Billy Lyell: record, next fight and profile →
Self-awareness is not a common trait among professional athletes. Particularly boxers. Nearly every gym rat worth his hand wraps believes he belongs on a higher level than he’s reached or insists he’s got one more good night left in him long after all signs of title contention have faded.
New Zealand middleweight boxer Gunnar Jackson has landed the chance of a lifetime with a last minute call-up to fight Anthony Mundine in Brisbane this month. In a typically convoluted boxing scenario, American Billy Lyell did not respond to an offer to replace Mundine's original opponent, Carson Jones, who pulled out of the January 29 showdown with the flu.
New Zealand middleweight boxer Gunnar Jackson has missed out on a last-minute callup to fight Anthony Mundine this month. Jackson's WBO Oriental middleweight title win last month in Auckland put him in the top 15 in the organisation and into contention to fight Mundine in Brisbane on January 29. Tauranga-based Jackson (18-4) is understood to have been one of two boxers considered to take on Mundine.
While the finishing touches are still being worked out, Golden Boy Promotions' February 9th event is being postponed to April 27th. The card will still take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The card took a major hit when the headliner, WBC/WBA junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia (25-0, 16KOs), was forced to withdraw on Sunday with a rib injury. Garcia was scheduled to face two-division former champion Zab Judah (42-7, 29 KOs) in the Showtime televised main event of the evening. The boxer was injured during a sparring session with former champion DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley.
On Saturday night, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. won a ten round decision over Ohio's Billy Lyell at the Banorte Soccer Stadium in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. Chavez appears to be on track for a May collision with WBC middleweight champion Sebastian Zbik, a fight that would surely boost his stock to a new level.