By Lee Collier
Steve Wood, boxing manager and head of VIP Promotions, is hoping for a better 2010 and with some former champions like Jamie Moore looking to get back in the title mix alongside some of the most highly rated prospects in the country the future looks good for Wood and his company.
Speaking exclusively to Boxingscene.com Wood talked in depth about the lows of 2009, what he expects in 2010 and some of his top prospects.
Wood, a family man, suffered a setback in July when his father suffered a stroke. An incident like this is bad enough to deal with but the promoter lost use of a man who helped him greatly regarding his shows.
“The real big thing was my dad having a stroke back in July. My dad was at all the boxing shows for me and used to do a lot of running around for me. If fighters came in from abroad he would pick them up at the airport. He was also there on the day helping out so I miss my dad tremendously. I still go and see him every day but the time I have had has been limited,” revealed Wood.
Coupled with his dad’s illness, Wood also saw five of his fighters lose title belts.
“The last twelve months have been crap because of what happened to my dad but at the same time in the last six months, Carl Dilks, Tony Quigley, Jamie Moore, Mark Moran and Gary Davies all fought for big titles and even though they won all of them ended 2009 without a belt.”
Wood and his fighters were involved in some controversial title decisions, which went in favour of the opposition. There were the fights which could have gone either way (Quigley-Smith & Napa-Davies) and also the odd confusing decision (Dilks-Adamu).
“For me Carl Dilks never lost his belt, Tony Quigley never lost the fight, Jamie Moore has and is going up to middleweight, Mark Moran lost to Jason Booth and subsequently and been out injured since and I felt Gay Davies beat Ian Napa,” roared Wood. “With Gary’s fight he boxed injured as he came off his scooter the day before and was in hospital until 3am the day of the fight and still went in the ring.
“In 2010 I want to make sure those five kids fight for titles and win and to push the other kids I have through. The main one who is going to follow them through is Gary Sykes who has just been made the mandatory for the British super-featherweight. I heard Ricky Burns is going overseas to fight for a world title so at the next board meeting we will push for Gary to fight someone else for the British title and I am sure that Gary will get the win.
Woods continued, “Gary should have boxed Carl Johansson on the 22nd January in an eliminator but there was no need to go ahead with that as Gary is the mandatory now. Sykes will now fight on the 5th February in Nottingham just too keep busy. Me and Frank [Maloney] have said the kids will only get tough fights as we are in a recession and fans want to get value for money so Gary will not have an easy fight.”
The promoter’s most recent loss was when Scouse fighter Carl Dilks stepped up to challenge Charles Adamu for the vacant Commonwealth super-middleweight title. Dilks seemed to have won the fight after Adamu missed with most of his shots but the African fighter won on a split point decisions and Wood was clearly fuming at the result.
“I have put a complaint in to the Commonwealth council but it has to wait till the council meeting but the feeling I am getting is that it won’t go to an automatic rematch which is what I have asked for,” said a miffed Wood. “There will be a few people who want to fight Adamu and we are one of them so we just need to see if we can get it but it’s also dependant on whether Sky would want to see the rematch.”
Fellow Scouse super-middleweight Tony Quigley lost his British title to another Liverpudlian, Paul Smith, in a close fight and is now looking at rebuilding at the middleweight weight class.
“The situation with Tony Quigley is that he is a chubby super-middleweight and the reason he boxed at 168lbs is because he got the big opportunities,” declared Wood. “Tony beat Dodson in a good fight and then lost to Paul Smith in a bad fight. I strongly believe that Paul Smith didn’t do enough to win the British title that night. I have watched in back on TV since and it wasn’t even close for me. Tony Quigley clearly won the fight even though he didn’t fight well.
“Quigley would love the rematch that was promised afterwards but I knew that the rematch wouldn’t happen and I’ve been proven right. We just have to move on and Tony is now going to come down to middleweight and if he can he will get to light-middleweight he will but his next fight will be at middleweight and we’ll see how he does.”
Wood suffered a great disappointment when his European light-middleweight champion Jamie Moore lost his title to Ryan Rhodes in a world title eliminator.
“Jamie is going to fight at middleweight this year,” stated Wood. “I have been asking him for two years to go up in weight as I know he has been struggling to make 154lbs. He hasn’t listened in the past but he has now and we have to move him on now and hopefully to the world scene, if not then Europe. Jamie is above British level and we are looking at some names we can bring over and catapult him right up the rankings at middleweight.
“Jamie has already gone in at number five in the European rankings and the champion is Matthew Macklin who Jamie has already beaten so that is a possibility but we are looking at getting a world ranked fighter and if we have to go to America to get that fight we will do,” enthused Wood. “Jamie Moore doesn’t need two or three fights at middleweight to prove he can manage it, we already know he can.”
It was back in 2006 when Jamie Moore and Matthew Macklin went toe-to-toe in a modern day British classic and a rematch is certainly a possibility; Wood believes his fighter would come out on top again.
“Jamie has beat Macklin before and it was a great fight but I felt Jamie was in control throughout. They said Macklin had problems with the weight but so did Jamie so I don’t think the result would be any different. They would both be strong at the weight and it’s a fight I feel Jamie would win again and it’s a fight we would take,” admitted Wood.
Wood continued, “It would be nice if Macklin won a world title first and the fight with Jamie was for a world title. Firstly, we have to move Jamie on and if it’s the EBU and Macklin in the way we would take it.”
St Helens based bantamweight Gary Davies lost the British title to Ian Napa in his first defence and already has been given an English title chance to get himself back in the title mix.
“Gary is straight back in the title mix as the opportunity to fight Stuart Hall for the English on the 19th March came and Gary isn’t one for taking easy fights. Gary is a bit more experienced than Stuart Hall and they are both big punchers but I think Gary has the bigger dig,” claimed a confident Wood.
“The winner of that will be fighting Napa and he has a European title fight so it might be a bigger incentive as the winner could be fighting for a European as well as a British.”
Liverpool’s Mark Moran suffered agony when he lost to Jason Booth in a fight for the vacant British super-bantamweight title. Moran, a former English champion, has since been away from the ring but returns to action in March.
“Mark won the English against Danny Wallace on the big Ricky Hatton bill [versus Lazcano] and that paved the way to fight for the British super-bantamweight title against Matthew Marsh who pulled out. Last minute Jason Booth stepped in, and even though Booth is a good fighter, we felt Mark would have too much for him but unfortunately on the night he didn’t as Mark just didn’t turn up,” mused Wood.
“Since then we have found medical reasons why he didn’t perform and they have been dealt with and he has had six months out of the ring so Mark will be back in March and then he will be pushing for title fights. We would happily have a rematch with Jason Booth.”
Wood puts on his first show of the year on the 27th of February in Blackpool. The bill will feature 10 fights as VIP are expanding their shows. The big attraction for Blackpool boxing fans are two local lads, Brian Rose and Jack Arnfield fighting for minor titles.
“Jack [Arnfield] is stuck between middleweight and light-middleweight and with Brian [Rose] being the Central Area champion and fighting for a Masters title we have decided to let Jack have a go at the Central Area middleweight title. We are calling the show ‘Two Title’s at the Tower’ and both are local Blackpool kids and there are eight fights supporting it so it’s going to be a massive fight to start with,” enthused Wood.
“That’s our intention to do bigger shows as the last few shows we have had struggle matching kids and our own fighters getting injured and not giving value for money. So VIP have decided this year to have 10 fights on the show and then if two or three pull out the public will still get value for money and we don’t have to worry about pulling shows. I pulled a show in December and it’s only the third time in 14 years I had to pull a show. I didn’t like doing it but we only had 4 fights and a big venue, and that’s why we are going for the mega shows this year.”
Following on from the Blackpool show is the Alex Matvienko-Omar Gumati rematch for the British masters title held by Matvienko.
“The next VIP card after Blackpool is on the 14th March in Bolton. Headlining is a great rematch between Alex Matvienko and Omar Gumati and there will be 9 undercard fights on that. The boxing public won’t be disappointed with VIP this year,” predicted Wood.
One fighter who was unlucky last year was Manchester’s Jon Kays. Kays was scheduled for his first title fight when he had two opponents pull out leaving him to fight Sid Razak over six rounds.
“Jon Kays was unlucky last year as he was fighting for a Masters featherweight title and he had two kids pull out on him,” recalled Wood. “So we are looking at going to Huddersfield around May and I am not saying it will be a Masters, it may be a Central Area but we are definitely going to headline with Jon around May in Huddersfield in a title fight.”
One boxer Wood always gets excited about in conversation is unbeaten 21 year old Karl Place. The Manchester fighter is unbeaten in seven fights and has recently gained experience in sparring world champion Amir Khan.
“The other kid who I will push this year will be Karl Place. Even though Karl is only young, he is 7-0 and looking the part and is one of the kids who we can look at taking the reins off. He will be a TV star no doubt about it,” continued Wood. “I am not saying he will fight for titles this year but in 2011 people will be looking over their shoulders hoping they don’t have to fight him.
“It was good for me and Karl to get the Amir Khan sparring sessions. I watched all the sessions and Karl got better with each session and it’s good when you see kids who have had their own way all the time go into sparring and suddenly not get their own way. Yet he didn’t fold and Karl learnt a lot in those three sessions with Khan, probably more than he has in his seven fights.
“I am a great believer that the next best thing after a fight is the sparring and they learn a lot doing it and if you can take what you learn to the fight it can make the difference between winning and losing. Karl is going to be stepped up in sparring this year like we did with Jamie Moore. He went round the world sparring good kids to help him out for when he got to the level he did. The same will happen with Karl Place and he will be a champion. If we can get him top quality sparring leading up to his title fight it could make the difference in winning.”
Wood then talked about a few other fighters he believes will be in the title mix this coming year, Mike Robinson, Kieran Farrell, Rick Godding and Stuart McFadyen.
He said: “Mike [Robinson] has been unlucky with injuries. He was meant to be fighting for an Area title and he has already boxed for the English title and got beat after seven rounds in only his fifth fight. Mike was pushed too soon because of his weight and he will bounce between super-flyweight and bantamweight. He will be in the mix and has proved he is a good fighter but now he is there he will have to stay at that level.
“It is the same with Kieran Farrell. Kieran is only a young kid with four fights and I sat down with him the other day and told him he will be out on both the Blackpool and Bolton shows and after that he will be ready for the title mix. He has already spent time sparring with the likes of Chris Edwards and held his own. Kieran will be fighting for titles by the end of this year, and not because we want to push him but because we can’t do anything with him at that weight.
“Stuart McFadyen should have been fighting for the English bantamweight title against Jamie McDonnell but Jamie is fighting Ian Napa so that fell through but he will get a win in Blackpool and then we can look at titles for him.
“Rick Godding is 10-0 and will be looking into getting into the mix for the end of the season and we have already mentioned the three kids who are fighting for titles around light-middleweight: Matvienko, Rose and Arnfield. Certainly, Brian will be in the British title mix if Anthony Small and Sam Webb happens. If Brian doesn’t fight the winner then he should fight in an eliminator and he certainly deserves it.”
Wood then talked about some of his younger and more recent signings before mentioning Liverpool’s Brett Flourney who has just entered February’s Prizefighter competition.
“I have the young kids coming through like Josh Warrington, Terry Flannigan, Lee and Stephen Jennings, Shayne Singleton, Tyrone Nurse and Chad Gaynor. One I have overlooked who could outshine them all is Brett Flourney,” stated Wood. “Brett was an ABA champion who has been forgotten about because of inactivity and he’ll admit it’s his own fault. Brett is back in the gym with the bit between the teeth and he’ll be in shape for a title this year.
“It shows the confidence we have in Brett in that he has been out a while and we brought him back to fight Kevin McIntyre who was a British champion. It was a good fight although it only lasted two rounds - we tried to make it for December but it didn’t happen. Kevin has had the opportunity to fight Mark Thompson in an eliminator so maybe Brett could get a fight with the winner of that.”
VIP have lost a couple of fighters recently (Mark Thompson & Martin Murray) to the newly formed Hatton Promotions. Wood believes that all the fighters he has discussed shows the depth he has at VIP and feels that the company is just as strong without the departed fighters.
“The names I have mentioned shows the depth VIP has in talent,” beamed Wood.
“Losing Murray and Thompson was a bad point in 2009. We did so well with Murray and Thompson and for reasons outside what VIP where doing they decided to leave. To be honest it hurt at the time but they are only headaches in the long run and I have got rid of those headaches.
“They have moved on and I have Josh Warrington and Chad Gaynor to replace them and I’ll bring them through and I hope they show some loyalty and stay. If they don’t then they are a headache and I don’t lose an ounce of sleep over fighters who think they can do better elsewhere. The grass is always greener for them and the way I look at it are all boxers are headaches but some turn into migraines and I have enough kids to worry about without having to worry about disloyal fighters.”
Wood finished off by showing the confidence he has in his pool of fighters. “After 2009 I didn’t expect to be sat here with no champions but at the start of 2011 we will be sat here with numerous champions. Of that I am 100% sure,” concluded Wood.