Tommy Owens Promotions starts off the new boxing season with a cracking show at the Holte suite, Villa park. The show is called “No Guts No Glory” and at the moment is scheduled to have 10 professional fights on it showcasing some of the newest and best Midlands talent around at the moment.
The Birmingham Boxing Column will take a look at all the home boxers on the card, and will give you there states and my thoughts on the boxers as I have watched or meet most of them before.
So we start with the two newest fighters on the card, making their debuts as pro boxers on the show you have the heavyweight Shaun Duffy, and Nathan Benson at super lightweight. Both of these boxers are well known to me as they are trained by Shaun Cogan at Smoking Joe’s pro gym which is also where I train and most of the “Welcome to Fightden” shows are filmed.
Shaun Duffy (34) has had a unbeaten white collar/ unlicensed career and has been urged by many people including myself to turn over to the pro ranks. Duffy stands at an impressive 6 foot 5 and has been under the tutelage of trainer Shaun Cogan for the last year as he turned over to the pro ranks. I fought Duffy while in the unlicensed ranks where he was only one of two people to ever stop me. He was very raw at that time but had great power in both hands, I have since sparred him on a number of occasions and have seen him improve ten fold in his boxing abilities. He will be a great addition to the pro ranks in Birmingham.
Nathan Bendon (25) is no stranger to the prize fighting ring as he turns over from Muay Thai to the noble art. Bendon who has won multiple titles in Muay Thai including the British and the European has had a few unlicensed fights winning all of them and is another fighter turning over under the tutelage of Smoking Joe’s Shaun Cogan. Bendon is a hard hitter and his body shots are hurtful, he fought at Super Lightweight/Lightweight in his Muay Thai career and I think he will be making some waves in these divisions in the future.
Ellis Blake who has won both of his 2 pro fights looks to continue his unbeaten record on the show. The 21 year old super lightweight from Tamworth has looked very impressive especially in his last against Fonz Alexander and I’m sure will be getting another “W” in the win column on the first.
Lenny Evans is another young pro having his third fight on this show, the 23 year old welterweight from Shrewsbury was really impressive against veteran journeyman Kristian Laight in his last fight and will be looking to keep his unbeaten record intact.
Middleweight Zaheer Asghar will be having his second fight on the show, the 29 year old Middleweight southpaw from Birmingham beat Baltazaras Bajorunas in his first fight and will be looking to continued and get another win. I look forward to seeing Asghar fight as I have not seen him box before.
Super welterweight Anthony Manning (28) will be looking to make it back to back wins on this show, the very talented boxer has underachieved in the passed but looked very impressive against Andrej Cepur in his last fight. I have saw all 4 of Manning’s fights and he is a great talent, he has had a rocky start to his boxing career but I think it will hold him in good stead in the future and when he gets the win on this show he can start moving up the ranks.
Twenty five year old Sean Daly will be having his fifth fight on this show and will be looking to continue his unbeaten start to his career. The super welterweight who is originally from Sutton Coldfield but now resides in Burntwood has impressed me know end with his great work rate and pressure fighting. I look forward to seeing him win on the first of September and hopefully look at moving up the rounds from fours to Six’s.
Another boxer who always entertains is 25 year super lightweight Jack “No Beef” O’Keeffe. The Vegan boxer from Sutton Coldfield Birmingham is unbeaten in his 5 fights and always comes to fight. With his load following behind him shouting the “No Beef” chant I can only see a win for the this talented boxer.
Super Featherweight Louis Fielding is back down the Villa looking to bounce back from his TKO defeat against highly rated Indi Sangha at the start of the year. Fielding (28) from Tamworth has only won once in his last 5 fights but has been up against decent talent with the likes of Holt, Ellison and Sangha claiming victory’s over him. Fielding is a much better boxer than his last five fights suggest, he has won 7 out of 12 fights and will be looking to be getting back to winning ways at Villa park on the first of September.
Last but by no means least 11 and 0 unbeaten boxer Cori Gibbs will be back in action for the first time this year. The 25 year old Eastside boxer has been out of action since May last year and I’m sure will be looking to make a big impacted on his return. Gibbs has impressed me every time I have seen him box and I know a lot of people in the know like myself rate his highly. It is great to see the super lightweight back in the ring and I will be looking forward to seeing him boxes on this jam packed show on the first of September. Dexter's Thoughts
I'm really looking forward to this show, the Tommy Owens Promotions shows down be Villa park always give value for money and at the moment with 10 fights on the card you can’t get a better deal. With the likes of the talented Cori Gibbs, Sean Daly and Jack O'Keeffe on the bill, as well as Anthony Manning and Louis Fielding that alone would be worth the entrance fee. Your also have the new comers in Lenny Evans, Ellis Blake and Zaheer Asghar dplaying there skills and with the two debutantes from Smoking Joe’s Shaun Duffy and Nathan Bendon this is going to be a great show.
The Birmingham Boxing Column looks forward to reporting on the show on Saturday September 1st at the Holte Suite Villa park.
Tickets available from the boxers and from Tommy Owens Promotions website www.topboxing.co.uk Tickets -Standard - £35 VIP Balcony - £50 Ringside VIP - £65