I've often found it really hard to find many worth while American Heavyweight Prospects to talk about on this blog and as a result it often seems I've spent more time talking about rising European fighters, however in Joe Hanks (18-0, 12) the USA does have a promising fighter.
Hanks, from New Jersey, was a solid amateur who often seemed to be described as having a style that better suited the professional game than the amateur side of the sport and in 2007 he put those comments to the test as he turned over. In his debut in December 2007 he stopped the huge 280lbs Joseph Rabotte in 2 rounds and then took 4 months to hone his craft somewhat before returning to the ring and beating Corey Winfield in a clear 4 round decision. Hanks would later add 2 more wins (both by stoppage) during 2008 before starting 2009 with a 4-0 (3) record, though he had yet to fight anyone who was really worthy of talking about, in fact it wasn't until August 2009 that Hanks faced his first real test.
After running up a perfect record of 8-0 (6) Hanks would face fellow unbeaten fighter Ashanti Jordan who was 10-0 (7). This was the first real test either man had faced though Jordan was favoured to win having been signed to Golden Boy Promotions and having had a very strong amateur background. Hanks hadn't read the script and clearly beat Jordan just dropping a single round on 1 of the 3 score cards. Jordan's hopes had been shattered and at the time of writing he hasn't returned to the ring (and is unlikely to ever do so).
6 months after beating Jordan we would see Hanks in his second test as he faced experienced journeyman Cliff Couser. Whilst Couser took an unflattering record of 26-20-2 to the ring he had once been a very good fighter and held wins over the likes of James "Quick" Tillis and Monte Barrett, and certainly knew his way around the ring. It took the still green Hanks just 142 seconds to dispatch his veteran opponent in what was a genuinely impressive result.
After picking up 2 more easy wins to take Hanks' record to 13-0 (8) he would face Johnnie White (who was 22-2, 18 himself). White was around the same age and size as Hanks and certainly still had belief in himself having only lost to Dominick Guinn and Seth Mitchell the difference however was that Hanks was simply to good. White's power was neutralised by the ability Hanks had and Hanks would take a wide decision.
Since beating White we haven't really seen Hanks step up a great deal, in fact his best win since facing White was against Alfredo Escalera Jr, a fighter who spent vast swathes of his career fighting as a Cruiserweight. Hanks did however pick up the IBA Americas heavyweight title a title that he defends this coming weekend against Cuban Rafael Pedro (21-9-1, 15). Whilst hanks is expected to deal with the veteran Cuban with out too many problems, it would be nice to see Hanks taking a step up in class again soon. Maybe facing a former champion (such as Hasim Rahman) would be a step too far but someone like Nicolai Firtha, Tye Fields or even Ray Austin could be good scalps to try and get, just to help Hanks get his name out there a bit more.
The video below is thanks to defymagonline
Tuesday 31 January 2012
Friday 20 January 2012
Gary Cornish
Giant British heavyweights seem to be a thing now a days with the likes of David Price, Tyson Fury and Richard Towers all getting plenty of attention, though one name that often seems to be forgotten is the emerging Scottish fighter Gary Cornish. Stood at 6'7" Cornish is another giant from British and is yet another fighter who is intent on making his name in the heavyweight division.
Despite having only had 9 amateur bouts (winning them all, 6 by KO) Cornish, known as "The Highlander" has had the hype machine going crazy with his manager Tommy Gilmour believing Cornish could become the first Scottish Heavyweight world champion. Maybe that day will come one day though for now Cornish, with Gilmour behind him, is taking baby steps and slowly being shaped into the fighter that Gilmour wants him to be.
Cornish made his professional debut in April 2011 by stopping Preston based Heavyweight journeyman Howard Daley in 2 rounds. Cornish then followed up that impress victory by stopping Hastings Rasani in 4 rounds (due to a cut). Impressively just 5 months later Rasani would score a draw with former World title challenger Albert Sosnowski. In September of '11 Cornish would head the final bell for the first time as he scored a clear points victory over the tough Rolandas Cesna.
In Cornish's most recent fight (November 2011) he would rematch Hastings Rasani, this time in an 8 round bout. After dropping the Rasani twice in round 3 Cornish failed to stop the Zimbabwean though took a wide decision with the score of 80-71.
Tomorrow night (Saturday January 21st) Gary Cornish will face the busy Latvian Remigijus Ziausys on an under-card bout at the Liverpool Olympia. Ziausys' record reads a rather ugly 20-46-3 (10) though he has proven himself to be a durable fighter having only been stopped once (by former European Cruiserweight champion Alexander Frenkel). This is despite facing fighters including Dereck Chisora, Alexander Kotlobay, Robert Helenius, Mariusz Wach, Bogdan Dinu and Giacobbe Fragomeni. Whilst we all expect Cornish to win, a stoppage victory would really be impressive from the giant from Scotland who will tower some 9 inches above his Latvian opponent.
Whilst I've not found any footage of Gary "The Highlander" Cornish, we will hopefully see highlights of his fight with Ziausys on Sky TV on the undercard of David Price v John McDermott tomorrow.
Despite having only had 9 amateur bouts (winning them all, 6 by KO) Cornish, known as "The Highlander" has had the hype machine going crazy with his manager Tommy Gilmour believing Cornish could become the first Scottish Heavyweight world champion. Maybe that day will come one day though for now Cornish, with Gilmour behind him, is taking baby steps and slowly being shaped into the fighter that Gilmour wants him to be.
Cornish made his professional debut in April 2011 by stopping Preston based Heavyweight journeyman Howard Daley in 2 rounds. Cornish then followed up that impress victory by stopping Hastings Rasani in 4 rounds (due to a cut). Impressively just 5 months later Rasani would score a draw with former World title challenger Albert Sosnowski. In September of '11 Cornish would head the final bell for the first time as he scored a clear points victory over the tough Rolandas Cesna.
In Cornish's most recent fight (November 2011) he would rematch Hastings Rasani, this time in an 8 round bout. After dropping the Rasani twice in round 3 Cornish failed to stop the Zimbabwean though took a wide decision with the score of 80-71.
Tomorrow night (Saturday January 21st) Gary Cornish will face the busy Latvian Remigijus Ziausys on an under-card bout at the Liverpool Olympia. Ziausys' record reads a rather ugly 20-46-3 (10) though he has proven himself to be a durable fighter having only been stopped once (by former European Cruiserweight champion Alexander Frenkel). This is despite facing fighters including Dereck Chisora, Alexander Kotlobay, Robert Helenius, Mariusz Wach, Bogdan Dinu and Giacobbe Fragomeni. Whilst we all expect Cornish to win, a stoppage victory would really be impressive from the giant from Scotland who will tower some 9 inches above his Latvian opponent.
Whilst I've not found any footage of Gary "The Highlander" Cornish, we will hopefully see highlights of his fight with Ziausys on Sky TV on the undercard of David Price v John McDermott tomorrow.
Wednesday 18 January 2012
David Price
Whilst many British boxing fans are excited about Tyson Fury I'll be honest and say the biggest Heavyweight hope in the UK is Liverpudlian David Price (11-0, 9). Stood at 6'8" the Olympic bronze medal winner is really one of the most promising heavyweights in the world and will almost certainly break into the top Heavyweight rankings in just another few fights.
Price first started to make an impression on the national scene as a teenager when he won the ABA Super Heavyweight title in 2003 (before repeating the success in 2005 and 2007). Just a few years later he was making a mark on the international stage with a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth games and making the quarter final of the 2007 World championships. It was however his Bronze medal at the Beijing games that really took the world by surprise not just because of the medal but because of the way he dispatched Islam Timurziev, one of the tournament favourites in his opening bout.
Soon after the Olympics Price turned professional and in March 2009 he debuted by stopping British journeyman David Ingleby in the 3rd round. Over the following 9 months Price would add 3 more victories to his ledger to move to 4-0 (3) with only the stubborn Yavor Marinchev seeing out the 4 round distance. Marinchev had only been stopped once in his previous 20 fights which had seen him go the distance with the likes of Andrzej Wawrzyk, Mariusz Wach, Mateusz Masternak, Valery Brudov, Ran Nakash and Alexander Kotlobay.
Price would also turn out 4 times in 2010 as he stepped up in class slightly and was taken 6 rounds by popular journeyman Daniil Peretyatko (AKA "Shrek"). Whilst Peretyatko was the only man to survive the distance with Price none could match him in an actual fight as the English giant moved to 8-0 (6) by the end of the year and finally started to get some positive comments from the wider boxing public, however it wasn't until 2011 that he started to show his true potential. Price would start 2011 with a 3rd round TKO over the disgustingly out of shape Osborne Machimana who lived up to his moniker of being a big daddy as he almost tipped 300lbs on the scales. Price would then impressively stop experienced American Raphael Butler in the opening round as he showed his power was real. He would fight for the final time in the year in summer when he stopped the unbeaten Tom Dallas in the 2nd round with another impressive display of power and accuracy.
On Saturday 21st January Price will have his toughest test to date as he faces the experienced and under-rated John McDermott (26-7, 17) in an English heavyweight title fight that also doubles as British title eliminator. Despite McDermott not holding the most impressive of records many feel he has been hard done to by judging which has arguably robbed him of wins over Danny Williams (twice), Mark Krence and Tyson Fury. Though he does hold notable wins over Pele Reid (TKO2), Scott Gammer (points10) and Larry Olubamiwo (TKO1). A win for Price is expected though the manner in which he wins will be a major marker for Price in the short term.
A preview of the Price v McDermott fight can be found here.
Video below thanks to maloneypromotions
Price first started to make an impression on the national scene as a teenager when he won the ABA Super Heavyweight title in 2003 (before repeating the success in 2005 and 2007). Just a few years later he was making a mark on the international stage with a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth games and making the quarter final of the 2007 World championships. It was however his Bronze medal at the Beijing games that really took the world by surprise not just because of the medal but because of the way he dispatched Islam Timurziev, one of the tournament favourites in his opening bout.
Soon after the Olympics Price turned professional and in March 2009 he debuted by stopping British journeyman David Ingleby in the 3rd round. Over the following 9 months Price would add 3 more victories to his ledger to move to 4-0 (3) with only the stubborn Yavor Marinchev seeing out the 4 round distance. Marinchev had only been stopped once in his previous 20 fights which had seen him go the distance with the likes of Andrzej Wawrzyk, Mariusz Wach, Mateusz Masternak, Valery Brudov, Ran Nakash and Alexander Kotlobay.
Price would also turn out 4 times in 2010 as he stepped up in class slightly and was taken 6 rounds by popular journeyman Daniil Peretyatko (AKA "Shrek"). Whilst Peretyatko was the only man to survive the distance with Price none could match him in an actual fight as the English giant moved to 8-0 (6) by the end of the year and finally started to get some positive comments from the wider boxing public, however it wasn't until 2011 that he started to show his true potential. Price would start 2011 with a 3rd round TKO over the disgustingly out of shape Osborne Machimana who lived up to his moniker of being a big daddy as he almost tipped 300lbs on the scales. Price would then impressively stop experienced American Raphael Butler in the opening round as he showed his power was real. He would fight for the final time in the year in summer when he stopped the unbeaten Tom Dallas in the 2nd round with another impressive display of power and accuracy.
On Saturday 21st January Price will have his toughest test to date as he faces the experienced and under-rated John McDermott (26-7, 17) in an English heavyweight title fight that also doubles as British title eliminator. Despite McDermott not holding the most impressive of records many feel he has been hard done to by judging which has arguably robbed him of wins over Danny Williams (twice), Mark Krence and Tyson Fury. Though he does hold notable wins over Pele Reid (TKO2), Scott Gammer (points10) and Larry Olubamiwo (TKO1). A win for Price is expected though the manner in which he wins will be a major marker for Price in the short term.
A preview of the Price v McDermott fight can be found here.
Video below thanks to maloneypromotions
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