Frank Warren Discusses Brook, Cleverly, Barker, More

By Frank Warren

August is traditionally a quiet month for British boxing, but not this year it seems. Rarely do we see British boxers involved in matches at this time of the year but next weekend we see two British boxers involved in big World Title fights on both sides of the Atlantic.

Next Saturday in Cardiff, British Light-Heavyweight World Champ Nathan Cleverly faces his biggest test to date in the form of the dangerous Russian puncher, Sergey Kovalev. The HBO backed Russian is the  favourite with the bookies to be crowned champion on the night but myself, Nathan and his trainer-father Vince are confident Nathan will do the business and keep hold of his belt.

Sometimes, boxers have to step up and take a risk in order to progress their career and this is one of those pivotal moments for Nathan where the risk is far outweighed by the reward.

If he wins, and wins in the style and I think he can, I’m confident I can land him a multi-fight deal with HBO which will put him up there with the top earners in the sport. This is Nathan’s time to shine and that’s why I have dug deep to ensure he has every advantage of emerging victorious on fight night.

The involvement of American TV is sometimes the only way to make the big fights happen and this is the case with the other Brit involved in World Title action, a few hours after Nathan. Darren Barker will be tackling IBF middleweight king Daniel Geale in Atlantic City in what is a good match-up on paper.  Geale isn’t top drawer, so you have to give Barker a chance.

The outcome of both fights will be interesting and will go a long way to seeing how each fighter’s future career is shaped. I hope that home advantage, a big factor that has been vital in recent fights for British fighters, could be the key. With a strong partisan crowd on the night, no travel and not having to adjust to new surroundings, climate or time zones can often give a fighter the edge over his travelling opponent.

Although Geale isn’t from the States, he is based there, with American Promoters and US TV backing, who would have weighed up this fight and ensured that their man had all the support they could offer to give him the best chance of winning.

However, Atlantic City is not untested ground for Barker, who was out-boxed and eventually stopped by Argentine Sergio Martinez in his last crack at the World Title. He travelled to the US for that fight too, and the fact that he has travelled a week earlier this time to acclimatise will help with his preparation but will it be substitute for home advantage?

Like Nathan, I think Barker can do the business and bring the title back home to the UK, but you would fancy his chances much more if he was in Blighty.

Both fights are being screened on HBO in the US and you can catch Cleverly v Kovalev live on BoxNation from 8pm and Geale v Barker on Sky in the early hours of Sunday morning. Both should be cracking fights and I highly recommend you make it a TV boxing marathon next weekend!

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I’m delighted to have signed big ticket selling Amateur star, Georgie Kean, who has joined my team of fighters. George, who hails from my own backyard of Islington, has all the attributes you look for in a prospect. Clean living, good looking and bags of talent.

 I’m tipping him to make real waves in the pro game. I expect to see him challenging for top titles during his career and become a box office hit. He will debut on Septemeber 21st at the Copper Box Arena and has already vowed to out-sell phenomenal ticket seller Frank Buglioni, who also inked a new deal this week, at the Box Office.

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Last week, it was announced that Kell Brook will risk his unbeaten record against Ricky Hatton’s conqueror and former World Champion Vyacheslav Senchenko. It is a competitive fight on paper but for me it is a strange fight for Kell right now, especially after the multiple setbacks he has had to endure this year.

With rumoured weight making difficulties, injuries and pull-outs, Kell has little to gain and everything to lose by taking this fight as he already holds a lofty ranking with the IBF and a loss could set him further back than any win could possibly move him forward. Despite this strong position with the ranking body and being Sky TV’s poster boy; he still can’t seem to nail down a world title shot.

The reported six figure sum that Senchenko is being paid shows his promoters are confident that Kell will beat the man who returned Ricky Hatton to retirement. With purses like that being thrown around for non-marquee names, one wonders why such cash isn’t available to import a world champion to the UK to defend against the Sheffield man.

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