Notebook: Galahad, Dickens put friendship aside in fight for vacant featherweight title
Inoue and Loma plans; Hunter wins by big KO; Quick hits
Kid Galahad and James “Jazza” Dickens are friends with one another and very familiar with each other inside the ring.
So, there doesn’t figure to be any surprises when they clash for the vacant IBF featherweight title in the main event of Matchroom Boxing’s “Fight Camp” on Saturday (DAZN, 2 p.m. ET) in the garden at Matchroom’s sprawling headquarters in Brentwood, England.
“I’ve actually done about 60 or 70 (sparring) rounds with Jazza Dickens, probably more,” Galahad said. “When I boxed (Claudio) Marrero (in his last fight in February 2020), I sparred Jazza. I’ve known him for a long time. We’re friends. Any time I ever fight a southpaw I always spar with Jazza because he’s a good southpaw.”
They will meet for the 126-pound belt Josh Warrington vacated rather than meet Galahad in a mandatory rematch of a fight Warrington won by split decision in 2019. Galahad will have a rematch, however, but with Dickens instead.
They first fought in 2013 for the vacant British junior featherweight title and Galahad won by 10th-round knockout to hand Dickens his first defeat.
Through the years British countrymen Galahad (27-1, 16 KOs), 31, and Dickens (30-3, 11 KOs), 30, have become friends and sparring partners, and now they will meet again for even bigger stakes than their first fight.
But with so much on the line the friendship is out the window come fight night, Galahad said.
“At the end of the day, when we get in there, friendship is going to be pushed to the side and that’s it. Seek and destroy — that’s it,” he said. “I’m not here to make friends and everything else. When I get in there I’m here to win. I don’t care who you are.
“Getting in with me is a different kettle of fish to getting in with all of them guys who he’s boxed. It doesn’t matter who he’s boxed. I believe I box in a higher category and I believe that I’ve taken less punishment than him. I believe that the wins I’ve got I’ve done in better fashion than he has. He’s very good. He’s well rounded and he can do a bit of everything. I just believe that I’m better than him in every little department. Whatever he does I can do better. … I’m going to win this World Title in spectacular fashion. I’m going to be a World Champion for a very long time. I’m not going to let it go. When we get in that ring, we aren’t going to be friends. He’s going to get seriously hurt.”
Even though Galahad stopped Dickens in their first fight, Dickens said it has no bearing on Saturday’s title bout.
“It has been eight years since we had the first fight,” Dickens said. “I always knew this fight would come again. I told (Galahad) this fight would come again. I’ve been waiting a long time. I’ve had losses along the way. I’ve had to build myself back up. There’s nothing harder than building yourself back up after a loss. I’ve done it three times and that’s why I’m in this position.
“I do remember at the time it was tough losing. It was tough on my ego – that’s what it was. It was a humbling experience. It was a tough time for me personally to face (hometown) Liverpool. That shame of losing. It was hard. It was either pack it in or carry on and win a world title and get my revenge. That’s where I’m at now. I believe that I’ve had a tougher road since then. I know I’m the better fighter now.”
Arum on Inoue, Loma plans
In a recent interview with Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, he outlined the plans in the works for the return of unified bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue, possibly in a rematch of the 2019 fight of the year against Nonito Donaire.
Arum also divulged details of former pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko’s next date and the site as well as offering two prominent names possible as his opponent.
Arum also outlined the opponent and date, and the probable site, for featherweight world titlist Emanuel Navarrete’s next fight and spoke about Top Rank’s plans for Tony Yoka, the 2016 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist from France, to finally make his delayed United States debut. I wrote about all of it for World Boxing News. Please read that story here: https://www.worldboxingnews.net/2021/08/04/exclusive-bob-arum-loma-yoka-inoue/
Hunter, Algieri win
Heavyweight contender Michael Hunter punished, bloodied and knocked out Mike Wilson in the fourth round of their scheduled 10-rounder that headlined a Triller Fight Club card on Tuesday night at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
It was the first boxing event in New York with spectators permitted since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year.
Hunter (20-1-1, 14 KOs), 33, of Las Vegas, badly hurt Wilson in the fourth round before crushing him with a right hand to the jaw that dropped him. Wilson (21-2, 10 KOs), 38, of Medford, Oregon, beat the count but was a dazed, bloody mess, and referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped it at 2 minutes, 49 seconds.
In the welterweight co-feature, former junior welterweight world titlist Chris Algieri (25-3, 9 KOs), 37, of Huntington, New York, ended a 22-month layoff and cruised to a one-sided decision over southpaw Mikkel LesPierre (22-3-1, 10 KOs), 36, a former junior welterweight world title challenger from Brooklyn, New York. Algieri won by scores of 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91.
“I'm thrilled to be back,” Algieri said. “After a few rounds I really felt at home. I wanted the feather in my cap of being the first guy to get a stoppage (against LesPierre) and almost got it. But ultimately I’m happy with my performance. I didn’t want an easy fight back. Mikk is a really solid, class fighter who came in great shape. I showed that I’m a different class and deserve bigger fights in the very near future.”
Quick hits
Russian southpaw Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (15-0-1, 12 KOs), 26, and Kenichi Ogawa (25-1-1, 18 KOs), 33, of Japan, will meet for the vacant IBF junior lightweight title on Aug. 20 at the Conrad Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, D4G Promotions announced on Wednesday. Rakhimov was the mandatory challenger when he got a shot at Joseph Diaz Jr. in February. Diaz was overweight and stripped of the title with Rakhimov eligible to win the vacant belt, but they fought to a draw. It will be Ogawa’s second title shot. He fought for the same vacant belt in 2017 and won a controversial decision over Tevin Farmer, but the result was changed to a no contest because Ogawa tested positive for a banned substance.
Matchroom Boxing announced on Wednesday that unified heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua’s mandatory defense against former undisputed cruiserweight champion and fellow Olympic gold medalist Oleksandr Usyk, which is scheduled to take place on Sept. 25 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, sold out within the first 24 hours of going on sale. Matchroom Boxing did not announce how many tickets were sold but the stadium holds around 60,000.
The WBC announced that going forward, and until further notice, it will only appoint ring officials and supervisors who have received a Covid-19 vaccination and that those officials must “produce proof of vaccination, without exception.” In its announcement, the WBC added that, “Local boxing jurisdictions might appoint ring officials, over which appointments the WBC has no control. However, with respect to WBC appointments, the WBC will only consider those individuals who have (been vaccinated). … Let’s do our part helping our sport and all of those affected by the pandemic around us to act safely and to heal.”
The IBF has scheduled a purse bid for a super middleweight title eliminator between Evgeny Shvedenko (15-0, 6 KOs), 31, a Russia native fighting out of Germany, and former titlist Caleb Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs), 37, of Saint Michael, Minnesota, on Aug. 17. If the fight happens the winner will be Caleb Plant’s mandatory challenger. The sides were unable to make a deal by the IBF deadline, although they could still make one until 15 minutes before the bids are unsealed. Shvedenko was scheduled to fight Vladimir Shishkin in the eliminator on July 31 in Germany, but Shishkin came down with Covid-19 and it was canceled. Truax got shut out by Plant in a mandatory title shot on Jan. 30, but those ahead of him in the IBF rankings either turned down the eliminator or were unavailable.
Show and tell
When Roy Jones Jr., then the undefeated pound-for-pound king, made his first light heavyweight title defense he faced tricky southpaw Montell Griffin, who gave him a few problems in a competitive fight until Jones took over and seemingly knocked him out in the ninth round. However, after Griffin had gone to a knee, Jones struck him twice more and was disqualified, losing his title and undefeated record in a stunning result. Jones immediately exercised his right to a rematch and they met again five months later. Jones, still fuming over the loss, was not there to play around. He stormed to Griffin and pummeled him in a sensational first-round knockout victory to avenge the defeat and regain the title in one of the greatest performances of his legendary career. That memorable fight was on Aug. 7, 1997 — 24 years ago this Saturday. Here is the poster in my collection.
Galahad photo: Matchroom Boxing; Inoue photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Hunter-Wilson photo: Amanda Westcott/Triller