Hornchurch man becomes oldest British Welterweight champ. Colin Lynes produced a fantastic display against Lee Purdy to take the British Welterweight title with a majority decision in a York Hall classic.
The 33 year-old is the oldest British champion at the weight and belied the nine-year age gap between him and the title holder by bursting out of the blocks to dominate the early rounds before flooring Purdy in the tenth.
The 24 year-old defending champ climbed to his feet from that setback and having enjoyed more of the action in the middle rounds, he threw everything at Lynes in the closing stages but Lynes was trading heavy blows with his Essex rival to disprove those who thought he would tire as the fight went on.
The fight followed an impeccably observed salute to Smokin’ Joe Frazier, and the legendary Heavyweight World champion would have loved the full-blooded finale to the action as the pair continued the relentless pace until the final bell, where Lynes was favoured on two judges’ scorecards 119-110 and 117-112, with Ian-John Lewis scoring it a 114-114 draw.
“I’m right back on track now, that’s what it was all about for me tonight,” said Lynes – who was British Light-Welterweight champion in 2007. “I want to win that Lonsdale belt outright as that’s what all British boxers dream of but ultimately, I want to fight for World honours. Kell Brook is the man to beat and we had a bit of banter afterwards and I told that I am on his tail – that’s my belief.
“In the later rounds I just felt this aura come over me and all the hard work that I’ve done in the gym with Jimmy and Mark (Tibbs, Lynes’ trainers) paid off at the end.
“There was maybe a lack of experience on his behalf but I told him after that he will come back against like I did and he’ll stronger from this and he took it very well. He had some successes in the fight – of course he would, he was the defending champion and he hits very hard. But I had that extra class and ring craft, and the know-how did it for me.
“We both gave a great account of ourselves and it was a great fight to be involved in, I’m sure everyone who watched it enjoyed it and the atmosphere in here was electric too.
“We’ve been working on the left-hook in the gym and when you look at the classy fighters out there like Ricky Burns, Kevin Mitchell, Billy Joe Saunders and so on, they all double up on the left hook and it hard to deal with when you do it right.”
“I seem to bring the best out in people and he boxed superbly tonight,” said Purdy – who went 12 rounds for just the second time in his 20 fight career. “I don’t know what happened to me tonight – maybe I took my eye off the ball and was looking ahead of this fight. I felt that training went really well and my weight was great but he fought out of his skin tonight.
“The team thought that after six rounds or so his jab wouldn’t come out but he kept popping it and he had all the answers, he’s a well deserved champion tonight.
“I’d like to think it’s a bump I can get over quickly and learn from. Craig Watson got the return with me when I took the belt from him and I’d love to have another go at Colin in the New Year and I think people would definitely watch it.”
John Ryder was the star of the undercard with an impressive second round stoppage win over Luke Osman to march on to 7-0 after a year in the pros. Vinny Woolford notched the only other win inside the distance on the night against Tyler Goodjohn, with Mike Perez, Erick Ochieng, Ryan ‘Crash Bang’ Taylor and Chris Evangelou securing points wins while Albert Sosnowski drew with Hastings Rasani.
VASSELL WANTS NEW BRITISH CHAMP LYNES
COMMONWEALTH welterweight champion Denton Vassell is keen on mixing it with new British king Colin Lynes early next year.
Lynes caused a huge upset when he took the domestic title from Lee Purdy on Wednesday to set up some big paydays.
Vassell beat Purdy to become Commonwealth king in April 2009 and makes his second title defence against Australian Samuel Colomban at Oldham Leisure Centre on Saturday (Nov 12th).
A Vassell-Purdy rematch had been mooted, but Hatton Promotions head Ricky Hatton said: “I would never write Lee off, but a fight between Denton and Colin with two titles up for grabs is an attraction grabber.
“It was a special performance from Colin against Lee, and it is amazing to think he was one of my rivals during my light-welterweight days.
“Denton has a tough fight against Colomban on Saturday and after he wins that perhaps we can make an effort to match Denton and Colin.”
With the possibility of Lynes looming, Vassell insists he will not be under-estimating Colomban who has won 20 of his 23 bouts.
Vassell who has won all 18 pro fights said: “I don’t take any fight for granted. I treat every fight like it is a world championship fight.
“I train hard and hope it all pays off in the ring. Train hard and fights are easy, and enjoy it while you do it. It is as simple as that.”
Other fights on the Oldham bill: Paul Truscott v Dezzie Higginson, Matty Askin v Roman Kracic, Kieran Farrell v Youssef Al Hamidi, Jazza Dickens v James Ancliff, Adam Little v Billy Smith and Kieran Maher v Gavin Putney.
Boxing starts at 6.15pm and tickets priced at £35, £55 and £75 VIP ringside. You can buy by calling 01925 755 222, Ticketmaster 0844 847 2500, Ticketline 0844 888 9991 or online www.hattonboxing.com
Historical fights in Mumbai and Leipzig as Season Two begins
Lausanne, Switzerland, 10 November 2011 – With Friday being the big curtain raiser for the second season of World Series of Boxing (WSB), the Mumbai Fighters and Leipzig Leopards will make their landmark debuts at home against tough opponents in the shape of the Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder and the Mexico City Guerreros.
Follow all the action and get comprehensive coverage as it happens on the WSB website.
This week we preview all matches as we focus on the immense pool of talent that will be on show over the next three days. Strong teams, excellent boxers and an atmosphere unrivalled, the season is sure to start with a bang. Here we give you a teaser of what is to come.
The match of the week
Sunday we look forward to enjoying the most anticipated tie of this opening week-end with the Los Angeles Matadors team hosting the Astana Arlans in a re-match of last year’s semi-finals. A true grudge match in Group A, the Matadors will be looking to avenge the defeat they suffered last time around and please the crowds at the Music Box in the heart of Hollywood. The atmosphere is sure to be electric, especially knowing that the Kazak team came back from a 2-1 deficit to triumph on the Matadors turf last season with the final deciding bout won on a split decision. Rau’Shee Warren, Eric Fowler, David Imoesiri, Yerzhan Mussafirov, Abdelhafid Benchabla and Chouaib Bouloudinats are just a few names amongst these two impressive squads.
The fight of the week
In Group A, Irishman Patrick Gallagher, 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, will make his debuts for Mumbai taking on the powerhouse Sergiy Derevyanchenko of Milan in what looks like the biggest bout of this opening week-end. The Ukrainian was simply irresistible last season, becoming the top ranked WSB Middleweight and taking the Individual World title with a record of six wins no losses. A rite of passage for the boxer drafted a couple weeks ago by the Indians.
The other matches
The first tie on Friday will see the Mumbai Fighters make their bow at their Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune against the huge favourites Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder team. The Italian outfit will be an awesome proposition for the newcomers with amongst their ranks another WSB Champion, Clemente Russo also on the bill. The Mumbai Fighters can expect a baptism of fire but this will surely be a spectacle to remember for all the supporters and viewers of ESPN Star Sports in India.
Later in the evening, the defending champions Paris United will open proceedings in Group B by taking on the Istanbulls at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin in the heart of the French capital. All eyes in this match-up will fall on the Heavyweight division as the tough and hard-hitting Croatian Filip Hrgovic, whose explosive style is a real crowd pleaser, goes head-to-head with Yusuf Acik. These two teams will be evenly matched with several boxers WSB debutants. Paris United proved last season that they have the know-how and the set-up to challenge for honours on all fronts.
Fighting from the impressive Olympic Sports Center ‘Serhedchi’, the Baku Fires will be counting on the support of the boisterous crowds with four out of the five boxers showcasing their skills being Azeri nationals. Their opponents, the Wuxi Dragons will hope to use the element of surprise having kept their preparation under wraps in the build-up to the season opener in Group B. Leading the charge for the Baku Fires will be local star Ramazan Magomedau who was undefeated in his four bouts last season, the Light Heavyweight faces unknown quantity Yunlong Shi.
The other newcomers to the competition, the Leipzig Leopards host the Mexico City Guerreros on Saturday night to close the first set of matches in Group B. This meeting is sure to set the pulses racing with both teams bringing tough competitors to the ring. It will be very interesting to see the reigning Youth Olympic Games gold medallist and Youth World Champion Artur Bril make the jump to senior level in WSB. The Guerreros will relish this challenge and have come well prepared with four of its five boxers’ veterans of the first season. Watch out for 21-year-old William Williams of the visiting team, the American is a real force in the Middleweights.
Boxer to watch
The Wuxi Dragons Heavyweight Joseph Parker from New-Zealand is one of the youngest participants this season (19). Selected in the first round of the WSB Draft held in October, the 2010 Youth Olympic Games silver medallist will have a tough first appearance against Baku Fires Abdulkadir Abdullayev who won both his bouts last season, including one by TKO. Not under any pressure, the Kiwi will hope to make the headlines by winning on the opening weekend of WSB.