British Scene Season Preview Part One; Simpson vs Truscott, O'Donnell vs Glover, Davis vs Napa, Fury vs McDermott & Olusegun vs Daws

The new British boxing season is just about ready to get underway and over the next couple days Dave Oakes will be previewing what we have to look forward to in September and October.

In today's preview:

John Simpson vs Paul Truscott - Commonwealth featherweight title

John O'Donnell vs Tom Glover - Commonwealth welterweight title

Gary Davis vs Ian Napa - British bantamweight title

Tyson Fury (Photo © Justin McKie) vs John McDermott - English heavyweight title

Ajose Olusegun vs Lenny Daws - British light-welterweight title

It’s at times like this when all British based boxing fans are starting to get withdrawal symptoms. It’s been nearly a month since the last boxing card that contained a title fight, and a month is a long time for any boxing addict. So, with the inevitable feeling of melancholy descending upon me, I decided to raise my spirits by taking a brief look at what we can look forward to when the new season starts in September.

Simpson vs Truscott

First up is the rematch between Commonwealth featherweight champion John Simpson and former champion Paul Truscott on September 4th. Simpson stopped Truscott in the 8th round of their first meeting after a clash of heads opened up a nasty gash above the then champion’s right eye. Simpson was clearly ahead on the cards at the time but Truscott believes there’s unfinished business to be taken care of.

Simpson’s speed surprised Truscott last time out, Truscott thought he could dance rings around Simpson but found that the experienced Scotsman was no slouch in closing the distance between them. If Truscott has learnt from their first fight, and can make the necessary adjustments, he can make it a much closer battle.

O'Donnell vs Glover

In the days of protected fighters with padded undefeated records, it’s good to see a fighter like John O’Donnell proving that a defeat can be a positive rather than a negative.

O’Donnell was a much touted prospect in the early part of his career and was looking the part until bumping into one Christian Solano on a hot night in Vegas in May of 2007. O’Donnell, eager to impress on his U.S debut, was caught cold and went down heavily after a short left hook landed around his temple midway through the first round, he managed to get to his feet but never seemed to recover.

His corner waved the fight off in the second round after he was dropped heavily by another hook, he’d managed to get to his feet again but his legs were still shaky and it was a sensible decision by his trainer Robert McCracken to stop the fight.

Such a devastating defeat proved hard for the likable Londoner to take, he took an extended break before eventually returning to the ring just over a year later, his batteries recharged and mind focused on the future rather than the past.

His patience and determination paid off when he claimed the Commonwealth welterweight title earlier this year, winning on a split decision after a bruising encounter with Craig Watson. Watson started the quicker but O’Donnell came on strong in the later rounds to just edge a fight in which he showed plenty of heart as well as some superb technical boxing.

He returns to the ring on September 5th against the durable but limited Tom Glover in a fight that should be a competitive warm up before the first defence of his Commonwealth title in December.

Glover is in the form of his life having beaten Chas Symonds, Nadeem Siddique and Jon Thaxton in his past three fights. He was considered the underdog in those fights but battled his way to deserved victories through willpower and work-rate. Glover isn’t blessed with great speed, skill or power but makes the most of what he’s got. He’s a fighter that will struggle to win titles in his career but he’ll always gain the respect of his opponents.

O’Donnell should be too skilful for him but Glover will make it a hard night’s work like he always does. I expect the much taller O’Donnell to use his reach advantage to jab and move his way to an early lead before trading punches more as the fight goes on. I think O’Donnell will win somewhere around the 118-110 mark in an entertaining but one-sided fight.

Davis vs Napa

A week later sees Ian Napa challenge Gary Davis for the latter’s British bantamweight title. Napa is coming off a career worst performance, having surrendered his European title in the meekest of manners against Malik Bouziane.

Napa couldn’t get going that night and found himself being picked apart at distance by the much taller man. He needs a performance here to disprove his critics from claiming that his career is on the slide.

Davis, on the other hand, is full of confidence after dropping Matthew Edmonds three times en route to a 7th round stoppage to claim the vacant title earlier this year. Davis imposed his will on Edmonds from the first bell and looked very strong for the weight.

This will be an intriguing clash of styles and experience but I’ve got a feeling the cleaner punching and better tactical nous of Napa will be enough for him to win on points.

Fury vs McDermott

The undercard is headed by Tyson Fury taking on former British title challenger John McDermott. Fury is unbeaten with all of his victories coming inside the distance and will be looking to continue his reign of terror on the domestic heavyweight scene.

McDermott is the nearly man of the division having lost in his three British title attempts. He failed to turn up in his first attempt when he was pummelled to the floor three times and stopped inside a round by Matt Skelton. The other two title defeats were much closer affairs against Danny Williams but it was worrying that when the going got tough, McDermott went into his shell and found a way of losing when he could’ve easily battle his way to victory.

I think this is the perfect fight for Fury at this stage of his career and one in which he’ll be made to work for a few rounds before claiming an impressive stoppage win.

Olusegun vs Daws

The following Friday (September 18) sees the world class Ajose Olusegun defend his British light-welterweight title against former holder Lenny Daws at the legendary York Hall, Bethnal Green.

Olusegun is using this fight as a warm up for a world title eliminator that’s been pencilled in for a month later, this could prove to be a dangerous move if he views Daws as nothing more than a competitive spar.

Daws lost this title in his first defence against Barry Morrison, but still has the ambition and hunger to give Olusegun a real battle. Daws is a pressure fighter who is willing to walk through walls to win.

Olusegun should be too classy for Daws and should be able to pick him apart off the back foot, but if he takes his foot off the gas, or lets Daws get into a rhythm, then he could be in for a bruising night.

e-mail Dave Oakes

Check out the second half of Dave's season preview: British Scene Season Preview Part Two: Macklin vs Asikainen, Thaxton vs Murray, Sexton vs Rogan & Booth vs Hunter
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British Scene Weekend Recap

There were two shows featuring title contests this weekend in British rings.

On Friday, Ajose Olusegun put his 140lb Commonwealth crown on the line, as well as going for the vacant British title against Nigel Wright. The following night, Scott Lawton had a chance to claim the British 135lb title against John Murray, after Murray failed to make weight the previous afternoon.

Matt Chudley and Dave Oakes have the recaps.

Check out our previews of the show: Olusegun vs Wright & Murray vs Lawton

Friday June 12 Olusegun Tops Wright Again By Matt Chudley In an unexpected rematch with Nigel Wright at the Liverpool Olympia, Ajose Olusegun successfully defended his Commonwealth title and claimed the British title this past Friday In their previous encounter, Wright had surprised Olusegun early but faded down the stretch to lose 116-113 on all three cards. This time, after being afforded the opportunity on only two weeks notice due to a pullout by Barry Morrison, a more apprehensive Wright failed to let his hands go and was outworked and outclassed by the London based Nigerian. While both southpaws tried to establish their jab early, the few attacking flurries were contributed by Olusegun, who despite being unable to find a home for his favoured and rather wild overhand left hand, clearly had the better of the first few rounds. With things going Olusegun’s way in the 4th, he dropped his hands and mocked Wright’s reflexes, but went back to work in raising the pace of the contest the following round. Finally, in the second half of the 6th round, with the gulf in speed and reflexes not allowing him to counter-punch effectively Wright began to show some signs of life by coming forward and letting his hands go and pushed Olugsegun back with persistent 1-2s. Wright’s sense of urgency though was only fleeting as he went back into his shell for the next few rounds, and when he chose to again come forward in the 10th, was picked off by his crafty opponent. With his corner urging him on, Wright managed to land a few decent punches over the last couple of rounds but it wasn’t nearly enough. The final scores were 117-111, 117-112 and 116-113 all for Olusegun. Now a British citizen and Lonsdale belt holder, Olusgeun may find himself in line to fight the winner of the July 3rd European title match-up between Paul McCloskey and Soulymane M'Baye. Still unable to sell tickets and stylistically an unattractive proposition, Olusegun will undoubtedly have to force someone’s hand when it comes to a World title fight, but he might not be far from a final eliminator given his previous high standing. On the under-card… In the pick of the under-card action, 7-0 local fighter Steve Williams bettered the 18-4-2 Polish welterweight champion Slawomir Ziemlewicz over 8 fast paced and exciting rounds. Rising 154lb prospect Grzegoz Proska faired much better than his countryman, posting a career best win in 3 rounds over 17-4-1 former British title challenger Jaime Coyle. Former Commonwealth featherweight Champion Paul Truscott kept busy ahead of his rematch with John Simpson with a routine 60-54 win over Russian Andrey Kostin. Debuting former amateur star Carl Frampton put down the overmatched 0-1 Hungarian Sandor Szinavel 3 times before the end came at 2:03 into the 2nd round. e-mail Matt Chudley

Saturday June 13 Murray Wins But Loses Title By Dave Oakes The weigh in for a fight is usually the calm before the storm but it was the complete opposite for John Murray this weekend. Having arrived barely minutes before the cut off point for weighing in, Murray quickly jumped on the scales only to find out that he was two ounces over the lightweight limit. The officials gave Murray just five minutes to lose the weight but it made no difference as a sweating Murray weighed exactly the same second time around. Murray and his team complained bitterly that they weren’t given enough time to shed the extra weight but rules are rules and they only had themselves to blame for turning up late to the weigh in, if they’d turned up an hour earlier, they would’ve had enough time to lose the extra weight easily. Murray was stripped of the title but the fight went ahead with Lawton still capable of winning the now vacant title if he could defeat Murray. Unfortunately for Lawton, it became evident within the first minute that he didn’t stand a chance of winning, as a pumped up Murray flew out at the bell. Murray is always a fast starter and an aggressive front foot fighter but even by his own standards this was a ferocious start to a fight. He was trying to take Lawton’s head off with every punch, throwing wild hooks non-stop. Lawton was getting caught with some big shots but wasn’t hurt until there was twenty seconds of the round remaining when Murray caught him with a right hook that made Lawton’s legs dip. Murray followed up with a barrage of punches and eventually sent Lawton sprawling to the canvas with what was more of a shove than a punch. Lawton got to his feet unsteadily and looked relieved when the bell sounded before Murray could get the chance to finish proceedings. Lawton has always been a courageous fighter and he showed that yet again in this fight, he could’ve easily reverted into safety mode for the rest of the fight but he came out fighting in the second round. Murray was still fighting at a phenomenal pace in the second but Lawton was countering him well and landed two powerful uppercuts that stopped Murray in his tracks. Despite having a much better round, Lawton still lost the round due to Murray’s work-rate and heavier punching. Murray slowed the pace slightly in the third and fourth rounds but was still dominating the fight with the more accurate and heavier looking punches. Lawton was beginning to feel the pace towards the end of the fourth, which was immediately picked up upon by Murray. Round five was the beginning of the end as Murray started to look for the body attack to break down an already tiring Lawton. A huge left hook under the ribs had Lawton in serious trouble towards the end of the round but he clung on bravely to see the round out. Murray, sensing the end was in sight, started the sixth round as fast as he’d started the first. He was pushing Lawton back and was bullying him against the ropes. He had Lawton in trouble yet again with a left hook to the body and followed it up with another two vicious body shots, one of which was a right hook that nearly folded Lawton in half, the following punches rocked Lawton’s head back leaving the referee with no alternative other than stopping the fight. Murray is now unbeaten in 27 fights and is starting to fulfil the potential he showed in the early stage of his career. A potential fight against Jon Thaxton may have been ruined by him losing his title on the scales but he could still challenge European champion Anthony Mezaache in his next fight in September. His promoter, Mick Hennessy, remained optimistic that the Thaxton fight could still happen and also revealed he’s been in discussions with Juan Diaz about a possible fight towards the end of the year. e-mail Dave Oakes

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British Scene Preview: Ajose Olusegun vs Nigel Wright

Matt Chudley previews this Friday night's Sky Sports show featuring the rematch between Ajose Olusegun and Nigel Wright.

In their previous meeting 14 months ago, Olusegun successfully defended his 140 pound Commonwealth title for the first time. On this occasion, the vacant British crown will also be at stake.

Check out our recap of the show: Weekend Recap

Friday June 12 Ajose Olusegun vs Nigel Wright By Matt Chudley Following the pullout of Motherwell's oft-injured Barry Morrison, this Friday’s Sky Sports card is headlined by a not so appealing rematch between Ajose Olusegun and Nigel Wright. Despite an unbeaten record, the talented Olusegun has found himself treading water during the past few years of his career. Hampered by his slick but not always entertaining style and resultant lack of a following, he poses an unattractive proposition in terms of risk/reward for many a top 140lber. Hailing from Nigeria originally, the 29 year old fighter’s options have also been limited by not being able to compete for the British and European titles. Now, having recently received British citizenship through residency, he finds himself able to take the traditional British career path by fighting for the Lonsdale belt. Should he be successful, a high rating from the European Boxing Union will follow. In their first meeting, Wright enjoyed the backing of his hometown crown, and surprised Olusegun early with a fired up effort, before eventually being outclassed. Considering Wright will be hard pressed to repeat that performance, while Olusegun wasn’t at his best that night, it's very difficult to see the County Durham fighter reversing that result. Also 29 years old, this will be Wright’s second chance to claim the British title. He fell short in his previous attempt, dropping a 12 round decision to Lenny Daws for the vacant belt three years ago. On the under-card… 17-0 Polish light-middleweight prospect Grzegorz Proska takes on former British title challenger Jamie Coyle, while featherweight Paul Truscott, in his first bout since losing his Commonwealth title to John Simpson, takes on 20-12 Russian Andrey Kostin. Also on the under-card is the highly anticipated pro-debut of Belfast's Carl Frampton, who goes against 0-1 Hungarian Sandor Szinavel over 4 rounds. The highly touted 22 year old turns pro under the management of Hall of Famer and fellow Ulsterman Barry McGuigan, who has labeled his charge as a future World Champion. e-mail Matt Chudley

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