Is Anthony Joshua Britain's next heavyweight hope? Joshua-Leo Fight Preview

By Jack Sumner @Jack_Sumner_

September was a mixed bag for boxing. There were the mountainous highs of Mayweather versus Alvarez across the pond, a record-breaker and an exhibition of pugilistic excellence from a modern great, with it’s stellar undercard that confirmed a new star in Danny Garcia. Another star was born last Saturday in Montreal, when Adonis Stevenson proved to be the goods against Tavoris Cloud and on British shores a week earlier, boxing had found a new home with the successful coronation of the Copper Box in London.

Kell Brook - Contender or pretender?

By Andrew Graves @andrewravess

Brook with promoter Eddie Hearn.

For the last 2 years, the boxing community at large has been waiting for Kell Brook to step up to the top tier of international fighting. After a thrilling series of wins that make up his 30-0 undefeated record, the 27 year old fighter from Sheffield’s latest bout was against so-called bogeyman Carson Jones in a rematch of their 2012 fight, which ended in a majority decision in Brook’s favor despite a lackluster performance. His poor display resulted in him having to win a final eliminator before he could fight for the IBF belt, against Hector Saldivia. Brook dominated, and ended it with a brilliantly timed, piercing jab, ending it in the third.

Tony Bellew Vs Isaac Chilemba - Fight Preview

By Jack Sumner @Jack_Sumner_

After a series of impressive wins that have almost taken him to the summit of the light heavyweight ladder, Tony Bellew hangs just one rung away from reaching his goal of world title contention. In front of an adoring home crowd at Liverpool’s Echo Arena this weekend, the likeable Scouser attempts to scale the penultimate bar by beating Malawian puncher Isaac Chilemba.

Since narrow defeat to Nathan Cleverly in challenging for the WBO title eighteen-months ago, Bellew (19-1, 12 KOs) has matured and developed into a fighter who looks competent on the world stage. He rebounded from the Cleverly defeat with a one-punch knockout of Danny McIntosh and stepped up a level to stop Edison Miranda in nine rounds, before collecting a shutout victory over Argentinian Roberto Bolonti in December to win the WBC’s ‘Silver’ light heavyweight strap.

More important than the lightly regarded title was the position that the Bolonti fight put Bellew in, #2 in the WBC rankings and within touching distance of a challenge to titleholder and division boss Chad Dawson. According to Eddie Hearn, the winner of Bellew-Chilemba will definitely meet the winner of Dawson’s scrap with Adonis Stevenson, but ‘The Bomber’ can’t afford to take his focus off the task ahead of him this Saturday as he’s faced with a formidable and equally motivated opponent.

'Expert From The Armchair' - Promoting The Brand

By David Johnson @mrdaj.

The ever-growing stable at Matchroom Sport.

Are we witnessing a change in the way we choose who we follow on the boxing scene?

In years gone by we've tended to follow the boxer who is local to us, has a cultural fit to our views on life or in many cases the kind of personalities the boxers have (I don't think I need to touch on our love for a warrior or explosive fighter)...

For example:

The Tony Bellew's / Paul Smith's / David Price's have all spoken about their pride of representing the city of Liverpool and the fans love it, but their appeal reaches so much further than that great city, the nation loves them and their fellow liverpudlian fighters - Many people follow their local hero, and long may it continue.

Ricky Burns Signs For Matchroom! Full Press Conference

@IFILMLONDON

Gavin Rees could return to the US in the early summer!

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

British lightweight Gavin Rees gained a lot of new fans in America on Saturday night, despite being stopped in five rounds by unbeaten superstar and WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner. The 32-year old showed true courage and gave his best effort but just simply wasn't good enough to compete with the man in front him. But this event as a whole has seen him go from an unknown Brit to a popular contender in the US. His promoter Eddie Hearn claims that we could see 'The Rock' return to the States for a fight later this year.

"Gavin's performance won him many admirers in America. He is a true warrior and we have already been approached about further fights for Gavin in the US in early summer," Hearn told BoxingScene.com

"His stock however has also been raised significantly in the UK and there are still some big domestic opportunities available to him here. All in all the future is very bright for Gavin and the plan is to pick up another world title shot before the end of 2013."

Carl Frampton Vs Kiko Martinez - Post-Fight Press Conference

@IFILMLONDON

Prizefighter & Kal Yafai Report

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Prizefighter

Well what a way to start off boxing for Sky Sports and Matchroom Boxing in 2013! The 3rd edition of Prizefighter Welterweights gave us exactly what we were expecting and even more! It clearly wasn't the strongest line-up we had ever seen, but I can 100% say that it was the most-action packed tournament I have ever seen.

The action kicked off with the favorite Mark Thompson scoring a second round stoppage over Rob Hunt. The relentless pressure of the experienced veteran was just simply too much for the over-matched opponent that stood in front of him. The fight of the night came next when youngster Sam Eggington, just 19-years old, stepped into the ring with Dale Evans. Eggington was wobbled early on and looked close to being stopped, but somehow he managed to pull his way back into the fight and make it a close one. With it all even going into the third, Evans was the man who stepped it up that little bit extra and took the fight.

The third quarter-final saw the heavily-hyped Chad Gaynor in with Calum Cooper. This proved to be a big mismatch as Gaynor blasted through his opponent in less than a round. Glen Foot Vs Steven Pearce came up next. Pearce showed a lot of courage but just simply couldn't handle Foot's pressure and was stopped in the second round meaning the semi-final line-up was complete: Mark Thompson Vs Dale Evans & Chad Gaynor Vs Glen Foot.

Thomas Stalker talks about turning pro!

@iFILMLONDON

2012 British Olympian Thomas Stalker has decided to join promoter Eddie Hearn at Matchroom Boxing and is looking to make his professional debut in the coming months. Find out the full details in the vid. 

Warren Vs Hearn continues...

The forever ongoing and growing rivalry between Britain's 'Top 2' boxing promoters continued this week when Eddie Hearn reacted to some things that Frank Warren said in a previous interview. And now Warren has fired back to what Hearn said in an interview this week. This is what Warren said in his article for boxingscene.com:

Eddie,

It’s the ‘Dinosaur’ Old School Promoter here. 

Just seen your recent interview with IFilm London.  Once again you felt compelled to reference me, several of my fighters and BoxNation.  You stalking me? 

What’s with this ‘New Age Promoting’? I’m not quite sure what is meant by this term, but I do know what Promoting is, delivering great fights for the fans and putting bums on seats.   

Recently FWP have given the fans proper quality showdowns including Groves v DeGale, Mitchell v Murray, Cleverly v Bellew, Burns v Katsidis, Helenius v Chisora,  Klitschko v Chisora, Burns v Mitchell and of course, Haye v Chisora – all virtual sell outs.  How does that compare with your shows over the same period? 

I think even in your hearts of hearts, however ‘New Age’ you may be and even with your BIG Sky budget, you would have to admit that other than Froch v Bute, you have not delivered anywhere near as many big live audiences or fights of that calibre over the same period and I’ve not included the small hall classics such as Walsh v Appleby amongst others. 

I’d like to know what was so awful with my “Horrendous offer” for Gavin Rees to face Ricky Burns for his WBO World Title the ExCel in December? 

The offer we made to Gavin for the fight was £50,000 with three options, which had been improved with a final offer of £60,000.  You said Gavin will be earning more for his next European title defence – I’m sure he will be pleased to hear that he will be getting more than £60,000 for his next European title fight.   

He was promised a shot by you at the WBA title, but despite being number 2 in their rankings it didn’t happen and he is now missing out on a huge opportunity to fight Ricky Burns.  My offer is clearly anything but a ‘Horrendous offer’, something your Director of Boxing, an honest man, with years of experience, said was a “Great offer”.   

Gavin previously won the WBA World Title with me and you have turned down a chance for him to become a 2-Weight World Champion and again, you have deprived the fans of a good old domestic battle.  

Let’s also touch on the ‘options and allsorts’ section of your statement. Everybody knows in boxing that other than a mandatory defence, it is normal that options are given to the promoter of the Champion, just like the options you signed when Froch, the mandatory challenger, fought Bute.  I would like to ask you this question – have you taken any options on Yusef Mack for his IBF World Title challenge against Carl Froch next month?  And indeed, have you taken options out on any previous fighters?  I think we both know the answer to that. 

The fact remains that you preach that it’s the fighters’ interests at heart that you have,  and that may be, but I suspect this pattern of rejecting big purse offers and big opportunities has more to do with you worrying that you will have no fighters left to run with on Sky.  Perhaps the ‘exclusive’ dates you have secured are more of a hindrance to fill than you expected? 

An offer for Brook to face Timothy Bradley, again for a career best purse.  Why so many eliminators Eddie? He was WBO number one two years ago? Is ‘New Age’ promoting about turning down World Title fights for your boxers in favour of servicing a TV deal?  

As for Carl Froch, my offer was genuine and as I have said on record many times, I fancy Nathan to beat him.  The fact remains that it was another huge fight and a big payday for Carl that you rejected and not as you are suggesting now for a fight to take place before the Bute fight but after.  £1million – I know he hasn’t made that money in any fight with you and again what of the fans?  I am sure they would much rather see Cleverly v Froch rather than Froch v Mack and Nathan fighting Uzelkov. 

You’ve now rejected three big World Title fights for three of your fighters (Brook, Froch and now Rees). This rejection pattern you’re developing, in my opinion, is not good for the sport. TV deals are important but not as important as delivering for your fighters and for the fans that want to see the big events. You seem to talk so often about doing things for the fans but from where I am sitting, you stopped them from seeing three big fights. Is that the New-Age agenda?  

New Age?  Us old guys, especially the Hall of Fame Promoters like to keep it simple – make the big fights and put bums on seats. 

Regards, 

‘Dinosaur’

Eddie Hearn bites back at Frank Warren!

Eddie Hearn with star fighter Carl Froch.

The forever ongoing rivalry between British boxing promoters Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn continued this week when Hearn reacted to some of the things Warren had said in a previous interview.

A few weeks ago Warren made an offer to Hearn for IBF super-middleweight champion Carl Froch to move up in weight and face WBO light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly. According to reports the fight was priced at £2,000,000 but Hearn refused and claimed that Froch had no intention of moving up in weight and was tied down to a rematch with Lucian Bute early next year.

"He knew that because of our obligation to Lucian Bute and because of the weight, the fight would never happen," said Hearn in an interview with iFilm London. "He's living on a different planet. He's a dinosaur. I've seen him in interviews recently saying 'why would I sit down and talk with Eddie Hearn. I've been in this business for years and years and years.' He may know more about boxing than me, but I guarantee I know more about new-age promoting than him... And how to promote a show, how to get the fans excited, how to build the atmosphere and give the fans of today, the modern age, what they want."

I'm getting tired if this to be honest with you. This is one of the main reasons that we don't get to see as many top-class fights as we would really like, rivalries between promoters. Fights between boxers from different promotions are becoming harder and harder to make because of petty disputes like this. I agree with Hearn on this one, there isn't really much chance of a fight between Froch and Cleverly but I think both are to blame for the arguing. I know it's not just these two but these are the top two promoters in Britain and should set an example to upcoming promoters, the fans and also their own fighters.

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Lee Purdy Vs Carson Jones set for December!

Lee Purdy.

It has been announced that Lee Purdy will defend his IBF International welterweight title against Carson Jones in December of this year. The fight will take place in London and will be shown live on Sky Sports.

The 25-year old picked up the title on September 8th at the Alexandra Palace when he put on a fantastic performance and stopped Gumersindo Carrasco in just four rounds. Purdy took the fight and very late notice but came more ready than ever for the biggest opportunity of his career. The win slung him into the welterweight world scene and the IBF now have him ranked just outside of the top 10 welterweights in the world.

"I took my chance against Carrasco with style and I plan to do the same against Jones," said Purdy. "He fights a bit like me, loves to have a tear-up and I think this could be a great fight, and if I win it I am likely to move into the top five of the IBF."

Jones is also coming off of a career-best performance but in a fight he didn't actually win. The American pushed British welterweight No.1 Kell Brook to the limit and lost a tight points decision.

"I honestly cannot believe he wants to fight me considering what I did to one of his stable mates," said Jones. "But I am glad to fight in the UK and think I am on my way to becoming the UK's favourite new adopted son."

"I hadn't heard of Purdy until the fight was offered. I think his style is perfectly suited for me and I will go in there and take him out."

Purdy's promoter Eddie Hearn is excited by the prospect of staging this show in December.

"I really think this could be one to remember," said Hearn. "Lee and his team have fancied the fight with Carson for a while now and when I made the approach it was accepted instantly. Its pretty obvious what kind of fight this is going to be, an out and out barn burner and a chance for Lee to really make his name on the world stage."

 

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Kell Brook rejects fight with Timothy Bradley... Hoping for Ricky Hatton!

Brook after beating Ricky Hatton's younger brother Matthew.

British welterweight No.1 Kell Brook has revealed that he was very close to taking a bout with WBO welterweight champion and pound-for-pound contender Timothy Bradley but turned it down in order to finish his quest in becoming the mandatory challenger for the IBF title.

'The Special One' takes on Hector Saldivia on October 20th at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield. The winner of this bout will earn the right to challenge for the IBF world title in the near future.

Brook and his promoter Eddie Hearn believe the mandatory route is the right way to go for the 25-year old and could potentially lead to super showdown with Ricky Hatton sometime next year.

"The Bradley fight was put in front of me but I believe the mandatory position in the IBF is the right move," said Brook. "Eddie (Hearn) has worked hard to get me into the position and providing I beat Saldivia, I'll be fighting for a world title at the start of 2013."

"I would love that to be in Sheffield too and I know Eddie would do his best to get it here as it would be an amazing event. I will also be watching Ricky Hatton's comeback with great interest as a fight against him next year would be an absolute blockbuster for British boxing."

"When I fought his brother Matthew you could see that the Hatton name still means a lot in boxing and we would fill a big stadium fighting for a world title."

Hearn also explained why they made the decision to turn down the fight.

"Top Rank contacted me in August and made us an offer for the Bradley fight. It was a nice ego boost for Kell to be offered a fight of such magnitude but we begun this journey with a goal of becoming a mandatory challenger and now we are just one win away."

For me, this is important for two reasons. Firstly, it looks clear that Brook is not one of those fighters that just wants to rush into big fights that could potentially back-track his career and he and Eddie Hearn are being very careful when it comes to planning his career and picking fights. It also proves that some of the top welterweight fighters are taking Ricky Hatton's comeback very seriously. The fact that Kell Brook is planning a potential "super" fight with him next year shows us that most of his fighters are expecting him to become serious competition for them.

 

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Crolla looking to become Prizefighter champ!

Former British lightweight champion Anthony Crolla has signed up for Matchroom's Prizefighter tournament on October 6th - completing what is probably the most impressive line-up in the tournament's history. 

Crolla no doubt will be well and truly 100% hyped up for this tournament. Not only does he get to put his name back out there and get people talking about him again, he also gets the chance to avenge his most recent defeat against 'Dirty' Derry Matthews. That's right... Derry Matthews is also in this tournament. Forgetting everyone else.. Even just with these two its probably already one of the most high-profile line-ups in the tournaments short history. 

Matthews picked up the British lightweight title when he defeated Crolla back in April. But he lost it in his first defence just a few months later against Gavin Rees. The Liverpudlian will have the hometown advantage as the event will take place at the Liverpool Olympia. However, Crolla has already been announced as the hot favourite to walk away with the winner's prize of £32,000. But you must remember... This is Prizefighter. The tournament of upsets. 

Matchroom Promoter Eddie Hearn also believes that the eight men selected for the tournament are the strongest group of boxers he has ever put together. 

"Prizefighter is back with a bang with our strongest line-up ever," said Hearn. "I never expected a dream line-up like this and Anthony's inclusion is the icing on the cake." 

"Ideally we would have loved to have this in a 5,000-seater arena but the fans will experience an atmosphere like never before in the Liverpool Olympia... This is a must-see night of boxing." 

The full line-up for the October 6th tournament is as followed: Anthony Crolla, Derry Matthews, Gary Sykes, Stephen Jennings, Terry Needham, Nathan Brough, Kieran Farrell and Liam Patrick Walsh. 

In addition to the Prizefighter action, highly-rated super-middleweight prospect Rocky Fielding will challenge Wayne Reed for the Central area title.

Frampton Vs Martinez confirmed for September 22nd!

Irish super-bantamweight prospect Carl Frampton.

The highly-requested bout between Irish super-bantamweight prospect and EBU champion Kiko Martinez has been confirmed for September 22nd. The fight has been talked about and negotiated for a very long time and has now finally come into place. The EBU title clash will take place in Belfast at the Odyssey Arena.

Kiko Martinez.

Martinez is actually fighting in Ireland this weekend (July 21st) against Dougie Curran. However, this is expected to be a relatively easy bout for Martinez so unless something remarkable happens, it should be an easy victory for Martinez.

This will be a big step up in class for Frampton and if he does get the victory, it will likely line him up for a fight with either Rendall Munroe or Scott Quigg, who are both two big domestic rivals. The 25-year old has looked amazing in his career so far and him and his promoter have been desperate for a chance like this for a very long time.

His Mexican opponent has actually fought in Ireland a few times before. The most memorable was his devastating victory over Bernard Dunne who he dispatched of in just one round. This will also be Martinez's toughest test in a very long time.

Hearn looking to make Abril Vs Rees & Golovkin Vs Proksa!

Matchroom's forever-improving promoter Eddie Hearn.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed that if things go well, we could get to see two really interesting fights later this year... The first being Gavin Rees Vs Richard Abril for the vacant WBA lightweight title.

Personally, I think this an amazing fight and if it does happen, a lot of people will be watching. Rees has been calling for a world title shot for a very long time and many people believe he deserves after his knock-out victory over domestic rival Derry Matthews on July 7th. Abril, technically is not coming off of a victory but almost everyone believes he should be.The Cuban world title contender put on a career-best performance against Brandon Rios on March 17th only to be clearly robbed. However, now he has a chance to get revenge and win the world title that he believes should rightfully be his.

"Abril is someone that we are talking to and we are looking to make that happen, but nothing will be announced this week," told Hearn.

The next brilliant fight that we could get to see is Grzrgorz Proksa Vs Gennady Golovkin. Personally, I don't think this fight is as good as Rees Vs Abril but it is still a very good fight. Proksa is coming off of a great performance in which he won back his European middleweight title. And I probably don't even need to stress to you how much of a good fighter Golovkin is. He is regarded by many as the most underrated fighter in the world and is no doubt a future world champion. Looking at it this early on, it seems like it will be a fairly one-sided fight in Golovkin's favour but if Proksa wants to prove that he is one of the best in the world he is going to have to take fights like this.

"Proksa was due to be fighting Barker on September 8th, but we're now in deep negotiations with Golovkin's camp to take that fight next month after we were approached by them," Hearn confirmed.

Brook taken to a place he has never been before!

Undefeated British welterweight Kell Brook fought last night (June 7th) and extended his perfect record to 28-0. However, it wasn't as easy as some people expected it to be. Jones put up a hell of a fight and made it the toughest test of Brook's entire career.

Brook started well and easily won the first four or five rounds but then things started to change. The tactics that were ineffective for Jones at the start of the fight, were starting to work and bring the American back into the fight. In the first few rounds, it was Brook's physical strength and superior boxing skills that were keeping Jones at bay, but the spite that Brook desperately wanted to prove he had, may have just worked against him in the middle rounds. 'The Special One' started to get involved in a war and this style of fight suited Jones.

The hard-punching American continued to move forward and at one point, Brook looked a little dazed and wobbly. It was revealed that after the 8th round that Brook was suffering from a broken nose. It was clear that this was effecting Brook has he was breathing heavily and not throwing his punches with the same aggression that he was at the beginning. 

Brook managed to last the final few rounds and even stood toe-to-toe with Jones in the last minute or so of the fight. The judges scorecards at the end were 114-114, 116-113, 115-113. The last two were fair, but I still don't know how the first judge managed to score the fight a draw. Jones had a few good rounds, but Brook was in control for the majority of the fight.

'The Special One' proved a lot of things in this fight, but also left a lot of questions. We are still wondering if he is ready to step up in class and fight world beaters, but he did prove to all of his doubters that he has a tremendous amount of heart and almost a pretty strong chin.

On the under-card of the fantastic show set up by Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn, there were no surprises. Gavin Rees scored a 9th round KO over Derry Matthews in their highly anticipated rematch for the European lightweight title. And in the other great rematch, Proksa won back his European middleweight title by knocking out Kerry Hope in the 8th round.

Hamer wins Prizefighter!

Last night (June 20th) there was a heavyweight Prizefighter held at York Hall in Bethnal Green. It followed the same pattern as most of the previous Prizefighter tournaments. A lot of excitement and action but not much skill involved.

The winner in the end was 29-year old Tor Hamer (18-1, 11 KO's). He upset the odds by beating the tournament favourite, Kevin Johnson in the final. During the final three rounds of the tournament, Hamer stepped up the pace and took advantage of Johnson's lazy fighting style, making it almost completely ineffective. He won by scorecards of 30-27, 30-28 and 29-28.

The American also pocketed the famous Prizefighter trophy a long with a bonus £32,000.

On his route to the final, Hamer looked very good and just outclassed the rest of the fighters. In the quarter final he unleashed bombs from the first round to get a shout-out victory over Marcelo Luiz Nascimento. And then his semi-final bout was even more impressive. He overwhelmed the house favourite, Tom Dallas, and stopped him in just one round.

This is no doubt a very good achievement and a very good boost for Hamer's career. I know that the competition wasn't too great, but there were still some tough fighters he had to get past on the way to the top.

Overall, it was another great Prizefighter tournament given to us by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom sport. Once again it provided the fans with non-stop excitement all the way through, even if there wasn't much boxing involved.

The Prediction League has returned! Enter Here!

Froch believes Kessler rematch can happen!

Froch and Kessler in their closely contested first fight.

IBF super-middleweight champion of the world Carl Froch is confident that he can land a second fight against Mikel Kessler. A man who has desperately wanted to get revenge on for a long time. Kessler is one of only two men who has beaten Froch. After his fantastic win against Lucian Bute, 'The Cobra' believes that he can tempt 'The Viking Warrior' into a fight in the UK.


"I speak to Mikkel Kessler myself every now and then, he was at my last fight supporting me. I spoke to him after about coming to Nottingham, and I told him 'you owe it to me.' I came to your home and fought you, you've got to come to my home town," told Froch.

"He said if the fight happens, it will be in Nottingham. They've been on the phone to my promoter Eddie Hearn, so they've been trying to sort things out and there's no reason on paper why mid-October this fight can't happen in Nottingham. It can be done."

"It gives me the chance to set the record straight. Kessler comes to fight, if anyone saw the first one it was a great fight, very close and he got a hometown decision. If it was in Nottingham I would have got the decision, this is why the rematch is so interesting and why everyone wants to see it again."

So... There we go. We could be very close to seeing a fight that we all desperately want to see. Froch's promoter Eddie Hearn is desperate to make the fight and it should be relatively easy to make. The fighters want it, the promoters want it and most importantly the fans want it! There should be no problems with the negotiations as both men are true warriors that are not really that worried about money. They are more interested in proving themselves and cementing their legacy.

Prizefighter returns on June 20th!

On June 20th, the popular British Prizefighter tournament returns with a bang as eight heavyweights will battle it out to be crowned champ at the York Hall. In case any of you haven't seen one of these tournaments before, it consists of eight fighters, seven fighters and one winner. And to make it all better, it all happens in one night!

Here is a list of the eight men that will take part in the tournament:

Tom Dallas (15-2, 11 KO)

Tom Little (3-0, 0 KO's)

Noureddine Meddoune (4-1, 4 KO)

Marcelo Luiz Nascimento (16-3, 14 KO)

Albert Sosnowski (46-4-2, 28 KO)

Tor Hamer (15-1, 10 KO)

Maurice Harris (25-16-2, 11 KO)

Kevin Johnson (26-1-1, 12 KO)

There's a few 'decent' boxers that you might recognise from that list, but to be honest, Prizefighter is exciting no matter who they have in it. 

Just a few years ago the man at the top of the list, Tom Dallas, was considered to be a rising prospect on the British scene. However, now he is considered a 'has been' or someone who will 'never quite make it' after he has looked terrible in his last three fights. He won a very controversial decision over American journeyman Zack Page and then he suffered two devastating beat downs to British heavyweights David Price and Matt Skelton. This tournament could be the perfect opportunity for him to make a comeback but it is highly unlikely.

Another notable fighter is Kevin Johnson. The 32-year old suffered an embarrassing loss to Vitali Klitschko back in 2009, but there is still some hype about him in the States. Since the fight with Klitschko he has won four fights, including 9th round TKO over Alex Leapai back in April. 'Kevbo' does talk a lot of smack and is probably the favourite to win on June 20th.

The only two fighters that have really never been hear of are Tom Little and Noureddine Meddoune and they are probably the two men that are there just to make up the numbers. The other four are decent fighters but are not expected to win the tournament. However, this is Prizefighter and there is usually a couple of upsets during the tournament.