Adil Anwar is gunning for a British title shot after defeating Tyrone Nurse in the final of the Prizefighter Light Welterweights II at Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall.
Leeds man Anwar and Huddersfield fighter Nurse were unbeaten going into the 23rd edition of Matchroom Sport’s eight man, one night tournament so there was plenty at stake in the all-Yorkshire final, with local bragging rights, both boxers ‘0’s’ and the title and £32,000 winner’s cheque.
Both men had used their slick elusive styles to get to the climax of the evening in the sold-out Civic Hall, and it was ‘The Platinum Kid’ Anwar who used the style to dazzle the judges, firing in his jab to keep Nurse at bay and even wobbling the 22 year-old with a late flurry to secure a unanimous decision that he believes pushes him into title contention, with Brit king Ashley Theophane the chief target.
“Tyrone is a good operator but I was a lot faster and a lot slicker,” said Anwar. “The jab was the secret tonight and now I want to test myself against the bigger names. I won the English Welterweight title under the radar and I’ve been avoided. Now I have won Prizefighter live on Sky Sports – without getting out of second gear – I’ve shown I bring a lot to the table.
“This was my first televised performance and that has been frustrating for me as I think that I’ve got the lot, and that people will want to watch me. I bought a lot of great fans down with me but at the end, everyone was supporting me because I’m entertaining, and that’s what it’s all about.
“I wanted to shine and I think I have. I’m a risk taker and tonight could’ve been seen as a risk, but I was hugely confident of winning this and I think this will open big doors for me now.
“I want to fight Ashley Theophane but I don’t care who I fight really. I know I have the goods and now I’ve won this, I don’t need to go hunting, I’ve proved I’ve got the what it takes to do big things.”
Kell Brook and Matthew Hatton performed the live draw and the 24 year-old was picked to face Barry Morrison in the third quarter-final of the night and the Leeds man started as he meant to go on with his slick work dominating the former British champion.
Anwar then met a fresh John Watson in the second semi-final, after the Liverpudlian took just 100 seconds to defeat local favourite Dean Harrison, with Watson flooring the Wolverhampton fighter then unleashing a barrage of punches that forced referee John Keane to step in – Harrison announced his intention to hang up his gloves shortly after.
Although Watson had saved some energy with the early stoppage, Anwar won every round with the judges in their semi-final, and was beginning to enjoy himself as he found Watson’s style to his liking and mixed great movement with some flashy shots.
Nurse’s journey to the final was a trickier affair having drawn one of the favourites in Dale Miles in the second quarter-final. Their fight moved into what looked like a winner-takes-all final round but Miles had already been cut above the right eye and a clash of heads in the final stanza opened it up again, forcing a disappointing end for Miles in what was building into a cracking final three minutes.
Nurse then faced the experienced Young Mutley in the first semi-final of the night after Mutley had edged a cagey opening bout with Mark Lloyd on a split decision. Nurse was impressive in withstanding a late rally from Mutley, with the youngster using his superior speed and movement to take the opening rounds to reach the final.
Prizefighter Light Welterweights II results:
Quarter-finals
Young Mutley beat Mark Lloyd – split decision 30-27, 28-29, 30-27
Tyrone Nurse beat Dale Miles – third round stoppage (Miles cut above right eye)
Adil Anwar beat Barry Morrison – unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
John Watson beat Dean Harrison – first round stoppage, 1 minute 40 seconds
Semi-finals
Tyrone Nurse beat Young Mutley – unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28
Adil Anwar beat John Watson – unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27, 30-27
Final
Adil Anwar beat Tyrone Nurse – unanimous decision 30-28, 30-27, 29-28
Universal Sports to Live Stream the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing from Spokane
(SPOKANE, WASH.) – Boxing and Olympic fans will enjoy the opportunity to watch the first-ever U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing, February 13-19 via live stream on Universal Sports website throughout the event. The historic tournament, which will take place at the Northern Quest Resort in Airway Heights, Wash., is the lone domestic qualifier for the inaugural Olympic Games for women’s boxing.
The live stream will showcase all of the bouts as they are contested in the three Olympic weight divisions of flyweight (112 lbs.), lightweight (132 lbs.) and middleweight (165 lbs). Preliminary action will kick off on Monday at 7 p.m. PT from the Pend Orielle Pavilion at Northern Quest with all 24 competitors competing in winners bracket quarterfinal action. Olympic Trials competition will be contested nightly at 7 p.m. PT through Thursday with Friday and Saturday’s action kicking off at 8 p.m. PT. If necessary, a second day of final round competition will take place on Sunday.
The links for the daily live streams can be found below and full bout sheets and results will be posted each day with the live stream links on USA Boxing’s website at www.usaboxing.org.
The 24 U.S. Olympic Team Trials competitors will all arrive in Spokane today for the first-time event ahead of Sunday’s tournament draw at 2:30 p.m. PT. The tournament brackets will be released on Sunday afternoon following the official draw.
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing will be the sole domestic qualifier for the 2012 Olympic Games, which will feature the Olympic debut of the sport, but the road to London doesn’t end there for Team USA’s female boxing hopefuls. The champions in each of the three weight divisions will move on to the 2012 Women’s World Championships in Qinhuangdao, China, where they will need to place in the top eight to earn berths in the 2012 Olympic Games.
U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing Schedule and Live stream links
Monday, February 13: Winners Bracket Quarterfinals – 7 p.m. PT
http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=07417cb3-3b9d-49ff-87b1-b55c3f716842.html
Tuesday, February 14: Winners Bracket Semifinals and Challengers Bracket Quarters – 7 p.m. PT
http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=80bb851c-d7d2-4100-a270-261b66ed052a.html
Wednesday, February 15: Challengers Bracket Semifinals – 7 p.m. PT
http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=89fd79c3-fbc0-40bd-8bab-ec7ae0567bd2.html
Thursday, February 16: Winners Bracket Finals and Challengers Bracket Finals – 7 p.m. PT
http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=707bdc38-9710-48cb-b436-cbd100bd9925.html
Friday, February 17: Challengers Bracket Finals II – 8 p.m. PT
http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=f7b8a492-bdd5-490a-b5f4-ed7dc13b96c4.html
Saturday, February 18: U.S. Olympic Team Trials Finals – 8 p.m. PT
http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=fa5a8f09-8696-4cf8-8833-f9f42c58631b.html
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
Jimmy Lange Scores Decisive Victory to Retain WBU Title and Earn NABU Crown
FAIRFAX, VA—Great Falls, VA, pugilist Jimmy Lange successfully defended his World Boxing Union (WBU) Jr. Middleweight title, and picked up the North American Boxing Union (NABU) belt as well in a hard fought, yet decisive victory. The popular hometown favorite defeated veteran Ruben Galvan of Hammond, IN, sweeping all twelve rounds before a partisan Patriot Center crowd.
Lange began by taking advantage of his longer reach and a powerful jab, giving Galvan precious few opportunities to come inside. But having faced such boxing luminaries such as Zab Judah and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Galvan was neither intimidated by Lange’s stature nor the pro-Lange Patriot Center crowd.
Things took a strange turn in the third round when Galvan began showboating, dropping his hands, shimmying his knees, sitting on the ropes, and inviting Lange to take his best shot, which Lange obliged. However, Galvan’s antics didn’t affect Lange who continued stalking his opponent, peppering him with an effective jab while controlling the action.
“He was a clown, but you have to be careful, a lot of people try to draw you in like that,” said Lange. “I was expecting a knockout and it just didn’t come.”
Galvan responded, “I was trying to frustrate people, I’m Mexican, that’s what I do. I do that to all my opponents, especially when they are bigger than me.”
This was the 14th Patriot Center boxing card headlined by Lange.
The co-main event had the WBU welterweight belt at stake, featuring Mike Stewart of New Castle, DE, vs. Joe Wyatt of Pittsburgh, PA. Stewart was on Season Two of “The Contender” and Wyatt was a former Jimmy Lange opponent. After a slow start, Stewart drew blood from Wyatt’s nose and continued to work the jab. Then at 2:09 in the ninth round the ring doctor stopped the fight following an accidental head butt to Wyatt. Since the head butt was accidental and occurred after the fifth round, the fight went to the cards, where Stewart won by majority decision.
The first world title fight of the evening featured Tori Nelson of Ashburn, VA, vs. Vashon Living, of Houston, TX, competing for the vacant Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) middleweight championship. Nelson, who holds the World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight title, got off to a quick start by scoring a first-round knockdown, followed by another in the third round. A third knockdown in the fifth round sealed her victory, winning decisively on all three cards.
Undefeated Todd Wilson of Fairfax, VA, made his traditional ring entrance led by a bagpiper, to face Fernando Basora, originally from Puerto Rico and now fighting out of the Bronx, NY. In the third round Wilson had Basora against the ropes, when he was rocked by a Basora counter-punch, and he barely stayed on his feet in the fifth round behind a flurry of Basora punches. But Wilson came back to score a knockdown in the sixth round, winning by unanimous decision.
In a last-minute change, Lawrence Jones from Washington, DC, replaced Zain Shah, late last week, as the opponent of Harry Joe Yorgey from Bridgeport, PA. Known as a “fighter’s fighter” Jones went the distance, but spent too much time on the ropes absorbing Yorgey’s blows and lost on all three judges’ cards.
The only heavyweight bout of the night pitted Duane Mobley of Upper Marlboro, MD, making his professional debut against Dennis Benson from Norfolk, VA. Mobley prevailed handily on all three judges’ cards, winning all four rounds unanimously.
The first bout of the evening featured another Maryland vs. Virginia matchup with Kevin Womack of Baltimore, MD, taking on Richie Andrews of Stuarts Draft, VA, in a welterweight bout between two undefeated fighters. After a spirited four rounds, Womack came on particularly strong in the fourth round to win by majority decision.
Main Event—12 Rounds, Jr. Middleweight (WBU & NABU Championship)
Jimmy Lange (38-4-2, 25 KO’s) wins by UD (120-108, 120-108, 120-108) over Ruben “Modern Day Warrior” Galvan (27-21-4, 10 KO’s)
Co-Main Event—10 Rounds, Welterweight (WBU Championship)
Mike “No Joke” Stewart (48-7-3, 25 KO’s) wins by MD (76-76, 79-73, 78-74) over Joe Wyatt (23-3, 15 KO’s)
Undercard—10 (2:00) Rounds, Middleweight, (WIBA Championship)
Tori “Sho Nuff” Nelson (6-0-1) wins by UD (97-90, 97-90, 99-88) over Vashon “Lady V” Living (5-3-0, 1 KO)
6 Rounds, Light Welterweight
Todd “White Lightning” Wilson (12-0, 3 KO’s) wins by UD (59-54, 59-54, 58-55) over Fernando “The Whip” Basora (8-8-1, 7 KO’s)
6 Rounds, Light Middleweight
“Lightning” Harry Joe Yorgey (24-1-1, 11 KO’s) wins by UD (59-55, 59-55, 58-56) over Lawrence Jones (4-6-2, 1 KO)
4 Rounds, Heavyweight
Duane Mobley (1-0) wins by UD (40-36, 40-36, 40-36) over Dennis Benson (1-1, 1 KO)
4 Rounds, Welterweight
Kevin “The Scarecrow” Womack Jr. (3-0, 1 KO) wins by MD (38-38, 39-37, 39-37) over
Richie “The Rock” Andrews (3-1-3, 1 KO’s)