success with ‘Loaded and Dangerous In London’ and all your future promotions.

FRANK: My pleasure.

Loaded and Dangerous In London, which takes place at York Hall, Bethnal Green in London on Friday 15th March 2013, is headlined by Matt Skelton versus John McDermott for the vacant English Heavyweight title and will be broadcast live and exclusive on Loaded TV (Sky platform channel 200)

Tickets, priced £30 and £70, for the Frank Maloney promoted ‘Loaded and Dangerous In London’ event at York Hall on Friday 15th March, are on sale now at www.tkoboxoffice.com or direct from the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym, Gillian House, Stephenson Street, Canning Town, London E16 4SA.

Loaded And Dangerous In London: Pompey Prospect Joel McIntyre Ready For The Limelight.

Tony Oakey Protégé Steps Up With London Test Ahead Of Future Challenge For Championship Honours.

Back in May 2010 British, Commonwealth and WBU Light Heavyweight World Champion Tony ‘Oakey Kokey’ Oakey announced his retirement from the ring. Some three months or so later Tony could be seen back in his old home from home, The TRAD TKO Boxing Gym deep in the heart of London’s East End.

This time however Tony wasn’t the one bringing the gym to a standstill, with a trademark full on sparring war, but it was another Pompey lad – Joel McIntyre.

At the time nobody at the TRAD TKO knew who the kid with the crazy tattoos was, but after just one sparring session everyone in the gym knew he was going to be ‘one to watch’ though.

Under Tony and TRAD TKO’s Johnny Eames’ tutelage the rough diamond, that was Joel McIntyre, was slowly but surely being polished into a genuine Championship prospect.

Johnny has had him regularly sparring with some of the best in the business, former British Cruiserweight Champion Leon ‘Solid’ Williams and British and Commonwealth Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders being just two of the most recent ‘names’ to employ Joel as a sparring partner.

It wasn’t enough that the tough youngster could hold his own in sparring against such illustrious opponents though, they wanted Joel to learn his trade the traditional way, so throughout the past couple of years Tony and Johnny carefully nurtured Joel, guiding him through a series of low key fights, mainly at local shows in the Portsmouth and Southampton area, as they plotted a major launch of the talented youngster to a much wider boxing audience.

After six resounding victories Tony and Johnny felt it was now time to introduce Joel to ‘the big stage’ and what better than to have him compete on the undercard of a televised Heavyweight Title event, to prepare him for a shot at the Southern Area title in the near future.

So on Friday night, at York Hall in Bethnal Green in London, on the Loaded TV broadcast ‘Loaded and Dangerous in London’ event, which is headlined by the Matt Skelton versus John McDermott battle for the vacant English Heavyweight title, a star will surely be born when Joel finally makes his long awaited TV debut.

Even though the spotlight is about to shine brightly on him, young Joel seemed quite relaxed, about his upcoming big time boxing TV debut, when he spoke earlier.

“I’m really looking forward to March 15th, it’ll be my first televised fight.

As a kid I’d watch the boxing on TV, even after I started boxing I’d always watch any televised boxing, so who’d think I would be fighting on TV myself and after just six fights.

I can’t thank Johnny (manager Johnny Eames), Frank Maloney and Loaded TV enough for the opportunity to fight on this show.

Training’s been great, I’ve had the best preparation I could possibly ask for this fight. Billy Joe (British and Commonwealth Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders) asked for me to be one of his sparring partners to prepare for his title defense against Matthew Hall on the 21st March, which will also be at York Hall.

Have been getting in a lot of rounds with Billy Joe, which really is something of an experience. We know each other quite well now, we’ve sparred so many rounds, which is really good and keeps you on your toes. It’s just good to be in the same ring as him, to be fair.

I love training and sparring here at the TRAD TKO, but it’s hard for me to do so all the time so usually train with John Murray at VK Gym in Bognor, which has brilliant facilities.

As I said I have had the best preparation I could ask for, besides the sparring with Billy Joe, I’ve been getting some serious conditioning work and training. My fitness has gone right up, my weight’s good, yeah couldn’t be more pleased about it really.

It’s a Frank Maloney show, you know there’s the poster with some big names on it, Skelton, McDermott, and there’s my name as well.

It seems like a step up for me already so when Johnny says I’m ready to step up for a title, Southern Area, English, I feel I’m ready for it, I know I can trust my manager and trainer to know when they feel I’m ready to go for it, if they told me tomorrow I’m ready for a title then I know I am.”

Joel’s esteemed manager, and the UK’s newest promoter, Johnny Eames then added.

“So yeah touching on what Joel said, we are looking to move Joel into title contention, we were hoping that Danny Couzens was successful in his challenge for the Southern Area Light Heavyweight title on Saturday night, unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

The reason is we’re close to securing the exclusive boxing event rights to a venue on the South Coast, it’s a big venue and we had hoped to have had Danny, who’s a good friend of the gym, having his first defense of the Southern Area title and Joel having his first shot at a title both on home turf so to speak. It would have been a huge local derby, Portsmouth versus Southampton is always a huge event no matter what sport.

That’s not to be, but new Southern Area Champ Leon Senior is from Swanley in Kent, I’m pretty sure he would bring a big crowd if we can make the fight in a couple of months time.

It will be Joel’s seventh fight on Friday, he’s improving so much all the time, when he’s in the gym regular. We’ve changed his training regime around, which has helped him a lot because he can spend a bit more time at home.

John Murray has definitely improved his fitness, without a shadow of a doubt and now Joel has the best of both worlds, as he comes up here for a bit of tuition and quality sparring.

We’re looking for Joel to take over the South Coast from Tony Oakey, who is his mentor and someone that bought Joel to the gym in the first place. Joel still has Tony’s backing, we speak regularly on the phone. He called last Saturday and said how much he’s looking forward to Joel getting his first title fight.

We want to take him the same route as Tony, Southern Area, British and Commonwealth titles and of course World Champion.

If Joel achieves half of that, then he’s done great, so yeah we’re looking forward to it.”

Joel McIntyre, against a yet to be named opponent, features on the undercard of Matt Skelton versus John McDermott for the vacant English Heavyweight title at York Hall, Bethnal Green in London on Friday 15th March 2013, which will be broadcast live and exclusive on Loaded TV (Sky platform channel 200)

Tickets, priced £30 and £70, for the Frank Maloney promoted ‘Loaded and Dangerous In London’ event at York Hall on Friday 15th March, are on sale now at www.tkoboxoffice.com or direct from Joel McIntyre at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym, Gillian House, Stephenson Street, Canning Town, London E16 4SA.

www.tkoboxinggym.com

Loaded And Dangerous In London – Teenage Prospect Tommy Martin Aims To Impress On March 15th

St. Neots, Cambridgeshire’s Tommy Martin, takes part in his third professional outing on March 15th, when he features on the undercard of the Matt Skelton versus John McDermott English Heavyweight title clash on the Frank Maloney promoted ‘Loaded and Dangerous in London’ event at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, which will be broadcast live and exclusive on Loaded TV (Sky platform Channel 200)

Tommy, who is just eighteen years of age, has made quite an impact since turning pro in November last year.

In just his first fight the teenager showcased his immense punching power, by stopping his opponent, Lithuania’s Artur Saniuk, in the first minute of the third round.

Then just last month the former St Ives Boxing Academy captain showed his maturity, by boxing smart, against the highly experienced Jason Nesbitt from Birmingham, to secure a shutout 60-54 points victory, not too shabby at all considering Nesbitt’s experience and size, Nesbitt weighed-in some seven pounds heavier than Tommy.

With the prospect of fighting on his first televised event an ebullient Tommy said.

“I’ve been with Johnny (TRAD TKO’s Johnny Eames) six months now and already have my third fight coming up on the 15th.

It’s on the Frank Maloney Loaded and Dangerous In London show at York Hall, this will be my first televised show and it’ll be on Loaded TV.

To be honest I had just finished my second fight and as soon I came to collect my money from Johnny he said straight away we’ve got another date.

I’d literally just come back up to London, I stay here five days a week and go back home to Cambridge at weekends, so I went straight back into camp for another six weeks to prepare for the 15th March.

I have really good backing, since my last fight I’ve done 250 tickets now, so hopefully after this fight, if they keep getting televised, things will only get bigger and better.

With a good headlining act it hopefully helps me sell a lot more tickets, no offense to Miranda Carter shows but without a big attraction headlining it makes it hard to sell tickets, as I don’t just sell myself, I sell the show.

It’s the same with my training, I live the life, it’s the whole thing, so I live in London during the week so can concentrate on honing my skills and improving my fitness. If you don’t live the life you soon get found out, that’s the truth.

I came to the TRAD TKO for my first couple of weeks sparring and found it really, really hard, but since I’ve been living the life as a professional, being in the gym five days a week it really begins to show itself in the ring, there’s no hiding place in there.

I’d like to thank all my fans for their support and say to all boxing fans, it’s going to be a fantastic show, not just my fight but the card is so strong it will be pugilistic heaven, so if you can’t make it to York Hall on the 15th March make sure you tune in to Loaded TV.”

Tommy Martin, against a yet to be named opponent, features on the undercard of Matt Skelton versus John McDermott for the vacant English Heavyweight title at York Hall, Bethnal Green in London on Friday 15th March 2013, which will be broadcast live and exclusive on Loaded TV (Sky platform channel 200)

Tickets, priced £30 and £70, for the Frank Maloney promoted ‘Loaded and Dangerous In London’ event at York Hall on Friday 15th March, are on sale now at www.tkoboxoffice.com or direct from Tommy Martin at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym, Gillian House, Stephenson Street, Canning Town, London E16 4SA.

www.tkoboxinggym.com

Irish Amateur Stars Paul and Anthony Upton Sign With TRAD TKO/Showtime Sports Events

For the past few months famed manager/coach, and now promoter, Johnny Eames has been busy scouring both the domestic and European Amateur and Pro ranks, searching for top unattached prospects to sign with his and TRAD TKO business partner Gianluca Di Caro’s newly launched promotional outfit, Showtime Sports Events Limited.

Two of the first to ink contracts are Irish Boxing brothers Paul and Anthony Upton, both of whom have had outstanding Amateur careers, that see the youngsters secure no less than seven National titles, as well as numerous International honours, between them.

Speaking shortly after putting pen to paper, Anthony Upton Jr. said.

“I started boxing at five years old, watching the likes of Nicky Cook, Colin Lynes and Kevin Mitchell, which made me want to be there where they was in the amateurs.

Fought out of Dagenham and then moved onto West Ham, where ended up meeting Johnny Eames.

Then we ended up moving out to Ireland, beating the Irish Champion in my first championship outing before going on to win five Irish Championships.

I then went on to represent Ireland in the Four Nations in Wales, beat Wales and then I ended up beating England in the final and came away with a Gold medal.

This sent me onto the European Championships in Ukraine in 2006, where I ended up beating a Turk, before getting robbed in my eyes in my fight against a Russian and ending up with the Bronze medal.

I then went on to win the Multi-Nations Cup, a Multi-Nations Bronze and represent my country a number of times, that’s about it really and now it’s time to turn pro.

We knew Johnny from West Ham, so decided to come and talk with him, after hearing the plans of the TRAD TKO/Showtime Sports Events team I knew it was the move to make, so here we are.

We’re going to be training out of Legends Gym and TRAD TKO Gym, under Johnny Eames and we’ll progress from there.

It’ll be nice to go back and fight in Ireland, I’ve been out there most of my life and represented Ireland, have plenty of fans out there so it would be nice to fight there, but it will also be nice to fight in England, in front of my family and friends that live back here in England. I’ve fought abroad before so even when we fight abroad It shouldn’t be a bother to me, it should be a good road.”

After sitting patiently as his younger brother spoke, Paul then added,

“I’m really please to be turning pro with TRAD TKO and Showtime Sports Events, they look to have a big future and I want to have a big future with them.

I love fighters like Billy Joe Saunders, who I look forward to training alongside here at the TRAD TKO, Winky Wright, who’s a great technical boxer, Floyd Mayweather and Rocky Marciano, they’re role models to me, they’re classy boxers.

I had a good amateur career, was a two time Irish National Champion, Dublin Champion, Ulster Senior Champion, Four Nation Silver Medalist. I lost out on a Commonwealth games spot by two points, lost to eventual Gold Medalist Paddy Gallagher, who’s pro now.

Now it’s time to move on to the pros, so here I am.”

The ever mischievous Johnny Eames cracked a few jokes, before saying,

“I remember Paul and Anthony from when I was leaving West Ham to start my professional career, as a trainer, they were young kids just starting out in the juniors. I didn’t know too much about them, because I moved on to the pros as you know, but they have both had great amateur careers.

They’re actually two of five brothers, three of them have just turned pro, the oldest has just turned pro with my good friend Ricky Hatton and I’m sure he’ll do well up there.

Paul and Anthony didn’t want to relocate to Manchester, they’re happy here in London, so because of the West Ham connection they’ve come along to sign with me.

Young Paul has won two National titles, I believe, over in Ireland, All Ireland titles. He won Silver at the Multi-Nations.

Anthony has had five All Ireland titles, European Bronze and a Multi-Nations Gold, so it’s obvious they are two boys that have got extreme talent.

I’m really looking forward to working with them, both in England and in Ireland, where they are going to be big draws.”

www.tkoboxinggym.com

Freddie Turner Repays New Management With Stunning Win

Just over a month ago unbeaten Welterweight prospect Freddie Turner was wondering when, and even if, he would get to fight again, having had just the single outing in 2012 and it seemed there were absolutely zero fights on the horizon.

However things soon changed for the 24 year old from Canning Town, following a call from his coach, Mark Tibbs, suggesting he has a word with TRAD TKO’s Johnny Eames next time he’s in the gym.

Sure enough Freddie did and within the hour signed management papers with the esteemed Mr. Eames, after former manager Dean Powell agreed to release him early from his contract.

The same day Johnny asked Freddie if he wanted a fight in February, which of course he did.

On Sunday afternoon, at York Hall in Bethnal Green, Freddie had his maiden outing under Johnny’s watchful eyes, against Rainham’s Costas Osben, and repaid Johnny in the best possible way, with a sensational performance on way to securing his seventh win.

Earlier today Freddie took a little time out to talk about the turnaround of fortunes this change of management had made.

“I’m really excited to get my career going again, I’m really happy that Johnny has a plan and the whole team has a plan and we’ve got a future in the game.

I had just the one fight last year, nothing to do with myself, I’m always in the gym and ready, I’m always training and I’m fit, but I just got left out really.

My old manager, Dean Powell, I know he’s a busy guy and has a lot of fighters but I didn’t get looked after or get the opportunities I deserved, it’s not that I’m not a prospect or a good fighter.

I think I am one of the best prospects in the UK, I’ve got great potential and talent so hopefully we’ll see it come through now.

Within hours of agreeing terms with Johnny and the team, they got me a fight, gave me a date.

The next week they offered me another fight, then one in April and then I hear rumours that there are other dates already being lined up. This is amazing, It’s unknown to me in the game, considering what I have had before.

Johnny said I’ll have a minimum of four in the UK and there may be a few abroad, anything else they do for me will be a bonus, that’s already four hundred percent on what I did last year, so it’s amazing.

I’m mature now, the people I spar and the quality I spar I’m an eight round fighter, I know what I’m doing now, this first fight was about getting the wheels turning again, but I’m nearly at Championship level, it wont be long before I’m there, I feel I’ve got the tools, the ambition and the art to make it and do something.

If some kind of opportunity comes I’ll jump at it, I’m always fit and I’ve got a good engine anyway, I can do four without training, I’ve got a great engine so a twelve rounder with a little work and I’ll be there.

Training wise I’m still with Jimmy and Mark Tibbs, who are here at the TRAD TKO anyway, it’s a lot better now because everything’s under one roof, you’ve not got to go anywhere else, management team, promotion team and trainers is all there and it’s dealt with right away.

The training’s going really well, enjoying it. Jimmy’s doing really well with Billy Joe (Saunders), he’s flying through there. Mark’s got a load of young prospects coming through too.

It’s a great team, we’ll do well and the future is bright, very bright.”

www.tkoboxinggym.com

Kugan Cassius iFilm post fight interview of Freddie Turner – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dat3ixijMgM&feature=youtube_gdata