Jason Welborn and Terry Carruthers went head-to-head last night as they prepare for their British Eliminator and Midlands Area Light Middleweight Title showdown later this month.
The duo clash at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham, on Thursday, 19th December in what is sure to be a Christmas Cracker.
Midlands Area Champion Carruthers is determined to hold on to the belt he won in October thanks to a convincing points victory over Steve Spence.
“He’s not having my belt,” he told www.uko-boxing.com . “It’s mine. I’m in a good place at the moment. I’m getting time to prepare for fights rather than taking them at short notice and it shows.
“The fight is in my backyard too. I’m not going to lose. I’m the champion. Al I have to say is ‘and still’.”
Welborn, who was crowned British Masters champion following a points victory over Max Maxwell in September, has other ideas.
“I’m confident,” he said. “I’ve seen Carruthers in action. He’s game but I think Maxwell is a tougher opponent and I’ve beaten him, so we’ll see on the night.
"I've stepped up to this weight, found my feet and lads like Carruthers are the type of lads I need to beat so I can push on.”
The undercard for EJKO Promotions’ ‘Who Dares Wins’ Show features three intriguing bouts.
Halesowen Super Middleweight prospect, Lennox Clarke, takes on Congo-born Didier Blanch whilst Birmingham light welterweight prospect, Michael Rooney, steps in with ever-green Kristian Laight.
Birmingham middleweight, Craig Cunningham completes the line-up. Karl Wiggins will no longer feature.
Tickets for ‘Who Dares Wins’ are £60 and include a three-course meal or £30 unreserved standard seating. Doors open at 6.30pm with dinner served at 7.00pm. Boxing commences at 9.00pm. Call 07540 990 166 or 07450 458 293.
BOLTON - Last Sunday night at the Hilton Hotel in Bradford, Amir Khan hosted a sell-out fundraising dinner for Islamic Relief’s Typhoon Haiyan Appeal, which caused huge devastation in the Philippines last month.
Over 500 people from all across the country attended the black tie event and a staggering £83,400 was raised to help victims of the disaster by the end of the night.
The fantastic total was raised through ticket sales and an impressive charity auction, which featured rare items including a signed Mohamed Ali boxing glove, Filipino boxer, Manny Pacquiao’s boxing shorts, one of Usain Bolt’s famous running shoes and a special meet and greet with Amir Khan at his own gym, Gloves Community Centre.
Amir explained: “When I heard about the devastation in the Philippines I wanted to do anything I could to help – so I got in touch with Rizwan Malik and Islamic Relief to organise this fundraiser.
“The evening was an astounding success and the amount raised has exceeded all our expectations and I can’t thank everyone enough for their generosity.
“I’d also like to thank Rizwan, who helped me organise the whole event in just two weeks – his support really was invaluable.”
Rizwan said: “I’m extremely proud of what we’ve achieved and now we hope the money raised will really help the Islamic Relief Foundation’s Philippines Appeal.
“It was great to see Amir so passionate about giving back and helping others – we couldn’t have asked for a better host for the evening.”
36 year old Leo Roget is best known for his footballing skills after carving out a career predomincatly at Southend United. Leo was forced to retire early from professional football and he settled into life as a personal trainer.
However after discussions with former Commonwealth champion Jason Matthews, Leo teamed up with Steve Goodwin and decided to launch into professional boxing.
Leo is the third former professional footballer and is following in the steps of Curtis Woodhouse and Leon McKenzie (who also features on the same show).
Whilst noit having any amateur experience Leo has trained very hard for his debut and is looking to demonstrate he is equally adept at using his hands as he was his feet.
For his debut he takes on “Mad” Mitch Mitchell from Lincoln on a 15 fight bill of boxing which starts at 5pm.
Topping the bill is Lee "The Banjo" Markham who competes for the British Masters super Middleweight Gold title against former Southern Area Champion Sam Couzens.
Co Feature is the International Masters Light-Middleweight title between former two time southern Area challenger Kris Agyei-Dua and tough Czech Jan Balog.
Goodwin's "Golden Boy" John McCallum from Edinburgh competes for his first title when he competes for the International Masters Bronze Light-Middleweight title.
A special attraction sees London's undefeated "Quicksilver" Philip Bowes (6-0) take on former British Champion Paul Appleby from Scotland in a 6 round Light-Welterweight contest.
Exciting undefeated Heavyweight prospect AJ Carter (4-0) has a 4 round contest against Luke Martin from the UK.
The exciting "Pexican" Johnny Garton is the current holder of the British Masters Bronze Welterweight title and has 10 wins from 10 fights. Johnny has a 6 round International contest in what is his toughest contest to date. Johnny takes on Stanislav Nenkov who has won 7 from 11 fights.
"Saint" George Jupp has an International 6 round Super-Featherweight contest. George takes on the in form Kristian Dochev who has won 3 from his last 4 fights and featured on Box Nation on 16th November recording another victory.
Kevin Greenwood has recorded four consecutive victories at Super-Middleweight and will be aiming to make it five in a super-middleweight contest. Kevin takes on Pole Robert Studzinski.
Former Premier League professional footballer Leon McKenzie has made a perfect start to his professional boxing career with 2 victories and aims for his third in a 4 round super-middleweight contest. Leon has his toughest fight to date against Darren McKenna.
Another former professional footballer Leo Roget makes his professional debut taking on Mitch Mitchell in a 4 round contest.
The show features the eagerly awaitied debuts of Craig Hardy at Super-Featherweight, Adam Balski at Cruiserweight and John Cash at Light Middleweight. All participate in four round contests.
Only a few tickets remain for this virtual sold out show. For tickets contact any of the boxers on the show or contact Goodwin Promotions on 01525 851150 or buy from www.ticketmaster.co.uk or www.goodwinpromotions.co.uk
Liverpool’s Joe Selkirk will now face undefeated Hungarian Zoltan Sera for the Vacant WBO European Light-Middleweight title this Saturday (7th December) at the Echo Arena.
Selkirk was due to face Ronnie Heffron on the big multi-title show, but the Oldham fighter withdrew from the fight because of damaged hand ligaments.
The 28-year-old, who’s undefeated in 11 fights, was eager to still fight for his first title and is happy to face off against big-hitting Sera who’s unbeaten in twelve fights with eight knockouts - with his last four fights coming by KO inside four rounds - since turning pro in June this year.
“While it’s disappointing that Heffron is out and it was a great domestic clash, Sera could turn out to be a much better fight for me and for the fans,” Said Selkirk.
“His record doesn’t bother me, it looks impressive on paper and he looks like he can punch a bit, but he doesn’t have my experience and we’ll see what he brings on the night,”
“I’m definitely the superior boxer and I’ll show my full array of skills to take Sera apart,”
“I’m intent on ending the year with my first title and ready to start the new year as champion and make some defences in my home city.”
The Liverpool Echo Arena show is now headlined by the big-hitting, all-action, star Derry Mathews in an exciting showdown against tough Irish battler and WBO European Lightweight Champion Stephen Ormond. Super-flyweight sensation Paul Butler takes on tough Mexican Ruben Montoya for the WBO/WBA Intercontinental titles, plus British Light-Middleweight Champion Liam Smith makes the first defence of his title in the chief-support against Mark Thompson.
The undercard will feature Ellesmere Port’s fast-rising lightweight Matty Fagan; top unbeaten Welsh talents Craig Evans (super-featherweight) and Liam Williams (middleweight) will both feature and making his debut for Queensberry Promotions will be Stoke welterweight Josh McLaren who will be looking to make a big impression. Completing the card will be Edinburgh’s John Thain (light-middleweight), Manchester’s Liam Cullen (cruiserweight) and Ciaran McVarnock (featherweight).
Remaining tickets are available from the Liverpool Echo Arena Box Office on 0844 8000 400 or online at www.echoarena.com