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Nick Quigley was on hand to cheer for his younger brother John (9st 8lb) at Salford's Bowlers Exhibition Centre last night as he put on a punch perfect display to register a decision win against Kristian Laight (9st 11lb) over four-threes, referee John Latham scoring it 40-36 for the Liverpudlian on the FWP/VIP-promoted bill.
BoxingScene.com can confirm that Frankie Gavin has withdrawn from tomorrow night’s WBO Intercontinental welterweight title defence against France’s Frank Haroch Horta. The bout was due to take place at Salford’s Bowlers Exhibition Centre and was to be carried by BoxNation. It was to be Gavin’s first outing under his new training team of Jimmy and Mark Tibbs only for Frankie to walk away from the bout citing personal reasons.
Manchester was divided other the weekend as City mauled United 1-6 at Old Trafford. However in one section of the town recent difficulties were put to one side when John Murray rejoined trainer Joe Gallagher ahead of a make-or-break clash with WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios at Madison Square Garden on December 3rd after splitting briefly in the wake of Murray’s eighth-round reverse to Kevin Mitchell in July.
Birmingham's Frankie Gavin turned professional under the guidance of Anthony Farnell in February 2009, Britain's 2007 World Amateur Games gold medallist opted for a move to Manchester in order to avoid hometown temptations as he launched a paid career that many felt was destined to end in world titles aplenty. Gavin is still undefeated, 11-0 (8), but is no longer based in the North West after deciding to relocate to London due to a few personal problems and difficulties settling into his new home.
Jon Kays returns to the ring on the undercard of the Frank Maloney-promoted Jason Booth versus Scott Quigg British title bill in Bolton later tonight. It is Kays’ first outing since a brave but unsuccessful challenge to Liam Walsh for the Norfolk man’s Commonwealth super-featherweight belt back in March. Kays was due to fight for the English belt against Ben Jones only for the Crawley-based titlist to pull out due to illness and then announce that he will appear in the next Prizefighter tournament.
Tony Dodson notched up his fourth win of 2011 with a victory over Darren Stubbs earlier this month and is set to open his 2012 ledger with an IBO International light-heavyweight title bout. ‘The Warrior’ joins Derry Matthews on a Vaughan Boxing Promotions bill at Liverpool’s Olympia on January 28th as he seeks to cap his fine run of form with a successful maiden defence of the belt he won by beating Darren Stubbs via a seventh round TKO.
As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, WBC light-welterweight titlist Erik Morales could still offer Manchester’s Anthony Crolla a shock opportunity to meet the Mexican legend in the ring. Crolla had hoped to tackle Morales on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather’s win over Victor Ortiz only to see the bout disappear from view. Now, though, Erik’s father, Jose, has confirmed that the Brit could still be in the reckoning should ‘El Terrible’ seal a December date in his home country of Mexico.
Ireland’s Steve Collins won WBO crown at middleweight and super-middleweight during his eleven year pro career. The Dubliner’s biggest triumphs came at 168lbs where he twice defeated Chris Eubank before doing the double over a faded Nigel Benn. A strong willed, strong-arm fighter, the ‘Celtic Warrior’ often had to grit his teeth en route to his biggest victories, he retired in 1997 with a 36-3 (21) slate.
Hatfield’s Billy Joe Saunders blasted out Norbert Szekeres in the first round of their scheduled eight-threes bout in Liverpool’s Echo Arena on Saturday night to improve to 10- 0 (7) and set up a Southern Area middleweight title challenge to Gary Boulden at London’s Wembley Arena on November 5th.
Stephen Smith suffered his first professional reverse in September, an eighth round KO loss to Lee Selby, in a fight that shocked many in attendance at Liverpool’s Olympia venue. ‘Swifty’ rose rapidly to the top of the domestic rankings prior to the defeat, a brace of narrow but fair wins over John Simpson bringing with them the British and Commonwealth featherweight crowns.