Saturday night’s “Stars of the Future” fight card at London’s York Hall was a resounding victory for Frank Maloney as the promoter presided over the successful christening of four prospects from his stable. The highlights of the evening were heavyweight Tom Dallas and lightweight counterpart Liam Shinkwin, both of whom showed up to their respective professional debuts with large, vocal audiences in tow..
“I thought Dallas looked very impressive in his victory over an experienced Slovakian operator, and he made his fans in the hall very happy” said Maloney of the heavyweight’s four round points win over Vlado Szabo.
“Shinkwin is another fighter with large, dedicated support and he kept the crowd on their toes, having opponent Robin Deakin on the floor in the first round before getting the win. He certainly looks like one to watch as he progresses up the ranks.”
While not yet possessing the fanbase of Dallas or Shinkwin, the other debutantes provided the fireworks of the evening and earned good marks from their promoter. Light welter Vinny Woolford stopped Gavin Deacon in the second, as did light middle Tomas Grublys against Nick Corret.
“Woolford is the brother of one of my welterweights, Scott Woolford, and proved to be a good addition to that fighting family,” said Maloney. “Grublys is from Lithuania but based locally and he showed me that he likes to come and have a fight. If he can get regular work here, he could become a favorite with the London fight crowd.”
There were also veterans on the show with light welter Gavin Tait winning a solid points decision over Baz Carey after coming in four pounds over the weight limit, a transgression which caused him to cede a portion of his purse to Carey, while former Commonwealth Games silver medallist Michael Frontin forced a four round draw against the more experienced Ryan Barrett at welterweight.
Maloney was satisfied with the size of the crowd for his first off-TV fight card of the year but was less than happy with big punching Irish heavyweight Scott Belshaw, who topped the bill by outpointing Pavol Polakovic over eight rounds.
“Scott looks the part and physically, he’s got everything he needs to succeed but he hasn’t got the right attitude; the ring is not a place for gentle giants,” said Maloney. “The best thing I can say about his fight is that he won the decision but he must be honest with himself as only he can answer the question of whether or not he has the heart and determination to go with his physique.”
Maloney will be returning to York Hall in November for another off-TV show but first will pack out the spiritual home of British boxing on Friday, October 17, 2008 when British bantamweight champion Ian Napa, who made an appearance in York Hall on Saturday to thunderous applause, will try to knock off European ruler Carmelo Ballone on Sky Sports.
Chief support features British super flyweight champion Andy Bell defending against Lee Haskins and Tony Oakey facing Courtney Fry for the vacant English light heavyweight title.
Tickets to “Dapa Napa” are priced at £75 and £35 and are available by logging onto www.frankmaloney.com or by calling the Box Office at 0871 226 1508.
CODE RED LAUNCHES WEEKLY EPISODES
Professional boxer and Exercise Physiologist Cristy “Code Red” Nickel has launched weekly episodes called “In-your-face fitness.”
Based out of New York City, Cristy teaches viewers to utilize their resources around them get a good wok out. Within the first 3 weeks of production, Cristy has filmed in southern Mexico then to northern Idaho showing viewers how to get the most bang for their buck no matter where they are.
Code Red comes to the table with a diversity of talent including 13 pro fights, an Emmy Award winning show on MTV and Allure magazine’s pick for “Best Trainer in New York (Jan ‘08). Her tough love approach to every aspect of her life makes her a force to be reckoned with. Cristy can often be heard saying, “I’m not asking you to do any more than I would do.”
Tune in every week for new episodes that will include fitness ideas, food tips and always the unexpected…
Click below to watch.
http://www.cristynickel.com/blog.html
Changing Wolak rebounding in “Havoc At The Hilton” headlinerSept, 26 on Long Island
NEW YORK CITY (September 15, 2008) – A more ring savvy, experienced Polish power puncher Pawel “Raging Bull” Wolak (21-1, 14 KOs) returns to the ring Friday night, September 26 headlining “Havoc At The Hilton” at the Huntington Hilton Hotel.
“Havoc At The Hilton,” promoted by Bob Duffy’s Ring Promotions, features some of New York’s finest, most entertaining pro boxers.
The Poland-born Wolak, now living and training in Brooklyn, is coming off his first pro loss August 21 to Ishe Smith (20-3, 9 KOs), star of The Contender Season 1, by a close 10-round decision. The 26-year-old Wolak, reigning WBC Interim USNBC and Polish International light middleweight champion, takes on veteran Chad Greenleaf (10-10-1, 4 KOs) in the eight-round main event.
“I realized (from last fight) that I just can’t fight one way,” Wolak said. “Doing the same thing won’t work. I’ve reached a level where my opponents can do a little bit of everything – punch, box, move, etc. I need to gain experience every fight, work hard on different things in the gym, and be smart. I’ve changed trainers and I’ve been working hard on changing in the gym. Physically, I’m good. In my last fight I just didn’t have the maturity or experience about how to box. I have it physically and that’s very important, but I’m practicing on other things in the gym.
“Greenleaf is tough and he switches from right to left. He’s strong and will be throwing punches. I wanted to get right back into a fight to show people what I’ve learned. The changes may only be slight in this fight, but with each fight fans will see more and more of what I’m working on so hard.”
New York State heavyweight champion Darrel Madison (10-1, 3 KOs), out of Central Islip, is riding a nine-fight win streak into the six-round co-feature against veteran Elfair “The Wyandanch Warrior” McKnight (2-7-2).
Chief support on the undercard will be provided by Plainview hometown favorite, welterweight Tommy “The Razor” Raione (11-1, 3 KOs), who takes on Henry White, Jr. (2-2-1, 2 KOs) in a six-round bout. Brooklyn light heavyweight Will Rosinsky (1-0, 1 KO), three-time U.S. National Golden Gloves champion, will be showcased in a four-rounder versus upset-minded Michael “The Snake” Ciccone (1-4).
In a four-round heavyweight match, Egyptian-born Ahmed Samir (2-0) faces always tough Andrew “Came To Fight” Hutchinson (2-9-2). Samir was 198-13 as an amateur, 85-10 in international matches, including gold-medal performances in the 2007 All-African Games, 2007 Arab Championships and 2006 Jordan International Championships. Ahmed came to the U.S. to participate in the 2007 World Amateur Championships, but he abandoned the Egyptian national Team to turn pro and start a new life in New York City.
Also on the undercard in four-round bouts, Padoque welterweight Leon Green (4-1, 1 KO) faces Rakeem Carter (0-4), of Albany; welterweight Chris Algeri (3-0, 2 KOs) takes on fellow New Yorker Clarence Smith (0-1), and Brooklyn light welterweight Pablo Tejeda (2-8-1) returns against Broderick Antoine (3-6-1, 2 KOs), of Troy (NY).
New York City light middleweight Lambros Karaolides is scheduled to make his pro debut against TBA, while Bronx featherweight Eddie Irizary (2-0, 1 KO) fights on the undercard against an opponent to be determined. All bouts and fighters are subject to change.
Tickets are priced at $100.00 (Golden Ringside), $75.00 (Ringside) and $40.00 (General Admission). VIP tables of 10 are $1500. To purchase tickets go to www.ringpromotions.com or call 516.313.2304. Doors open at 6:30 PM, first bout at 7:30 PM.