I have never been a huge fan of Frank Warren, nor am I of his current boxing stable.
I think James DeGale's recent actions sum up my feelings on this group quite well - outside of the ring, he is a cocky, self-assured young man who has been led to believe that he is automatically entitled to great things on the world stage. His recent quotes have included claims that he is not "dodging" George Groves, rather that he feels he deserves far more than £50,000 currently being offered up to face him, as well as thinking that David Haye needs DeGale's name on his undercard to 'sex it up a bit'. The fact that every layman in Britain knows who World Champion David Haye is, and that only boxing fans will have heard of Olympic Gold Medalist James DeGale, seems to have passed this young man by.
However, despite my personal feelings on the matter, inside the ring the results speak for themselves. I only had time to view DeGale's and Gavin's fight, but every Warren prospect came out a winner on this evening, Gavin in particular looking good in the ring and unfortunately robbed of his perfect (100% win/100% KO) record. Had the fight lasted a few more rounds, he might have ended it definitively.
The results were as follows:
Kevin Mitchell (31(23)-0-0, 25yr) [W KO] Ignacio Mendoza (27(18)-6(3)-2, 26yr)
Mitchell won the WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight title.
Nathan Cleverly (19(9)-0-0, 23yr) [W TKO] Antonio Brancalion (32(8)-8(2)-2, 34yr)
Cleverly won the vacant European Light-Heavyweight title.
James DeGale (6(4)-0-0, 24yr) [W TKO] Matthew Barr (14(6)-6(6)-0, 32yr)
Frankie Gavin (6(5)-0-0, 24yr) [W Points] Peter McDonagh (14(2)-16(1)-0, 32yr)
(stats given are updated, reflecting the result of each match)
Hopefully, given time, these young men can grow into the spotlight that Warren looks set to thrust them in. Former Warren boy, World Champion Amir Khan, grew up as a touted, unbeaten Warren prospect until suffering his first defeat, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Khan went on to make fundamental changes at the training level, secured a World championship belt, matured well outside of the ring, has moved from under Warren's promotion to a US-based outfit and is finally destined the worldwide acclaim many had been trying to prematurely heap upon him earlier in his career.
I sincerely hope that DeGale and Gavin can take a leaf out of Khan's book and move on up from overly hyped domestic wins and onto the real World stage.
All in all it was a good night for keeping the British statistic fans happy, but it wont have made a dent on the current worldwide boxing depression.
I think James DeGale's recent actions sum up my feelings on this group quite well - outside of the ring, he is a cocky, self-assured young man who has been led to believe that he is automatically entitled to great things on the world stage. His recent quotes have included claims that he is not "dodging" George Groves, rather that he feels he deserves far more than £50,000 currently being offered up to face him, as well as thinking that David Haye needs DeGale's name on his undercard to 'sex it up a bit'. The fact that every layman in Britain knows who World Champion David Haye is, and that only boxing fans will have heard of Olympic Gold Medalist James DeGale, seems to have passed this young man by.
However, despite my personal feelings on the matter, inside the ring the results speak for themselves. I only had time to view DeGale's and Gavin's fight, but every Warren prospect came out a winner on this evening, Gavin in particular looking good in the ring and unfortunately robbed of his perfect (100% win/100% KO) record. Had the fight lasted a few more rounds, he might have ended it definitively.
The results were as follows:
Kevin Mitchell (31(23)-0-0, 25yr) [W KO] Ignacio Mendoza (27(18)-6(3)-2, 26yr)
Mitchell won the WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight title.
Nathan Cleverly (19(9)-0-0, 23yr) [W TKO] Antonio Brancalion (32(8)-8(2)-2, 34yr)
Cleverly won the vacant European Light-Heavyweight title.
James DeGale (6(4)-0-0, 24yr) [W TKO] Matthew Barr (14(6)-6(6)-0, 32yr)
Frankie Gavin (6(5)-0-0, 24yr) [W Points] Peter McDonagh (14(2)-16(1)-0, 32yr)
(stats given are updated, reflecting the result of each match)
Hopefully, given time, these young men can grow into the spotlight that Warren looks set to thrust them in. Former Warren boy, World Champion Amir Khan, grew up as a touted, unbeaten Warren prospect until suffering his first defeat, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Khan went on to make fundamental changes at the training level, secured a World championship belt, matured well outside of the ring, has moved from under Warren's promotion to a US-based outfit and is finally destined the worldwide acclaim many had been trying to prematurely heap upon him earlier in his career.
I sincerely hope that DeGale and Gavin can take a leaf out of Khan's book and move on up from overly hyped domestic wins and onto the real World stage.
All in all it was a good night for keeping the British statistic fans happy, but it wont have made a dent on the current worldwide boxing depression.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave feedback - both positive and negative are greatly received! =)