Boxing solicitor out to tame "Wild Thing"
Boxing solicitor Zahid Kahut is warning Earl Ling to beware of the long arm of the law when they clash at the Norfolk Showground, Norwich on the 28th February on the undercard of Jon Thaxton’s first defence of his European title.
The Hennessy Sports show will see Thaxton feature live on ITV4 as he aims to take a step closer to a World title shot by seeing off the challenge of French champion, Anthony Mezaache. Kahut and Ling will be aiming to progress their own careers in a cruiserweight dust up on the undercard.
Local cult hero Ling calls himself the “Wild Thing” and makes no secret about his brushes with the law in the past but solicitor Kahut who divides his time between the courtroom and the famous Ingle gym in Sheffield says the Norwich man is “going down”.
“I’m expecting him to come out fast but I think once I’ve weathered the early storm then I’ll come on strong and I’d expect to stop him in the third or fourth,” claimed the unbeaten 6 foot 6 southpaw who was born in Pakistan.
“I’m growing in confidence all the time and I believe as long as I stay busy and keep improving in the gym there’s no reason why I can’t look for a British title shot. When I came into boxing my goal was to have just one pro fight but now that I’ve accomplished that I want to keep setting new goals for myself.
“I take inspiration from what a guy like Johnny Nelson achieved with the Ingles. When he came to them he never imagined that one day he would be a world champion but he went on to do just that.”
Kahut has taken an unlikely route into the world of boxing crediting chat show legend Michael Parkinson with inspiring him to don a pair of boxing gloves for the first time.
“I’d always been a boxing fan from when I was very young. I used to love watching old Muhammad Ali fights and I was also a big fan of Mike Tyson in his early days. I never actually thought about taking up boxing though, I was mainly into sports like snooker, tennis and cricket and I played all of them to a decent standard.
“What actually convinced me to start boxing myself was when I watched an old interview that Michael Parkinson did with Ali. Parkinson was questioning Joe Bugner’s right to challenge Ali and Ali replied by asking Parkinson if he had ever boxed himself. When Parkinson said no, Ali said that if he’d never stepped in a ring how could he question Bugner’s right to challenge him.
“I remember watching it and thinking, I’m the same, here I am a boxing fan with an opinion on every fight but I’d never got in the ring either. I decided to give it a go and see what it was all about so I headed down to the local amateur club and within 2 months I’d had my first fight.
“I had 11 amateur fights total and I won 7 of them but I had to give it up because I was studying for my law degree at the time and I had other things going on in my life so the boxing had to take a back seat.”
However after settling into life as a solicitor Kahut decided to return to the sport and give the pro game a shot. “I always had aspirations of having a pro fight and when I was able to get in to a 9 to 5 routine with my job it left me time to train in the mornings and evenings so I decided to turn pro with the intention of having just one fight.
“On my debut I fought Scott Mitchell. I was brought in as the opponent and they had high hopes for him but I won that one and then I thought why not keep going and see how far I can go in the sport.”
Now Kahut says he wants to extend his unbeaten run to 4 straight wins with a win over Ling. “I don’t know too much about him but I’m told he’s a tough guy who likes to come forward but that suits me because I’m a counter puncher.
“Even before I joined the Ingle gym I used to box in that style because I always tried to model myself on Naseem Hamed and how he threw his punches, like his corkscrew uppercut. I like to walk my opponents on to my punches and at 6 foot 6 I usually have a good reach advantage over my opponents so Ling will definitely be feeling the long arm of the law!”
Featuring on the exciting undercard: Danny McIntosh v Matthew Barney for the English Light Heavyweight Title, also appearing New Heavyweight Sensation Tyson Fury, Matthew Thirlwall, Lee Purdy, Steve O’Meara and making his pro debut, ABA Senior Featherweight Champion 2008 & awarded the best boxer of the night Royston’s Bradley Evans.
Tickets for Kahut - Ling which is part of the undercard of Jon Thaxton’s first European title defence at the Norfolk Showground, Norwich on the 28th February are available from the Ticketline box office on 0844 888 4402 or via www.ticketline.co.uk.
Packed Undercard Supports Munroe vs. Martinez Rematch
A solid round of support bouts has been added to the hotly anticipated European super bantamweight title rematch between reigning champion Rendall Munroe and Kiko Martinez set for the Metrodome in Barnsley, England on Friday, February 27.
Ajose Olusegun defends his Commonwealth light welter title against Scott Haywood, Gary Buckland and Craig Docherty clash for the vacant Celtic lightweight crown while super feather prospects Gary Sykes and Craig Johnson meet in an important crossroads contest and 2008 Olympic Bronze Medallist Tony Jeffries makes his professional debut at light heavyweight.
But it is in the lower profile undercard fights where some of the most intense action of the evening could take place as the drive to rise above the pack produces tremendous clashes of will.
Middleweight Kevin Concepcion, 14-1 (3), of Leicester continues to march down the comeback trail following his defeat to difficult southpaw spoiler Yassine El Maachi last year and has the momentum of a good win over Paul Dyer in December.
But "The Panther" must be on form if he is to get past Sheffield slugger "Smokin" Jezz Wilson, 5-0 (4), a red-hot knockout artist coming off a second round destruction of Manoocha Salari last summer, as the pair go at it in a scheduled six rounder.
Undefeated light welter Jamie Way, 8-0 (1), fought his way out of Wales with an International Masters title winning effort against Ali Wyatt in October but the Abercarne stylist knows he'll be headed back to small hall shows there if he doesn't turn back the ambitions of iron-chinned Derby man Dave "Rocky" Ryan, 7-1 (1), who has only come up short against welterweight Scott Woolford, losing by a single point in 2007.
It's Lancashire vs. Yorkshire as two popular prospects, Stuart McFadyen and Ross Burkinshaw, face off in a six round smoker at bantamweight. Stocky Colne based McFadyen, 11-1 (1), will come down from featherweight after four impressive wins last year but "The Burnley Banger" will have to get past the quick hands of flashy Sheffield boxer Ross "The Boss" Burkinshaw, 5-1-1 (3), who's only loss came from a shoulder injury.
Two four round bouts are also on the bill as towering Huddersfield light welter Tyrone Nurse, 5-0 (0), looks to keep a perfect record when he goes up against durable Coventry veteran Baz Carey, 11-39-4 (3), and Derby flyweight Usman Ahmed, 4-1-1 (0), will be going for his fifth straight win when he meets Birkenhead's David Keogan, 0-5 (0).
Irish super bantamweight champion Paul Hyland, 13-1 (4), is scheduled to appear in a six rounder against an opponent yet to be determined.
Frank Maloney Promotions presents Rendall Munroe vs. Kiko Martinez for the Super Bantamweight Championship of Europe with full supporting undercard at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England on Friday, February 27, 2009.
Tickets are priced at £75 and £35 and are available by logging onto www.frankmaloney.com or by calling the Box Office at 0871 226 1508.
Sky Sports will televise the action live on SS1 starting at 10PM.
***ROGAN AIMS FOR HISTORY***
Martin Rogan is aiming to become Ireland's second heavyweight world champion - more than 100 years after the last man to hold the greatest prize in boxing.
And he says victory over Matt Skelton later this month will put him on course to achieve his dream.
The 37-year-old from Belfast will face Skelton at the N.I.A IN Birmingham, on February 28.
Having ended the career of Audley Harrison in December when he beat the Olympic gold medallist over 10 rounds, Rogan is looking to repeat the trick against Skelton.
And "The Entertainer" believes that a spectacular win over the Commonwealth heavyweight champion will allow him to gatecrash the world scene.
"It's everyone's dream when they are growing up to become heavyweight champion of the world," said Rogan.
"Harrison was being talked up as a possible world title contender and I beat him. Now everyone is doing the same with Skelton. Both of them said that I was a stepping stone for their world title ambitions, but I'm a stepping stone for no one.
"Skelton is a great fighter and it's not going to be easy, but I will go in there believing I will win, and if I do defeat him, then why shouldn't I be thinking about becoming a world champion.
"And you know what - I don't think this a tougher fight than Harrison.
"Harrison had a lot more class and boxing ability than Skelton. I've got a lot of respect for Matt and he's going to rough and tough, but to be honest that suits me down to the ground, more than fighting someone like Harrison.
"I've got a great team behind me in John Breen and Eamonn Magee, and it's going to be about whose game plan is best, and I believe mine will be."
Rogan, 11-0 with five stoppages, doesn't have history on his side in his quest for world glory.
But there has been an Irish heavyweight champion before - in 1895, Peter Maher was awarded the title by retired champion Jim Corbett after beating Steve O'Donnell.
He lost the crown in his first defence against Bob Fitzsimmons.
"We've not had a great history of heavyweights in Ireland, and I must admit I'd not heard of Peter Maher before," said Rogan.
"But I know I've the got the tools to get to the very top and finally put Ireland on the map as far as us big men are concerned. We've had lots of great fighters at lighter weights in the past, but now the heavyweights are coming!
"I'm so confident after the Harrison victory. I've had a great training camp and I've been sparring with some good, big heavyweights in Northern Ireland and the south, everything has been spot on."
Tickets, priced at £30, £50, £100 and £150, are available from:
Ticket Factory
0844 338 8000
www.theticketfactory.com
See Tickets
0871 220 0260
www.seetickets.com
Ticket Master
0844 847 2500
www.ticketmaster.com
Ticketline
0871 888 9991
www.ticketline.co.uk
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***FIGHT CARD***
FRANK WARREN PROUDLY PRESENTS
CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2009
THE NATIONAL INDOOR ARENA, BIRMINGHAM
THE COMMONWEALTH HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
12 X 3 Minutes Rounds
MATT SKELTON (Bedford, England) vs. MARTIN ROGAN (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
THE COMMONWEALTH SUPER-FLYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
12 X 3 Minute Rounds at 8st 3lb (115lb)
DON BROADHURST (Birmingham, England) vs. ISSAC OWUSU (Accra, Ghana)
THE MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF ENGLAND
10 X 3 Minute Rounds at 11st 6lb (160lb)
STEVE BENDALL (Coventry, England) vs. DARREN McDERMOTT (Dudley, England)
4 X 3 Minute Rounds Middleweight Contest
JAMES DeGALE (Harlesden, London, England) vs. VEPKHIA TCHILAIA (Tblisi, Georgia)
4 X 3 Minute Rounds Welterweight Contest
FRANKIE GAVIN (Birmingham, England) vs. GEORGE KADARIA (Tblisi, Georgia)
4 X 3 Minute Rounds Light-Welterweight Contest
BILLY JOE SAUNDERS (Hatfield, England) vs. ATTILA MOLNAR (Hungary)
4 X 3 Minute Rounds Featherweight Contest
STEVEN SMITH (Liverpool, England) vs. STEVE GETHIN (Walsall, England)
4 X 3 Minute Rounds Light-Middleweight Contest
THOMAS COSTELLO (Birmingham, England) vs. MATT SCRIVEN (Nottingham, England)
