SCOTT QUIGG is shocked that bookies’ have made him red hot favourite to beat Rendall Munroe next month. Quigg challenges Munroe for the vacant interim World Boxing Association (WBA) super-bantamweight crown on Hatton Promotions ‘Road To Glory’ bill at Manchester Velodrome on Saturday 16th June.
Although Quigg is British champion and undefeated in 24 fights, the Leicester southpaw is a former European champion and challenged Toshiaki Nishioka for the WBC crown.
Bury’s Quigg, 23, said: “Bookies have me as favourite which is strange. I am the underdog.
“What Rendall has achieved and level he has fought at is fantastic. It is a massive step up from where I have been fighting.
“I have only had two major championship fights and people are saying my opponents Jason Booth and Jamie Arthur had seen their best days.
“I am not disagreeing and realize how much I’ll be up against it. I haven’t even touched his level, but I know what I’m capable of doing
“There is no pressure on me. The only pressure I have is the fear of losing.
“On paper he should turn up and win, but I am one million per-cent confident I will win.”
The ‘Road To Glory’ bill also features a vacant European light-middleweight title fight between Ryan Rhodes and Sergey Rabchenko, Martin Murray in championship action and Richard Towers facing Michael Wallisch for the vacant EU heavyweight crown.
There will be a talent stacked undercard that will include former British and Commonwealth welterweight champion Craig Watson, unbeaten hopefuls Adam Etches, Scott Jenkins and Adam Little.
Ticket prices are now on sale priced £125 (VIP Inner Ringside + exclusive cash bar), £100 Ringside, £55, £35 and £30. You can purchase tickets by calling Hatton Promotions hotline 01925 755 222/www.ticketmaster.co.uk/0844 847 2500/www.ticketline.co.uk/0844 888 4402/www.hmv.com
For all the latest updates please follow the Twitter account dedicated to fight @quiggvmunroe
IABA UPDATE (7th AIBA WORLD WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS – TAYLOR INTO Q/FINALS/SMITH BOWS OUT)
Katie Taylor will meet Romania’s Mihaela Lacatus for a place in the semi-finals of the 7th AIBA World World Women’s Championships in Qinhuangdao, China tomorrow.
Taylor, who is targeting her 4th AIBA World title in a row, cruised into the lightweight quarter-finals after stopping Saida Khassenova of Kazakhstan in the fourth and final round of today’s last-16 contest.
Taylor was 20-8 up going into the fourth frame of the 60kg clash and ref stopped the bout after Khassenova took a third standing count in the final stanza.
Three Olympic places are available for Europe in the lightweight class.
However, six Europeans – Taylor, Lacatus, Russia’s Sofya Ochigava, Norway’s Ingrid Egner, England’s Natasha Jonas and France’s Estelle Mossely are into the last-eight
Ochigava beat China’s Cheng Dong today and Egner beat Queen Underwood of the USA – both victories were by one point margins.
Today’s lightweight results mean that even a semi-final finish may not guarantee Olympic qualification for Taylor from the 60kg class.
However, Mavzuna Chorieva of Tajikistan, who meets Mossely tomorrow – the winner will face either Taylor or Lacatus in the semi-final -, has qualified for London 2012 by virtue of being the last Asian boxer left in the lightweight class.
Wednesday’s lightweight quarter-finals.
http://88.85.4.2/results-draw-sheet06060_E.html
Two of Wednesday’s quarter-finals will be all European affairs, meanting that if Ochigava and Mossely win tomorrow, four European boxers will be through to the last-four fighting it out for a place in the final and three Olympic berths.
Meanwhile, Cavan BC flyweight Ceire Smith bowed out at the last-16 stage today.
The ref stopped Smith’s contest with Poland’s former World (at bantamweight) and European champion Anna Michalczuk 1 minute and 39 seconds into the third round.
Michalczuk, seeded number four in the flyweight division, was 23-7 ahead when the Finnish referee stopped the bout at the Olympic Stadium in Qinhuangdao.
Smith won two bouts to get to today’s last-16 clash with the Pole.
The 7th AIBA World Women’s Championships is also acting as the only Olympic qualifier for female boxers.
The three Olympic weight categories for women are flyweight, lightweight and middleweight.
7th AIBA World Women’s Championships Qinhuangdao, China
(Afternoon sessions begin at 2pm local time, 7am Irish time)
May 12th
51kg (Last 64)
Ceire Smith (Ireland) beat Veglina Svetlana (Tajikistan) RSC3
75kg (Last 64)
Sinead Kavanagh (Ireland) lost to Francelis Paez Carmona (Venezuela) 19-23
May 13th (Last 32)
51kg Ceire Smith (Ireland) beat Sarah-Joy Iris Rae (Jamaica) 12-4
May 14th
60Kg (Last 32)
Katie Taylor (Ireland) beat Rim Jouini (Tunisia) 19-6
May 15th (Last 16)
51kg Ceire Smith (Ireland) lost to Anna Karolina Michalczuk (Poland) RSC3 (Ref Stops Contest 3)
60kg Katie Taylor (Ireland) beat Saida Khassenova (Kazakhstan) RSC4
May 16th (Quarter-finals – Afternoon)
60kg: Katie Taylor (Ireland) v Mihaela Lacatus (Romania)
Irish squad
51kg (Flyweight) Ceire Smith (Cavan)
60kg (Lightweight) Katie Taylor (Bray)
75kg (Middleweight) Sinead Kavanagh (Drimnagh)
Team manager: Anna Moore
Coaches: Peter Taylor and Zuar Antia
Physio: Mary Louis Ryan
Marlen Esparza Qualifies for the 2012 Olympic Games while Underwood Suffers One-point Loss
(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Team USA endured another roller coaster day on Tuesday at the 2012 Women’s World Championships in Qinhuangdao, China as Olympic hopeful Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) won her second bout of the tournament to become the first American female boxer to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games. Queen Underwood (Seattle, Wash.) dropped a one-point decision in her third contest of the tournament, dashing her hopes of qualifying for London at the 2012 World Championships. She will now await the decision of the Tripartite Commission to see if she is granted a spot. Bantamweight Christina Cruz (New York, N.Y.) won her third bout of the event to advance in a non-Olympic weight division.
Esparza faced Vietnam’s Luu Thi Duyen in second round action on Tuesday, and the American flyweight wasted no time getting started in the bout. She kept her offensive output high, taking a 6-4 lead after one round. She continued to let her hands fly in the second, moving out to a 14-7 edge at the halfway point. The second half of the bout told a similar story with Esparza enjoying a 19-11 lead with one round remaining. She added another nine points over the final round to win a 28-13 final decision. As Esparza is the highest finishing flyweight from the Americas, the victory fulfilled the 22-year-old’s Olympic dreams by earning her a spot in London.
Underwood took on Norway’s Ingrid Egner in third round action, looking to keep her hopes at the lone Olympic spot from the American continent alive. She fell behind in the first round, trailing by a 6-4 margin after one. Egner pushed her lead to a 14-9 advantage after four minutes of boxing and following a tied third round, Underwood trailed 20-15 as the bell for the final round rang. Underwood didn’t roll over despite her deficit, launching a strong comeback over the final two minutes, but she fell just short, dropping a 26-25 final decision. As Underwood needed a first place finish in the Americas to qualify for London, she will not do so at the World Championships. She will now await the decision from the Tripartite Commission to learn if she is granted the one additional lightweight spot in the Americas for London.
Cruz boxed in early action as well, taking on Norway’s Shora Razaiz Jahroni in the bantamweight contest. After a slow first round, Cruz claimed a 5-1 lead after two rounds. Jahroni pulled the bout to a 9-8 contest after three but Cruz held on over the final two minutes to win a 14-10 decision.
Light flyweight Alex Love (Monroe, Wash.) will see her first action in a contest with Nazym Kyzaybay of Kazakhstan while light welterweight Mikaela Mayer (Los Angeles, Calif.) takes on New Zealand’s Laura Matthews in her tournament opener in afternoon action.
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).