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Justin Koethe To Be A Wisc. Badger, he Talks to Takedown Wrestling

Posted on | October 3, 2011 | No Comments

Iowa City West’s Koethe picks Badgers

Andy Hamilton of the Des Moines Register
Justin Koethe figured there would come a time when all of recruiting’s perplexity would become clear.

That moment arrived Sunday morning when the Iowa City West star pulled his dad aside inside the Wisconsin wrestling offices and told him he was ready to commit to the Badgers.

“I broke into tears a little bit and told him this is it,” said Koethe, ranked by InterMat as the No. 31 prospect nationally in the Class of 2012. “They’re building something and I want to be a part of that.”

Koethe took visits to Minnesota and Iowa State and canceled trips to Iowa and Northern Iowa. He said his relationship with first-year Wisconsin assistant Ryan Morningstar, a two-time All-American at Iowa, was instrumental in his decision.

“That had quite a bit to do with it,” Koethe said. “I know for a fact he’s going to be there and he’s going to help me if I need help or he’s going to push me if I need to be pushed. I know he’s going to be a big part of my life when I’m there.”

Koethe is projected as a 157-pounder in college. He compiled a 127-15 record during his first three seasons at West, but he’s still in search of his first state championship after getting disqualified for slams at the state meet in each of the past two seasons. He wrestled back to place third as a sophomore and junior after finishing fourth as a freshman.

But Koethe’s accomplishments on the national level were perhaps what boosted his stock in the recruiting rankings and made him a sought-after prospect. He’s a five-time All-American at Cadet and Junior Nationals. He claimed the Cadet freestyle national title in 2009 and won a Greco-Roman title this spring at the FILA Junior National tournament.

“He’s not afraid to put himself in a challenging spot,” Iowa City West coach Mark Reiland said. “He’s very explosive and athletic and that helps at the next level. It’s tough not to be explosive and athletic and be successful at the next level with the way the sport is evolving.”

Reiland said Koethe needs to continue to progress technically.

“You can’t just overpower kids at the next level, and he’s got to learn that,” he said. “But I think he probably has more technique than most of us give him credit for because he can get away with so many things at the high school level right now that we don’t have to see everything he has.”

 

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2011/10/02/iowa-city-wests-koethe-picks-badgers/

 

Scott Casber
Founder/Host
Takedown Wrestling Radio and TV
USA Wrestling Weekly
515-707-8657

Interview With Choi Tseveenpürev – Talks Gamboa, Asiku, Patavikorngym and much more

Posted on | October 3, 2011 | No Comments

By Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

Two time Featherweight Champion of the World  Choijiljavyn Tseveenpürev, better known to British fans simply as ‘Choi’, is set to face  WBC Asia Champion Bandung Patavikorngym at the Spencer Fearon and Ciaran Baynes Hard Knock Boxing Promotions ‘This is Hard Knocks’ event at York Hall in London this coming Friday.

On Friday last week I caught up with Choi to have a quick chat about the upcoming fight amongst other things, but before I get to that here is a brief catchup on his career to date.

Can you imagine any British fighter traveling abroad to make his debut against a current domestic champ in their own backyard, well Choi did.

Choi is the antithesis of the modern-day protected boxer. He started his career as an away fighter in a ten round bout against then unbeaten Korean Bantamweight Champion Jeung-Tae Kim in Seoul, South Korea on the 22nd November 1996.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any fight reports for his early career, all I know is that Choi won by an eighth round knockout.

He returned to South Korea on the 28th June 1997 for his second bout, this time against OPBF Super Bantamweight Champion Hee-Youn Kwon in Busan. As before it was a scheduled ten rounder and as before it didn’t go the distance, as Choi knocked Kwon out in the ninth round.

Ten months later Choi packed his bags again, this time to travel to Bangkok, Thailand to face, and lose on points to, legendary two time World Champ Veeraphol Sahaprom.

Two more trips to Bangkok followed, the first ends with the first round knockout of Surapol Sithnaruepol on the 2nd October ‘98, and then on the 7th January ‘99 ends with a second round knockout of Ekarat 13Rientower.

In May 1999 Choi got his first title shot against Bulan Bugiarso, the longtime PABA Super Bantamweight champion, in Indonesia. After twelve rounds the decision went the way of the champion, even though Choi dominated the majority of the rounds.

Three months later, on his seventh pro fight, Choi finally got a fight in his home country of Mongolia, against Jiao Hasabayar. Which he won with a fourth round stoppage.

Ten days later he was again on his travels, this time to Shenyang, China, where he knocked out Thongdang Sor Vorapin in the fourth.

The following May see Choi in his first fight in the UK, against David Jeffrey at the Tara Leisure Centre in Shaw, Lancashire, which gave British fans their first opportunity to witness first hand the phenomenal power of the Mongolian Warrior, as he stopped the Brit in the second round.

Choi returned to the Tara Leisure Centre twice more in 2000. The first see him stop Billy Smith in two and on the second he secured a tidy points victory over Chris Williams.

On the 27th April 2001 Choi traveled to Glasgow, where he faced and lost on points to future British, Commonwealth, European and WBU World Champ Willie Limond.

Choi returned to UK action in September ‘01 for two further bouts, against Steve Hanley and two weeks later against Livinson Ruiz, both ended with convincing points victories for Choi.

In December Choi fought Kevin Gerowski for the British Masters title. The fight barely made the half way stage before Choi stopped Gerowski. The official time of the stoppage being 50 seconds of the fifth round.

From March 2002 through to February 2004 Choi fought in the UK six times, and won six times – Chris Emanuele (4 Round – points), John Mackay (5th Round TKO), Peter Allen (4th Round TKO), Jason Nesbitt (8 Round – points), Daniel Thorpe (8 Round – points) and John Mackay (3rd Round – TKO).

In March 2003 Choi packed his bags and headed to Copenhagen in Denmark, where he faced WBU Featherweight Champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba in a non-championship bout. A little home cooking came into play which lead to Choi being on the wrong side of a majority points decision.

Two months later Choi was back fighting in the UK, facing then unbeaten Kevin O’Hara at the Metrodrome in Barnsley. Another excellent points victory, by 78-75 margin, being the end result.

In July Choi successfully defended his British Masters title for the first time against Harry Ramogoadi, the fight came to a premature end when Ramogoadi retired on the stool after six rounds.

Choi and Harry Ramogoadi had a rematch, again for the British Masters belt, in March 2005. This time the fight didn’t even make the sixth as Choi sensationally stopped Ramogoadi late in the fifth.

Choi’s first major title bout followed in November, when he faced and stopped Germany based Belarus Aliaksei Volchan for the vacant World Boxing Foundation International title at the Tara Leisure Centre in Shaw.

In March 2006 Choi wins his his first World title, after stopping WBF Intercontinental Champion David Kiilu in the third round.

Choi successfully defended the title twice in the UK, first, on the 11th March 2007, by a fourth round knockout of  Georgian Nikoloz Berkatsashvili and then in October 2007 by a split decision victory over Sweden based Ugandan Abdu Tebazalwa.

For his final bout in 2007 Choi faced and beat, by a second round knockout, Tanzanian Ajibu Salum in a non-championship six rounder.

In 2008 Choi gave up the WBF belt, following an offer from top British promoter Frank Warren to fight World Boxing Union Champion Derry Matthews for his crown.

Matthews was very much the bookies favourite going into the fight, but then they, or Frank Warren, didn’t expect the diminutive Mongolian to put on such a dominating performance, that see him sending Matthews to the deck no less than five times on his way to a fifth round KO finish.

Unfortunately Choi never got to defend the title, following the death of WBU President and the subsequent ceasing of sanctioning until the WBU ownership was purchased from the President’s estate by Don ‘Moose’ Lewis in 2011.

With no title defenses on the horizon Choi accepted a non-championship bout, stopping Slovakian Lubos Priehradnik with a vicious right to the head on the one minute and five second mark of the third round.

It was almost a year before Choi was back in the ring. No matter though as he started where he finished, with a third round Knockout of West Ham’s Mickey Coveney.

Next up for Choi was a place in the prestigious Prizefighter – Super Featherweight  tournament at York Hall in November 2010.

The first round see him face Brighton’s Ben Murphy. What followed was all out war with both protagonists throwing every punch conceivable. The crowd were on the feet throughout to sensational bout. After the three all action rounds the three judges all scored  the bout a close 29-28 in Choi’s favour, and set him on route to face old foe Derry Matthews in the semifinal.

What a bout, it was pure synchronized mayhem, Matthews and Choi dug deep into their arsenals of punches for the whole nine minutes. Choi looked certain to be one of the finalists, having worked harder and landed the more meaningful shots each round, but the men that mattered, the judges Richard James Davis, Terry O’Connor and Dave Parris, see it differently scoring it 29-28 in Matthews’ favour, much to the astonishment of the highly vocal crowd.

This brings us more or less up to date, except that is for Choi’s last fight against former IBO World Champion Jackson Asiku, which I had the pleasure of covering – below is my published fight report in it’s entirety.

On Saturday night close to fourteen hundred hardy souls braved the rain and packed the York Hall to capacity, stormy weather wasn’t going to stop them being ringside, at Spencer Fearon’s Hard Knock Boxing promotions ‘Summer Smash’ event, to watch former World Champs Choi Tseveenpurev (WBU/WBF) and Jackson Asiku (IBO) battle it out.

Was it worth it? Well there are fights and then there are FIGHTS, Choi-Asiku definitely comes into the later category. On paper it promised to be one of the best match-ups of the year so far, in reality it proved to be much, much more and the clear front runner for ‘Fight of the Year’ honours by a country mile.

The fight started a little slowly with Asiku controlling the first half of the round by keeping Choi at bay with crisp solid jabs. Around the one minute thirty mark Choi launched his first attack of the fight. After backing the Australian based African to the ropes Choi let rip with a massive overhand right quickly followed by a double handed body assault.

Asiku responded with a big right of his own, but the savvy Mongolian wasn’t deterred one bit and launched a salvo of big right hands, uppercuts, hooks you name it Choi threw it. Asiku’s no mug and dug in his fully stocked arsenal and responded with equally venomous flurries. It was a close round to call but I gave it to Choi, he was plain phenomenal and I felt he had landed the more meaningful shots.

Round two was very much more of the same, these two warriors went to war with a vengeance. Any attempt to describe this round would be futile, it was probably one of the greatest rounds seen this year. Each matched the other punch for punch in an awesome display of the pugilistic art, it had it all, it was pure boxing heaven to watch these two in full flow for three sensational minutes. I see it as a 10-10 round as it was far too close to call one way or the other, they both scored big.

What a round, what an awesome round, these two are amazing, round two was sensational so how could they possibly top that, well they did as round three was even more…I’m lost for a word to describe it adequately, it was seriously class boxing from two World class boxers. At times they stood toe to toe and slugged it out, other times one or the other would launch a venomous attack. Every conceivable punch in the book was thrown time and time again. As before it was impossible to split them, they were equal in every way.

Round four was another beautiful round, early on Asiku switched to the body in an attempt to slow the forceful Mongolian, who would just respond with vicious hooks to the head. As the round progressed Choi turned the tables and started attacking Asiku to the body with a series of piston like hooks. It was beautiful boxing from two World class operators.

Round five see Choi start to dominate proceedings, first by continuing the all out assault to Asiku’s body and then with hooks and straight rights to the head. It wasn’t one way traffic by a long shot, Asiku made some wicked attacks of his own, just Choi was in a groove.

Asiku started fast in the sixth and aggressively took the fight to Choi. The diminutive Mongolian stood his ground, taking a few shots before letting rip with pin point accurate hooks and heavy rights. Asiku was determine to wrestle back control so just kept coming time after time. That is until around the two minute mark when Choi started unwinding the most venomous uppercuts which slowed the African considerably.

Not surprisingly Choi went hard on the attack in the seventh, having rattled Asiku the previous round, and got his just reward about midway through. Choi backed Asiku to the ropes and attacked the body before letting rip with a huge overhand right to the temple which sent the African to the canvas. Asiku quickly got to his feet but as soon as the count was done Choi went straight back on the attack, letting rip with bomb after bomb as Asiku switched to defensive mode to see the round out.

Rounds eight and nine see the pair go at it toe to toe again, slugging it out for virtually every second. As in the earlier rounds these two put on a stunning display of boxing, just at an even higher pace!

The tenth and final round was Choi’s without doubt. He started hard and fast forcing Asiku on to the back foot again. Asiku was responding but his shots just didn’t have the intensity of the previous rounds. Choi on the other hand seemed to find even more power and began landing seriously big shots at will until the final bell.

After ten scintillating rounds Choi was rightly declared victorious, by a 98-93 points margin, but in my view everyone was a winner, Choi, Asiku – who were both truly magnificent – and those of us lucky enough to be ringside for one of the best boxing matches anywhere for a long, long time.

So there you have it, Choi’s fight history, so now let’s hear what the man himself has to say on the Asiku fight, the upcoming showdown with Bandung Patavikorngym and much, much more.

Rio – Thanks for talking with me today. My first question focuses on the magnificent battle with Jackson Asiku back in June.  What are your thoughts on that great victory?

Choi – Before the fight everyone was expecting Jackson to win.

He was very confident, he was very tough. He’s a very dangerous guy, if I gave him chance he’ll try it. He’s a warrior, I’d fight him again, I like tough guys. I like to fight Warriors, I like them to come and fight.

That fight was a very, very hard fight you know. Jackson is very tricky, talented fighter. Me and him it was like a war you know, from first round to the last round it was just like war.

Everyone was very excited in the hall, it was just mad, people was shouting Choi, Choi, Choi and Jackson, Jackson, Jackson. It was small hall but big crowd.

Rio – You’re headlining Hard Knocks Boxing’s first event to be covered by Premier Sports against Bandung Patavikorngym. Can you tell me your thoughts on this?

Choi – Hard Knocks Boxing Promotions is rising now, getting TV is a big achievement.

This kid I will be fighting is a very good, very talented, tough fighter.

He’s very tough boy from Thailand, one of the real fighters, not a little cry baby you know. He’s won nineteen fights, ten knockouts. It’s a good achievement.

It’ll be a hard fight.

I wish that after this fight, after I knock this kid out, I want title. I’ll fight anyone, Americans, Mexicans anyone. I want a big title, believe me I’ll show them my power and strength.

Rio – You touched on my next question already, are you looking to get back into contesting for Championships again?

Choi – I had two World titles, I want a third. I gave back my first belt to fight for the WBU title, I won but never got another fight to defend it.

Ricky Hatton defended his WBU title many times, I defended mine none.

Rio – Is there any particular title you are looking at, or any Champion you want to challenge for their title

Choi – Now the WBU is back I want to defend my title or fight for another one. I’ll fight for any sanctioning body but I want a big belt.

I’ve waited for this chance for ten years, Hard Knocks Boxing Promotions promise me that I will fight for a big title for the British fans. I’m ready, I’ll fight any of the Americans, Mexicans, Asians that hold the belts, I’ll fight Gamboa (WBA champ Yuriokis Gamboa).

Rio – You had some time away from the sport between winning the World titles and Prizefighter, why was that?

Choi – In two years a lot has happened, I hurt my leg and then retired, but many people wanted me to fight again.

Rio – I understand that you do a lot of charity work when you’re not preparing for a fight, can you tell us a little about this?

Choi – When I’m not boxing I work for home for homeless children. There are hundreds and hundreds of kids living rough in the towns and mountains in Mongolia, they don’t have much clothes and no food.

They’re living like rats, you know, eating anything they find. I want to give them all a home that is warm, really warm

I work for one charity, I go round and offer help. When I fight I give as much as I can and always help to look after them.

On 10th October this invitation for Charity event at the House of Lords  “Let’s build a home for Mongolian children”.

Rio – Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today and I wish you all the best for both the 7th October and also for the charity event.

Choi – Thank you.

Hard Knocks Boxing Promotions  ‘This Is Hard Knocks’ event, which will be headlined by Choi Tseveenpürev, takes place at York Hall, Bethnal Green, on Friday 7th October 2011 and broadcast live on Premier Sports (Sky channel 433).

Tickets for ‘This Is Hard Knocks’ – priced £35 (Unreserved) and £60 (Ringside), are available now on-line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or in person at The TRAD TKO Boxing Gym, Gillian House, Stephenson Street, Canning Town, London E16 4SA.  For further information please call 07960 850645.

PROMOTER DAN GOOSSEN DISCUSSES WBA WORLD CHAMPION ANDRE WARD’S CUT

Posted on | October 3, 2011 | No Comments


LOS ANGELES, CA – (Oct. 3)

In the video below, Dan Goossen discusses Olympic Gold Medalist and WBA Super Middleweight World Champion, Andre Ward just after getting his stitches removed.

The cut caused Andre to postpone the upcoming SHOWTIME Super Six Final and WBA-WBC unification bout with Carl Froch to December 17.  The location of the fight is still Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Dan Goossen talk about Andre Ward's Cut
Dan Goossen talks about Andre Ward’s Cut

DARREN BARKER THANKS FANS FOR ‘OVERWHELMING RESPONSE’

Posted on | October 3, 2011 | 1 Comment

Londoner vows to come back even stronger in 2012

 

Darren Barker has thanked fight fans for the ‘overwhelming response’ after his fantastic performance in his fight with middleweight king Sergio Martinez in Atlantic City on Saturday night.

 

The 29 year-old returned to England on Monday after he announced his arrival at World class Middleweight level by taking the fight to the Argentine and answering a number of critics with a fantastic performance before Martinez dug deep to finally get on top in the 11th round and end Barker’s dream.

 

“The number of messages I’ve received on my phone and on Twitter has been overwhelming,” said Barker. “Everyone has been incredibly supportive and the support that I have had from the amazing British fans, along with my family and my team, has eased the pain.

 

“I’m still devastated by the defeat as I felt great in camp, in the changing room and in the ring and even though I was written off from day one – we all believed we could do it.

 

“After eight rounds I felt so in control and felt I had the beating of him. I knew it was tight but knew I would need to win the last few rounds to be in the mix so tried to do so and came unstuck. I could have survived and lost on points but that’s not what I’m about and that’s not what boxing is about. I’m looking forward to the rest and hopefully we can manufacture another shot in the New Year.”

 

Barker’s promoter Eddie Hearn says work will begin right away on Barker’s next step and he hopes to capitalise on the Londoner’s big night in Atlantic City to get him another bite at a major title.

 

“It was just an incredible performance,” said Hearn. “Nobody gave Darren a shot. I would say it was at times disrespectful but when you look at the task, he was putting it on the line against one of boxing’s all time greats and matched him on so many different levels.

 

“Darren came to win and that’s what eventually lead to the stoppage. He tried to WIN, not survive and we should all embrace that. Darren would have beaten any Middleweight in the World but Martinez. He is a credit to himself, his family and this wonderful sport, he is the reason Matchroom returned to boxing and I am so proud to be his promoter.

 

“The real work starts now. He has made a huge name for himself and I will get him another shot in 2012 but for now we should get behind him for putting it all on the line.”

Joe Greene Returns with Impressive Knockout

Posted on | October 3, 2011 | No Comments

GCP Logo Tight


 

Junior middleweight contender “Mean” Joe Greene (23-1, 15 KOs) returned to action on Saturday by scoring a TKO 6 over durable veteran William “Pete” Johnson.

 

Fighting at the Grand Ballroom at Fitzgerald’s Hotel & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, Greene showed no rust from his time off, throwing over 100 punches per round and finally getting the TKO at 2:16.

 

It was the perfect tune-up for Greene who was making his first appearance since suffering his first loss in June 2010, a unanimous decision against Vanes Martirosyan.

 

“Joe looked sensational tonight and showed no ring rust whatsoever. He was in terrific shape and looked as sharp as ever against a tough guy who was determined to make the final bell,” said Greene’s promoter, Greg Cohen of Greg Cohen Promotions. “We couldn’t be happier with his performance. Clearly, he’s got his focus back and is once again an extremely dangerous threat to any other junior middleweight in the world.”

 

Cohen says the 25-year-old southpaw will head back to the gym immediately to continue training.

“Joe is hungry again and you just can’t keep him out of the gym. He’s ready to show the world what he’s truly made of. We’ll sit down with him and his people and decide if another tune-up fight is needed or if we’ll just start talking to some of the other top contenders and champions in the division about getting in the ring with him. 2012 is going to be a great year for Joe, but not so much for his opponents.”

Wrestling Links (10-3-11)

Posted on | October 3, 2011 | No Comments

West wrestler to be a Badger
Iowa City Press Citizen
But the 160-pound wrestler liked what he saw in the Badger wrestling room even better and committed to Wisconsin on Sunday morning. “I felt close to everybody,” Koethe said. “The campus is really cool-looking and beautiful. I like how they are building 
See all stories on this topic »                                                                                                                          
Wrestling: 15 Teams That Can Save Tag Team Wrestling
Bleacher Report
It’s also a time that younger wrestling fans probably find hard to believe. These days, for the most part, tag team matches are only slightly ahead of women’s matches in the pecking order. Sometimes, they’re not even that high. 
See all stories on this topic »   

 


Bleacher Report
A different kind of wrestling at local Sikh temple
Lodi News-Sentinel
More than 3000 people crammed the grounds outside the Deshmesh Darbar Sikh Temple on Sunday for a full day of wrestling, basketball, volleyball, eating and praying at an annual event in the southern outskirts of Lodi. The festivities even included a 
See all stories on this topic »  

 

Indian wrestler beats Pakistan counterpart
Times of India
PTI | Oct 2, 2011, 10.13PM IST KATRA (J&K): India’s Joginder Kumar won the 7th Mission Dosti International Indian Style wrestling title at jam packed Vivekanand Sports Stadium by defeating his Pakistani rival Zaman Anwar in the final bout on Sunday. 
See all stories on this topic »  

 

WWE Hell in a Cell 2011: Crowd Ruins an Otherwise Decent Night of Wrestling
Bleacher Report
What we got from the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view was exactly what is expected these days: almost regular wrestling matches with a cage as a prop surrounding the ring. Nonetheless, the two main title matches featured good wrestling and psychology, 
See all stories on this topic »  

 


Bleacher Report
Pro Wrestling Star Kurt Angle Didn’t Pass Medicals, According To Dana White
FightLine.com
By Dana Becker | October 02, 2011 Professional wrestling superstar and 1996 Olympic gold medal winner Kurt Angle has been talking about what was offered to him to join the UFC for the past few weeks. Now, UFC President Dana White is setting the record 
See all stories on this topic »

FightLine.com 

 

Shore’s ROH Wrestling Hitlist: The wrestling continues to impress, but the 
ProWrestling.net
I had a couple of friends stop by who had never seen the ROH product but are wrestling fans. Hey were quite impressed with this match and both men. I question the rationale behind moving the belt off the wildly popular Generico, but like I’m castigated 
See all stories on this topic » 

 

Former WWE wrestler Haku admits he bit the nose off a man who called pro 
ProWrestling.net
As Tonga explained, he didn’t do wrestling for fame. He did it to support his family back home and his wife and children in the United States. Anyone who disparaged pro wrestling was disparaging his livelihood and he took it personally. 
See all stories on this topic » 

 

Brian Stann: Sonnen ‘very difficult to overcome’
USA Today
He does a great job of putting people in the positions where he is very dominant, by using a very high-tempo striking game and world-class wrestling. It’s very difficult for people to overcome. In all honesty, I haven’t seen anyone really overcome it. 
See all stories on this topic »

USA Today

 

Web
Steven Osborne: wrestling with Ravel | Music | The Guardian
How do you get your fingers – and brain – round one of the most difficult pieces in the piano repertoire? Steven Osborne takes on Gaspard de la Nuit.
www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/…/steven-osborne-diary-rave...                                                                        
InterMat Wrestling – Fight for Wrestling MMA event set for Saturday
This weekend in San Louis Obispo, Calif. the growth of the wrestling to MMA relationship is being reciprocated when “Fight for Wrestling” hosts its fourth fight as 
www.intermatwrestle.com/articles/8933

UFC/Strikeforce Newsletter (10-3-11)

Posted on | October 3, 2011 | No Comments

 

The Countdown To UFC 136 Begins Tonight
Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard prepare for their rematch for the lightweight title, and Jose Aldo gets ready to defend his featherweight championship against Kenny Florian! Tonight at 11pm on SPIKE (also on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada Wednesday at 1pm)

UFC 139 VIP Packages On Sale Now
Floor seats, meet & greets, backstage tours and more! Get the ultimate experience on November 19th in San Jose! Visit vip.ufc.com to purchase

Today Only! 50% Cover Price When You Pre-Order UFC Encyclopedia At B&N
Pre-order your copy today and receive half off! Use the link above to own this piece of UFC history.

UFC 136 Edgar vs Maynard III on Pay-Per-View – Sat. October 8 – Houston, TX
UFC 137 St-Pierre vs Condit on Pay-Per-View -Sat. October 29 – Las Vegas, NV

Vella’s London Training Camp Over, Returns To Malta Ready To Fight

Posted on | October 3, 2011 | No Comments

After torrid sparring Federico Tavares, Clayton Vella and Duncan Cottier take a moment for a photo op. Photo By: Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

 

In June this year the Malta Boxing Commission became the official professional boxing sanctioning organisation for the Republic of Malta. Shortly after becoming affiliated with the European Boxing Union the MBC President, Alexander Zammit, expressed his desire to help aspiring Maltese pro boxers, by organising exchange programmes with overseas coaches and gyms

In August British coach Barry Smith – who trains boxers such as Southern Area Cruiserweight Champion Leon ‘Solid’ Williams, IBO International Lightweight title contender Michael Grant, World ranked Dutch Cruiserweight Mitchell Balker and fellow MBC licensed pro boxer Marianne Marston, amongst others – spent ten days in Malta coaching various of the local boxers at Edwin Micallef’s gym in Msida.

Last week Clayton Vella, one of the first boxers to be licensed by the Malta Boxing Commission, traveled to the UK for a training camp with Barry and Johnny Eames at the World famous fight factory, The TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town, London.

TRAD TKO has historically been the home to some of the UK’s biggest names, such as Champions Kevin Lear, Graham Earl, Tony Oakey, Matthew Marsh, Ian Napa, Ross Minter etc. and today is filled with stars such as WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight Champion Kevin Mitchell, WBO Inter-Continental Light Welterweight Champion Frankie Gavin, former IBO Lightweight World Champion Colin Lynes as well as many future domestic and World Champions including the aforementioned Leon Williams, Michael Grant and Mitchell Balker as well as former Olympian Billy Joe Saunders.

No surprise then that Clayton, who prior to turning professional was unbeaten on the unsanctioned fight circuit, initially found both training at the TKO as well as London itself, with it’s eleven million inhabitants, a daunting experience, as was clear when he spoke about the trip following his final training session. “At first I found it very different, now I’m used to it and don’t want to leave.

I’ve made lots of friends here, everyone has been very nice to me.

Barry is one of the best coaches around, I wish I could take him back to train me in Malta all the time, and the TKO gym is the best gym I’ve ever seen, our gym is about half the size.

They really take care of you too. Johnny and Jimmy (Tibbs) were really friendly, they helped me a lot and gave me advice.

So are the boxers I trained with, real stars,Frankie, Billy Joe, Leon, everyone did, everyone was so nice and helped me.

It was a good experience and I watched and learned from them, which is what I came to do.

Sparring was good, they are all good boxers and I learned a lot from them. I first sparred Duncan Cottier, he’s very experienced, 60 fights I think. I sparred Brett O’Callaghan, he’s only 19, he’s very good and unbeaten.

On my last day I spar with Italian boxer Federico Tavares, he’s very good, he spars former World Champions like Colin Lynes all the time. He’s very tough and hard to hit. I also spar with Duncan again. It was hard, technical sparring and it really helped me a lot.

It was a very good experience and I learned a lot, now I’m ready and want to fight.”

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