While such instantly recognizable names as Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton continue to pack out arenas around the world, these luminaries of boxing were once just pinpoints of light among a dense field of strivers, all trying to fight their way to the top..
It’s the entry level of boxing that will provide the sport with tomorrow’s headliners and it’s no secret that some of the most competitive bouts in the game take place within this tumultuous tangle of ambition.
The scene in Britain today features a healthy crop of young talent and there is perhaps no one better in the UK at picking the cream of the crop than promoter Frank Maloney, who presents an impressive assemblage of up and coming boxers this weekend as London’s famed York Hall hosts “Stars of the Future” on Saturday night, September 13, 2008.
Knockouts are the lifeblood of boxing and there is no other underclassman in the heavyweight division with a bigger punch than the towering Irishman, Scott Belshaw. The Belfast Bomber has stopped all but two of his nine victims to date and the 6 foot 7 inch tall 23 year old will be in no mood for mercy when he trades leather at York Hall on Saturday with Czech traveler Pavol Polakovic to top the bill.
Having shared the ring with such big hitters as Herbie Hide, Mark Hobson and Roman Kracik, Polakovic declared that he has nothing to fear from Belshaw and has defiantly vowed to snuff out the gargantuan slugger’s promise.
Making their pro debuts on the “Stars of the Future” fight card will be a quartet of hot prospects scheduled to compete in four round bouts.
Heavyweight Tom Dallas is a former junior ABA champion who was runner up in the ABA super heavyweight finals and the 6 foot 6 inch tall man from Chatham is straining to be let off the leash but he’ll have to scrap with an iron-chinned Slovakian veteran, Vlado Szabo, before he can post his first professional victory.
The latest in a long line of fighting Shinkwins of Watford, Liam Shinkwin, will swap punches with durable Crawley lightweight Robin Deakin, who floored Vinny Mitchell in January of this year and just narrowly missed knocking off the highly touted Londoner.
Another young man with boxing in the family, Vinnie Woolford of Margate, will make his maiden voyage in the paid ranks when he meets hard-nosed Northampton grafter Gavin Deacon.
Frank Maloney Promotions presents “Stars of the Future”, featuring heavyweight Scott Belshaw, at York Hall in London, England on Saturday, September 13, 2008.
Tickets are priced at £50 and £30 and are available by logging onto www.frankmaloney.com or by calling the Box Office at 0871 226 1508.
EPIFANIO “EL DIAMANTE” MENDOZA GETS NEW TEAM!
Nearly two months after a disappointing close loss to Jeff Lacy – Epifanio “El Diamante” Mendoza makes some major changes to his entire team. The 32-year old hard-hitting Super Middleweight Colombian has signed with Manager Karla Guadamuz-Castillo and is being trained by the legendary Howard Davis Jr.
Mendoza, (W 28/KO 24/L 6/Draw 1), is back from his home country and is training in South Florida as he gears up for another fight. “I’m happy to have people around me that will take me to the next level and I’m confident that I have that team now,” said Mendoza.
His new manager is well known for her sponsorship efforts with Olympic Cuban Gold Medalist Yuriorkis Gamboa and veteran Joel “El Cepillo” Casamayor. She also manages Cuban Elieser Castillo and up and coming Light Heavyweight Rowland Bryant. “Mendoza has the talent to be world champ and I’ll do whatever I can to help him realize his dream, “ said Guadamuz-Castillo. “I truly care about my fighters and I’m going to do what I have to do to make sure that he has the tools to succeed.” About his training Howard Davis Jr. had this to say: “He has heart, he can hit hard and now I’m just refining his skills.”
Talks are underway for a major fight before the end of year after Mendoza’s close loss on ESPN.
World Champion Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham adds PR and Marketing member to his team
IBF Cruiserweight World Champion, Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham announces today that he has added publicity and sports marketing specialist, Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro, to his team as he prepares for his upcoming mandatory title defense against Tomasz ‘Goral’ Adamek, the current number two rated
Cruiserweight from Gilowice, Poland.
Livvy Cunningham, Steve’s wife and manager, said of the appointment “We had been looking at ways to capitalise on Steve’s world title ever since he won it and recently decided it would be best to have someone who specialises in this field rather than try to do it all ourselves.”
On why they chose Di Caro she said “I had met Marianne (Marston), who is one of his clients, in New York shortly after Steve won the title last year, since then I had noticed how much press she had been receiving and that she was clearly being marketed by someone that knew what they were doing. A few months ago she started training at the same gym as Steve. Not long after we got to meet Rio (Gianluca Di Caro’s nickname) for the first time. Over the next few months we couldn’t help but notice that the fighters he was helping were getting a lot of media coverage, so we decided it could be worth having a chat with him to see how he would approach things for us. Both Steve and I loved his ideas, so we decided to invite him on board the USS Cunningham crew.”
“I am so honoured to be working with Steve” Di Caro said “He is the ‘All American Hero’. He’s a loving husband and father, deeply religious, loves his country and served it with pride. He’s witty and eloquent but more than anything he is a champion, the best of the best. Everyone likes to be associated with winners, especially companies. All they need is to know that their perfect spokesman is here right now. That’s my job, making sure that everyone knows about the all American sporting hero that is Steve Cunningham.”