On June 4th "The Black Panther“ Juan Carlos Gomez (46-2, 36 kos) will return to action against Frankfurt based Turk Oezcan Cetinkaya (17-6-1, 11 kos) in Hattersheim (near Frankfurt), Germany. The former WBC cruiserweight champion and heavyweight championship contender (in March 2009 vs. Vitali Klitschko) will headline the „7th annual Hattersheim Havoc“ at Karl-Eckel-Halle. In the co-feature hard-hitting German prospect Konstantin Airich (14-2-2, 11 kos) takes on Alexander Kahl (15-5-1, 13 kos). The fights will be broadcasted live on Eurosport (starting at 9.00pm local time).
Ten days before stepping into the ring Gomez lashes out against the heavyweight scene at his training camp in Hamburg. „Everybody knows that the heavyweight division is a piece of crap at the moment“, states Gomez. „But if it needed any further proof we all got it last weekend in Germany. The fight between Chagaev and Meehan was a disgrace. And the fight between Vitali and Sosnowski next weekend won’t be much better.“
„I know that I lost to Vitali clearly. And I also know that I am not in the shape of my life at the moment. But still I am a better boxer than all of the Chagaevs, Valuevs, Sosnowskis and Hayes out there. The Klitschkos are good fighters without a doubt but they mainly look so strong and dominant because they lack good competition. The other problem of the division is that the so called world class fighters don’t fight each other. I would take on anybody. But instead of fighting a name I have to step into the ring with a guy like Cetinkaya who isn’t close to my league. I surely don’t underestimate any opponent and I give him props for challenging me. But I would rather fight a big name. The only problem is: There are no big names out there instead of the Klitschkos!“
Gomez’ promoter Ahmet Öner agrees: „When I watched Chagaev vs. Meehan on TV I couldn’t even switch it off before falling asleep. The heavyweight division clearly needs some fresh blood and more excitement. I hope that Juan can make it back to his old class. He has been working very hard in the last couple of weeks. He lost twenty pounds after his comeback win against Alex Mazikin on March 27th (Gomez weighed in at a career high 255 lbs. for that fight). Judging from what I see in training Juan is very serious when he says he wants to show that he is one of the best in the world.“
"Talking about the heavyweight scene in general I can promise that Odlanier Solis will shake up the division in the next twelve months. Solis is one of very few exciting fighters I see on the horizon. He will hopefully get the chance to become the first man to knock out Nikolai Valuev. After that we are ready to take on either Klitschko – and hopefully retire both of them.“
McCloskey on the right Lynes ahead of European title defence
European Champion Paul McCloskey has teamed up with old rival Colin Lynes as he steps up preparations for the first defence of his title on the Yanjing Beer Fight Night at the Kings Hall, Belfast on Friday, June 11th.
McCloskey headlines a big night of championship boxing at one of the sports legendary venues when he takes on mandatory challenger Giuseppe Lauri while the chief supporting bout will see Stephen Haughian taking on former British champ, Kevin McIntyre for the Celtic Welterweight title.
In preparation for the bout McCloskey has been clocking up the rounds isparring with former opponent Lynes at trainer John Breen's Gym in Belfast. The undefeated Dungiven southpaw relieved Lynes of his British title in 2008 and the Londoner has also enjoyed a stint as European Champion so he knows all about preparing for European title fights.
“Colin's a very sharp, snappy fighter so it's been excellent work so far,” said McCloskey. “The fact that we have fought before doesn't really come into it where sparring is concerned because it's very different to actually fighting. On fight night you're in there to win and that's you're sole objective where as in sparring you are more concerned with working on aspects of your own game and tweaking things here and there so it's a very different mentality.”
Lynes has also enjoyed his time in Belfast. “The sparring has been great so far and I think it's just what we both need,” said Lynes. “I've been sparring really well and Paul seems to getting better and better every day. He'll be looking to build towards a peak as the fight approaches because you don't want to leave you're best behind you in the gym and have nothing left come fight night.
“I think Paul is improving as a fighter the whole time. He's had a coupe of good wins since he beat me and winning the European title will have made him an even better fighter.
“Paul is good enough to beat Lauri wherever the fight takes place but they have done very well to get Paul home advantage and get the fight to the King's Hall because I know from first hand experience that it's very difficult to get a fair crack of the whip in Italy.”
McCloskey belies he has what it take to see off the challenge of Lauri despite the Italian's impressive record of 50 wins from his 56 professional bouts. “Lauri's a very solid fighter and has all the fundamentals,” said McCloskey.
“He's very experienced and he's quite crafty but I believe I'm a level above him. I've never lacked confidence and I honestly believe I can go as far as I want to go in boxing. As long as I prepare right and put in the hard work then I have every confidence in my ability. My weights exactly where I would want it to be right now and I 'm very happy with my fitness so everything is going to plan right now.”
By the end of the year McCloskey hopes to be on the cusp of a World title shot but for now he's refusing to look past the challenge of Lauri. “I'm just focused on getting this defence out of the way first, everything else is just talk and speculation after that. Ideally I'd like to defend the European title again before moving on to World level but if a World title opportunity comes my way in the meantime and it makes sense then I won't need to be asked twice.
“Light Welterweight is probably the most completive division in World boxing right now with guys like Timothy Bradley, Amir Khan, Devon Alexander and Marcos Maidana but I don't fear any of those guys and I'd relish the opportunity of fighting any of them.”
The Yanjing Beer Fight Night will also feature a second title fight on the card when Lurgan's Stephen Haughian takes on former British Champ Kevin McIntyre for the Celtic Welterweight title. Cavan's Andy Murray also features as the undefeated European number 3 looks to take another step close to a European title fight with namesake, John Murray.
Rising Belfast star Carl Frampton will get a chance to fight in his hometown for the first time as a pro. The Barry McGuigan managed super bantamweight is unbeaten in his first 5 professional outings and tipped for for big things in the paid ranks.
Another exciting new Belfast talent out to extend his unbeaten record at the King's Hall will be flyweight Jamie Conlan while Cuban sensation Alexei Acosta will also feature as he looks to continue a incredible knockout streak that has seen him stop all 10 of his professional opponents to date. Acosta, a World Junior Champion in the amateur ranks is now based in Cork having turned professional in 2008.
The Yanjing Beer Fight Night will be live on Sky Sports and tickets priced ￡30, ￡60 and ￡90 are available from Ticketmaster and all usual outlets. Contact Ticketmaster 0844 8472455 (0818 719300 from ROI), Box Office 01277 359900, Julie 07745698372, Francie 07803282224.
CARL JOHANNESON hopes to put the pressure on British super-featherweight champion Gary Sykes this week.
Sykes (14-0) makes the first defence of his British super-featherweight title against Kevin O’Hara (17-5) at Huddersfield Leisure Centre on Friday (28th May).
And former domestic champion Johanneson (28-4) has an outing on the same card when he meets Pole Arek Malek in six round catchweight bout.
Promoter Frank Maloney is eager to match the West Yorkshire rivals later this year and says: “Carl is desperate for the fight and taking on Malek proves that.
“It was proving impossible to match Carl, and all we could get at short notice was Malek who usually boxes at light-welterweight and is much bigger.”
Johanneson recently made a comeback after losing the British title to Kevin Mitchell two years ago and is keen to mix it with Huddersfield’s Sykes.
The Leeds puncher, 31, said: “I know that given a chance I can get my old title back from Gary.
“It was a tremendous achievement for him to beat Andy Morris and I think he will beat Kevin O’Hara this week.
“A clash with me is a natural and would put Yorkshire boxing back on the map because it seems to be forgotten at times.”
Malek (7-24-2) might have a patchy record, but is durable and been the distance with the like of Young Mutley, Craig Dickson, David Barnes, Lee McAllister and Nigel Wright.
Also on the bill is Blackpool light-middleweight Brian Rose (14-0-1) who boxes an eight rounder against Jamaican born Brummie Max Maxwell (11-9-2).
There are some tickets left price £30 and £70 from 0871 226 1508 or www.frankmaloney.com
