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BoxNation, Sky channel 456 and Virgin 546, will unveil a new boxing show this April when they launch their BoxAcademy series. BoxAcademy is a monthly live show that will showcase young up-and-coming boxers from the British scene. The first one will be broadcast live from London’s York Hall on Thursday April 5.
Liverpool's Paul Smith has been out of action since breaking a knuckle on his right hand during his second-round stoppage defeat to George Groves when challenging for the Londoner’s British and Commonwealth super middleweight titles on November 5. The Liverpudlian caught Groves with a cracking right in the first, but damaged his fist and was sent to the canvas by a right hook from Groves early in the second round. Unable to recover from the first knock down, Smith was sent to the canvas again and rose on unsteady legs, he disputed referee Victor Loughlin's decision to stop the fight at the time yet has since admitted that the Scottish official made the right call.
Jane Couch MBE won plenty of fights during her boxing career, the former world champion retired in 2007 and has since forged a successful role as a manager as well as launching her own website and contributing to her sport by travelling the country interviewing stars, prospects, trade insiders and even the odd bin man. Couch netted another W last week when winning back her managerial licence after a dispute with the BBBoC.
Droylsden’s Prince Arron has hooked up with former super featherweight Commonwealth title challenger Steven Bell in a bid to get back amongst the titles after suffering the disappointment of losing his light-middleweight crown to Blackpool’s Brian Rose last December. Arron decided to move on from Bob Shannon’s Fighting Fit camp earlier this month and will now train with Bell at Kerry Kayes’s CNP-owned, Denton-based Betta Bodies gym.
Birmingham’s Matthew Macklin fell just short when challenging consensus middleweight king Sergio Martinez at New York’s Madison Square Garden last night when the 29-year-old’s trainer, Buddy McGirt, withdrew the challenger from the fight after two knockdowns late in the eleventh round. Macklin rose to his feet both times only for McGirt, a former world champion, to pull the plug on the contest during the minute break between the eleventh and twelfth.
Sheffield's Kell Brook and Manchester's Matthew Hatton are ready for a welterweight war at Sheffield's Motorpoint Arena later tonight.
Earlier this month, Sheffield’s Ryan Rhodes decided to withdraw from his March 24 European light-middleweight showdown with Belarus’s Sergey Rabchenko after injuring his back in sparring. Rhodes, who unsuccessfully challenged for Saul Alvarez’s WBC 154lb belt last October, had hoped to put the problem behind him and move forward with the fight, but after taking medical advice ‘The Spice Boy’ decided to pull the plug on the contest in order to avoid short changing his fans.
Kenny Anderson has reached out to BoxingScene.com to express his disappointment over the postponement of his British super-middleweight title challenge. The Edinburgh-based boxer was due to meet George Groves at Wembley Arena on Friday night only for Groves to withdraw due to an unspecified injury. Frank Warren, the show’s promoter, confirmed the news this afternoon.
Peterborough’s big hitting Cello Renda returned to action for the first time since his January 2010 decision defeat to Paul Samuels with a four-threes points win over Latvia’s Ruslans Pojonisevs (161lbs) at The Arena, Peterborough on Friday night. Renda (165lbs) boxed to orders en route to a 40-36 score on referee Ken Curtis’ card in his first outing under Birmingham-based fight figure Jon Pegg.
Vivian Harris takes on Manchester’s David Barnes at Bolton’s De Vere Whites Hotel tomorrow afternoon on a Coldwell Promotions bill that has brought a bit of glamour to Britain’s small hall boxing scene. Harris held the WBA light-welterweight belt from 2002 to 2005 and was considered a potential opponent for Ricky Hatton prior to losing the title in a shocker against Carlos Maussa, who went on to net a showdown with ‘The Hitman’.