By Steven Goulding
It was an exciting week for British Boxing fans. Whilst we were waiting with baited breath for an announcement regarding a Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler rematch from Eddie Hearn, rival promoter Frank Warren grabbed fight fans’ attention by announcing his own bumper show.
‘Rule Britannia’ will take place at Wembley Arena on March 16th and top of the bill is a mouth-watering unification bout between lightweight champions Ricky Burns (WBO) and Miguel Vazquez (IBF), with the winner moving a step closer to a big money showdown with Adrien Broner. WBO Light-Heavyweight Champion Nathan Cleverly is also on the bill, making a mandatory defence of his title against Robin Kransqi. London’s own George Groves will also be in action, taking on Mohammed Ali Ndiaye for the vacant European Super-Middleweight title. The ‘Rule Britannia’ show could also host the return of controversial British Heavyweight Dereck Chisora who is in the process of re-applying for his British Boxing Board of Control license.
Just one day later we got the news we were waiting for, as Eddie Hearn and Sauerland promotions confirmed that Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler will indeed meet again, with a rematch in the UK later this year. There are strong rumours that the bout will take place at the o2 arena in London,sometime in May. In his own words, Froch is “riding the crest of a wave” at the moment and will be relishing the chance to redeem his defeat against the ‘Viking Warrior’.
In slightly less exciting news, Heavyweight Audley Harrison has announced that he will fight again, despite many urging him to retire following his savage 1st round knockout at the hands of David Price. ‘A-Force’ has decided to return however, this time competing in the Prizefighter tournament on the 23rd February, a tournament that he has won before, back in 2009.
Although Audley Harrison is very much in the twilight of his career, February 23rd marks the beginning of what should be a very exciting career for Liverpool Boxer, and former Team GB Olympic Boxing captain Tom Stalker. Stalker won everything he could as an amateur apart from an Olympic Medal, after losing a controversial decision at London 2012. At the age of 28 he has decided to turn over and pursue glory in the pro-ranks under promoter Eddie Hearn, who plans to keep his new charge busy, with Stalker already booked to make his debut on February 23rd, March 30th and April 20th.
Another of Team GB’s stars, middleweight Anthony Ogogo has also made the decision to turn professional, making the interesting decision to sign with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. Ogogo claimed that once he spoke to Golden Boy’s Richard Schaefer his mind was made up, with Schaefer also planning to keep his new signing busy. Ogogo confirmed that the plan is for him to fight 8 times in 2013, with the fights split 50/50 across the UK and the US. Golden Boy clearly want to build the Bronze medallist’s profile across the Atlantic.
Steven Goulding is editor of thatsaknockout.co.uk
