Big Write Hook - June - July 2017

JUNE - JULY 2017 EDITION

T H E R E M ATC H

WARD vs KOVALEV 2 HASKINS vs BURNETT • RIGONDEAUX vs FLORES • BRADLEY SAUNDERS

“Mental illness can happen to anybody.

You can be a dustman, a politician, a Tesco worker...anyone. It could be your dad, your brother or your aunt.�

- Frank Bruno -

www.mind.org.uk

In This Months Issue Of Big Write Hook..

Edito r ’s Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Monthly Rou nd-Up.... ..... ...... ...... ...... ....... ...... ..... ....4 Fight Preview - Haskins vs Burnett.......................5 Fight Preview - Ward vs Kovalev............................7 1 2 Ro und s w i t h. . . B rad ley S aun de rs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Fight Preview - Rigondeaux vs Flores.................11

Front Cover Image: Ward vs Kovalev Fight Preview Page 7

Po ets’ C o rn er. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Review Brook vs Spence......................................15 Review Groves vs Chudinov.................................17 Go ld e n Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0 Next Months Agenda ........................................... 22

If you would like to get involved with Big Write Hook, please get in touch via email or Twitter. bigwritehook@gmail.com https://twitter.com/BigWriteHook @BigWriteHook

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Editor’s Letter .

Mon

Agony And Ecstasy : In The P

nthly Round Up.....

Pursuit Of Greatness Some Will Trip And Some Will Triumph June 3: Adonis Stevenson knocked-out Andrzej Fonfara in the third round to retain his long held WBC light heavyweight belt. Stevenson will have one eye on our featured fight between Andre Ward v Sergey Kovalev (round...) in a maybe his final attempt to unify the division.

June 2: Bradley Skeete beat Shayne Singleton in what many expected to be a much closer trade fight than it actually was, ending the bout with a flurry of punches in the fifth round to cause a stoppage from referee Marcus McDonnell. Skeete was exceptional and had already scored two knockdowns prior to that.

May 27: Kell Brook lost to Errol Spence Jr by

eleventh-round stoppage for the IBF welterweight belt (round …) whilst George Groves beat Fedor Chudinov by sixth-round stoppage to claim the WBA supermiddleweight (round... ) The fairytale for Dave Allen to become Commonwealth heavyweight was derailed

by Lenroy Thomas in a split decision. However, much like Tommy Coyle and Sean Dodd, there is something to suggest that whatever, if ever, Allen achieves in the sport, he will remain a much loved people’s champion.

Anthony Fowler marked his professional debut with a win over Arturs Geikins and The Machine will look for a stiffer test next time out.

May 26: Andrew Selby continued his run of classy displays with a comfortable unanimous victory over Cristofer Gonzalez at flyweight. The Welshman said in his post match interview: “I don’t really like boxing. If I did like it, can you imagine how good I would be?... I want to make money in life, so that is why I fight. At least I am honest.”

May 20: One of last month’s featured fights saw Liam Walsh get annihilated in the third round by the youngest current world champion Gervonta Davis.

The Tank kept hold of his IBF belt and looks like he will have little in the way of resistance as he clears up super-featherweight division with brute force.

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Anthony Yarde was impressive in his win over Chris Hobbs, by matched his impressive physique with a more impressive performance in the ring, consistently throwing sickening body shots that proved too much for a resilient Hobbs. Yarde will go on to challenge for a European title next.

Terence Crawford beat Felix Diaz by tenthround stoppage to retain his WBC WBO lightwelterweight belts and may now look to become an undisputed champion by taking on Julius Indongo who has the remaining two belts. Although, there are talks Bud may move up in weight.

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Fight Preview.

HASK INS VS BUR NETT

Belfast Bangers.

The return of big time boxing to Northern Ireland could re-ignite the passion of a nation.

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f course, Carl Frampton has been flying the flag overseas for years, but the IBF world bantamweight title contest between Lee Haskins and Ryan Burnett on June 10th allows Belfast to revel in the unveiling of a new star on home soil... potentially.

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fights, but he can also box beautifully, utilising that Booth-centric jab, moving in and out of range well.

With wins over Jason Booth and Ryan Farrag, Burnett established himself at British level and has shown he can go the distance in tough, learning fights. In fairness,

The questions on my mind as we move towards fight night are as follows: How good is challenger Ryan Burnett?

Is it too early for him to capture his maiden world title?

Does anyone outside of Bristol even know who the champion Lee Haskins is?

Let’s address these issues one-by-one. Firstly, Burnett (16-0, 9KO) has looked fairly invincible in his opening 16 bouts. He is trained by Adam Booth as part of that incredible stable and remains undefeated. Burnett can turn his hand to any style of boxing; he can brawl, demonstrating that tough Irish grit in his British title

his quality hasn’t been tested against a top-ten, world level, opponent but he will see this as a perfect opportunity up against an ageing and unspectacular Haskins.

How soon is too soon for Burnett? His best win was arguably against Farrag.

Jason Booth gave him a tricky test and although

Written By: Craig Scott of @Fight_Talk1 Check out fighttalk.net

he has boxed in Bulgaria and the US, he has never faced an opponent as good as Haskins. Not even close. The occasion is new to him. Headline act, Belfast, world title. It’s a massive opportunity.

However, despite his relative inexperience and lacklustre CV, Burnett will really fancy his chances and many view him as the favourite.

Finally, Lee Haskins (34-3, 14KO). Now despite my previous comments, I don’t actually dislike him. Infact I think he has been very unlucky: the nature of his world title win (Randy Caballero missing weight and the fight being cancelled due to Haskins refusal to meet at a catchweight and why should he?), his lack of pulling power with the general public and a shallow division in terms of talent, haven’t helped him to establish himself at all, but Haskins can box! And he @BigWriteHook

will see this as a fantastic opportunity to cement his reputation amongst the British elite. If he beats Burnett, he will have finally earned his stripes because beating Stuart Hall in a very tight decision never really endeared him to the viewing audience so he will be out to make a statement this time around. Haskins is 33 however and down at bantamweight, some fighters age in dog years. It will be fascinating to see if the ‘Playboy’ can rise to the occasion once and for all.

Youth v Experience personified? Haskins v Burnett is one for the purists. I don’t envisage a war, I can see it starting tentatively, opening up in the mid-to-late rounds and finishing with some excitement, maybe even a flash knockdown perhaps?

One thing is for certain though, when boxing is welcomed back to Belfast, it will be welcomed back with a bang!

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A Cold War. A race row and a battle for the number one spot on the pound-for-pound list. In a time of great political tension between America and Russia, is a fight between two of the nations’ great fighters the new Space Race?

Written By: Lewis Calvert @Lewcalvert91 @BigWriteHook

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ver since Andre Ward had his hand raised to gain the already unified WBO, IBF, and WBA light heavyweight belts back in November 2016, conspiracy theories have been orbiting the internet.

Rumours of a trilogy already being agreed are the most outlandish, to a debate over bias judging being the more plausible.

Who would have thought the judges would even be needed after six minutes into the last fight.

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after the American was knocked down in round two. Ward showed great composure and matched Kovalev punch for punch after that going on to edge a unanimous decision 114113 on all three score cards.

By the grace of the Son of God, the American won the first cold war. A robbery this was not, but an immediate rematch was needed.

Ward does not get the recognition he deserves for seeking to fight Kovalev in the first place, particularly when supposed champion Adonis Stevenson has avoided Kovalev for so long, holding his own belt

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hostage in the process.

And though some critics claim Ward had no other fights available after his contentious win: Joe Smith Jr., Badou Jack and Artur Beterbiev would beg to differ.

Thus we boxing fans rejoice at the rematch, but bemoan the build up.

Ward has opted against recording the popular “Face Off” TV programme with Kovalev. This could be an indication that either Ward doesn’t want to be drawn into any mind games or that these are psychological tactics of his own. The cold

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war au fond. What role mentality will play on fight night we will wait to see.

e Unlike th ers w superpo im, Ward before h ithout w has been ion, yet posit great op v he has in Kovale at. found th

He has found an enemy.

And if the first fight was Ward’s greatest test, then the rematch is his first test of greatness. Ward has nothing left to prove in boxing, has won all

The rematch

WARD vs KOVALEV Las Vegas • June-17-201 7 12 Rounds

Artwork By: Ryan James Wilson @Ryan_Designer there is to win: an Olympic Gold medal, the Super Six tournament and he is now a multiple weight world champion, but he is yet to win the hearts and minds of the American people.

Love then, the final frontier.

What is particularly depressing is the lack of support Ward receives from African Americans compared to the likes of Floyd Mayweather, even more so due to the serious racial insults Kovalev has aimed at his foe, calling him a “hoe ass nigga”. He has even referred to Stevenson as a “monkey” in the past, yet his PR team put

these “misinterpretations” down to the Russian’s patchy English.

The irony is that when Kovalev uses broken English to insult others, it only fuels lazy stereotypes about himself, particularly with likes of the fictitious Ivan Drago from the Rocky franchise. And although the sameness may seem superficial, they are in fact, very real. Kovalev is not as contemptuous as to say: “if he dies, he dies” but lest we forget, Roman Simakov, died at his hands back in 2011.

That is the stark reality of the power he possesses.

Due to this deadly force, expect Ward to be far more switched on in the opening rounds, to run when he has to and to put up a defensive wall when Krusher tries to attack. As John F Kennedy said: “a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war” and Ward would want no part in that.

man set to bolster their defence and sharpen their attack. One man seeking revenge. Another seeking affection. So batten down the hatches and get your tinned goods at the ready: the cold war is about to go nuclear.

Unlike most fight previews, we need not talk of each man’s fallen foes as both men are widely regarded as the top two in the division, if not the world’s pound-for-pound list. It is clearly a bout of great quality and intrigue; each @BigWriteHook

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12 Rounds With:

Bradley Saunders Written By: Lewis Calvert @Lewcalvert91 @BigWriteHook

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radley Saunders is heading back to the ring after almost t wo years out of action.

The 2008 Beijing Olympian will feature on at Walker Activity Dome, Newcastle, on Friday June 23, on the undercard of Josh Kelly (20) and Tom Whitfield (4-1) .

It will be Saunders’ first appearance since being disqualified for an intentional head-butt on Renald Garrido (1411-1) back in September 2015. But now the former WBO Inter-Continental champion intends to resurrect his career after successful surgeries on his hands, both of which were left badly damaged after his first career defeat.

titles representing his country over 100 times.

His professional career is yet to hit the same heights, but he returns to the sport with high hopes. The 31-years-old said: “I don’t want any regrets when I’m older. I’m happy with what I’ve achieved already, but I don’t want to reach an age where I wish I had boxed again.

So while I can, I will crack on.

I just don’t want to live my life with any regrets.”

Saunders (12-1) boasts one of the most decorated amateur careers of this millennium: winning a Silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Gold at the 2009 EU Championships and Bronze at the 2007 World Championship. As well as collecting 12 national ROUND

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Big Write Hook caught up with Bradley and asked him 12 quick fire questions: 1. Favourite all time boxer?

The Pride of Wales, Joe Calzaghe.

2. Favourite active boxer?

Terence Crawford is really exciting and he has just unified the WBO and WBC super light-weight belts.

3. What is the worst thing about boxing?

Politics.

4. What is the best thing about boxing?

The people who are involved.

5. What is the greatest fight of all time in your opinion?

I love the Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti trilogy.

6. Who wins out of Andre Ward or Sergey Kovalev?

It has to be Andre Ward for me.

7. Who would win if Anthony Joshua was to fight Tyson Fury?

We will see. I can’t wait for it to happen, but Fury certainly needs to get active before they even think about fighting.

8. Who is the hottest UK prospect right now?

I think big Joe Joyce is after watching him achieve a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

9. Does Paul Smith, WBA world rank number five, deserve another world title shot against Tyron Zeuge?

Yes of course he does. Paul has played a big part in British boxing and he deserves everything he gets out of the sport and best of luck to him.

10. Who is the best boxing promoter in the UK? Hmm... no comment... haha!

11. What would be your dream fight?

That’s a tough one. Anthony Joshua or Muhammad Ali versus Iron Mike Tyson in his prime. That would be explosive.

12. Finally, what would you like your lasting legacy in boxing to be?

Simple... I would fight anyone and would travel anywhere! @BigWriteHook

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Fight Preview.

Written By: Paul J Daley @TopClassBoxing topclassboxing.co.uk

After defecting from Cuba to America, the revolution of The Jackal has not been what it could have been.

Fighting once a year is becoming normality for one of boxing’s outcasts and WBA Super Bantamweight Champion Guillermo Rigondeaux will be the first to admit his career hasn’t quite taken the trajectory he would have hoped for upon his defection from his homeland of Cuba.

intentions on giving fight fans the excitement they have been clamouring for instead of the dissecting manner of previous fights which have been chewed up and spat out to the distaste of the media.

A change in promotion will also help, the newish venture of ted celebra o e h t s a ew ay t which h men on his w er in s y a y d r care ountr re the by his c r in an amateu rd Gone a t f lo a co nou held figure, very major ho ding 374-12 re e un winning nned an asto a p which s RocNation seem far more willing to, at the He was the jewel in Fidel very least, put opponents Castro’s crown but he is in front of their man who now an afterthought, left are eager to put his past in the boxing wilderness differences behind him. whilst the less talented Although once bitten, but more willing battle twice shy ‘Rigo’ is sceptical. tested fighters take the spoils which should “I still do not think [I’m be afforded to him. actually fighting] until B oxing aficionados the bell rings. There’s still share the frustration a month and I’ve had so of Rigondeaux who is many things happen, prepared to change his other opponents have style to suit PPV audiences fallen out. Until I throw the who want their fill of first punch at Flores and blood and knockdowns. feel the impact, I do not believe it,” Rigondeaux This fight potentially ticks told George Ebro. that box. On the undercard of Andre Ward’s rematch N o Fo rg i ve n e s s with Sergey Kovalev on f r o m Rigondeaux June 17, the Cuban will face S h a r i n g a few his mandatory challenger unpleasantries, both Moises Flores with Rigondeaux and Flores ROUND

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have continued their verbal battle in the run up to the fight, the twotime Gold Medalist promising punishment “[Flores] has said that he is going to do this to me, that he is going to do other things to me, but let him face me and let’s see how he reacts...

They are all the same, but when the moment of truth comes - they know that Rigondeaux is not going to forgive. ‘’ Unbeaten but not Invincible

title since 2015 in a split decision win over Oscar Escandon he has since beaten Emmenual Cusolito and the aforementioned Ambunda bringing us up to date to a fight in which Flores anticipates an upset.

His opponent, 30-Year old Moises Flores is one of a very few who has publicly called out Rigondeaux but followed through with actually signing the contract - unlike Carl Frampton, Scott Quigg and Leo Santa Cruz to name but a few who have not matched the bark to their bite. The Aggressive Mexican cuts a menacing figure in the Super Bantamweight division, standing at 5’9” he will tower 5 inches over the shorter Rigondeaux, 5’3”.

‘Chunky’ the nickname he goes by moved his record to an unbeaten 25-0 in June with a decision win over Paulus Ambunda in Namibia.

Holding the Interim WBA

Maybe not “invincible” but ‘El Chacal’ remains one of boxing’s most complex puzzles, at times it must feel like doing sudoku in the dark but a drab showing against Drian Francisco and two knockdowns courtesy of Hisashi Amagasa have given hope to the hunting pack and more specifically the lone wolf of Flores who now sees an opportunity to unseat the alpha male… but does Rigondeaux still have enough bite to remain leader of the pack?

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“Gym training is the key, this is the most important fight of my career and I have to be ready that night to enter a battle from the first round. Rigondeaux is an excellent boxer, but he is not invincible.”

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Poets’ Corner .

by Andy Brierley - @AndybbBrierley

The man called himself the greatest, a self fulfilling prophecy, In the ring he was the bravest, surpassing every boundary.

A man who stood for what he believed in, during a time that many stayed seated.

His boxing record shows loses, but his accomplishments are undefeated.

He impacted generations, to those he touched, commiserations, but the greatest is immortal, I’ll watch him dance time and again, deadly with his fists, clever with his mtouth, and even smarter with a pen!

His soul floats on, stinging my memory with admiration.

He’ll forever be an anomaly, Ali.. The incalculable calculation.

17 January 1942 - 3 June 2016

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Artwork By: Ryan James Wilson @Ryan_Designer

Terminated.

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Kell Brook’s dream of successfully defending his IBF welterweight championship in the Steel City was shattered, along with his eye socket, by rising American starlet Errol Spence Jr. on May 27.

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pecial K was given the new nickname of “The T e r m i n a t o r ” after undergoing after undergoing eye surgery on an injury sustained at the hands of the machine Gennady Golovkin in which a titanium plate was placed in his face. Sadly, a similar injury played a part in his 11th round loss to Spence – fuelling speculation as to whether Brook quit the fight.

It was supposed to be the night where Brook proved his metal and the first half of the bout was as competitive as we all envisaged; neither man was prepared to take a step back with their left legs clashing in the centre of the ring on several early occasions. Yet it became increasingly obvious that Spence had the upper hand in most departments whenever the rare clean work could land.

The southpaws stance was all wrong for Brook, each snapping right hand jab, doing damage to Brook’s left orbital bone (as opposed to the right one, which was broken

by Golovkin) and from the seventh round onwards, there was only ever going to be one winner.

The Brit was caught with a heavy shot on the eye, which did not so much as cause a mouse to swell up under it, but an infestation of damage began to nesting below and more pertinently, doubts began to squeak into Brook’s head.

Written By: Lewis Calvert @Lewcalvert91 @BigWriteHook

And if quitting in the ring is ever justified, these may just be the circumstances that make it permissible.

Only Brook will know why he took that decision, but it boiled down to one simple question: did he want to fight on for another six minutes and risk being

Bravely, Brook soldiered on, knowing this was his judgement day, but Spence is the equivalent to the “T-X”: faster, more powerful and more intelligent. he’s a far more effective killing machine. Spence’s variety of angles and power really showed in the occasions where he could avoid the growing infamy of a Kell-Brook-clench and into the 8th and 9th he began bossing the fight.

Brook was dropped in a punishing 10th round, where he was forced to take a knee under a barrage of blows. He was in trouble as the round closed and when the 11th began, the home town fighter seemed very cautious. Then, under no immediate threat, the ever-blinking Brook took a knee whilst swabbing at his eye. He was subsequently counted out and thus a rush to social media ensued from fans claiming, in far harsher terms, that Brook had quit.

Unfortunately, they may not be entirely wrong.

blind for the rest of his life… or did he want to live to fight another day? “He’ll live.”

Brook took the defeat graciously, although one telling factor about his post-fight interview was that he did not call for an immediate rematch. A sign he may have known that the classy American would be too much for him on any night, not just this one.

be a tantalising contest to unify three belts in the welterweight division.

It is difficult to see where Brook goes from here, he is the newest member of the “who needs you?” club, but thankfully for him, there is one man who does need him and it just so happens to be the most lucrative fight available. Amir Khan.

But that is only if Brook chooses to fight on.

It could be a long road back for Brook, which may be more psychological than physical. And as much as I would love to end this piece with Brook uttering the words “I’ll be back”, after two crushing defeats, his career may be terminated and the beckoning finger of retirement just might be calling to him as if to say: “come with me if you want to live.”

He said: “I’m g u tt e d t h at , in front of my home fans, I’ve lost my belt.”

Spence was up: 97-92, 96-93, 9594 on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage and this gave him enough confidence to call out WBA and WBC champion Keith Thurman, in what would @BigWriteHook

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George Groves achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a world champion on May 27 with a solid victory over Fedor Chudinov on the same night that Kell Brook’s dream became a nightmare.

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hirty thousand p u g i l i s t fans packedout Bramall Lane, Sheffield, in a night that will live long in the memories of all those in attendance. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out for the Yorkshire fans quite like they would have hoped for as the main event of Kell Brook vs Errol Spence Jr ended with a hard 11th round TKO victory for the American. It was the chief support which saw Englishman Groves up against tough Russian Chudinov, to win the tongue twisting WBA Super Middleweight ‘Super’ Title.

‘Saint GG’ got his hands on a world title at the fourth attempt with a sixth-round stoppage of the former champion and although the bout only got to the halfway point, it was thoroughly entertaining while it lasted.

It started at an electric pace, Chudinov headed straight out into the middle of the ring, using his strength and bullish style to dominate that position, forcing Groves onto the back foot from the first sound of the opening bell to the round being drawn to a close.

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the Russian loves to come forward and doesn’t have much in the way of head movement so groves proceeded to use his better footwork and counter punching ability like the slick fighter he is.

Both men continued to unload heavy blows going into the second and third rounds and to the outsider, it was reasonable to believe this wasn’t going the full championship distance.

Each ro u n d s aw Chudinov’s chin tested but he handled it like a world level fighter does: by shrugging it off.

Groves was landing big right hands, with plenty of punches coming back at him and one big shot caused a nasty cut above the Londoners left eye in the fourth.

Both men continued trading blows and in the 6th, stanza and it was a flurry of uppercuts, hooks and straight rights from Groves which had Chudinov hurt; the Russian’s hands lowered, but still he came marching forward, getting caught with heavier shots after each and every step referee Steve Gray had no other option but to jump in and stop the action.

It was Groves’ fourth

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attempt at world honours and he deserved to get there as his previous losses are nothing to be embarrassed about: two failed attempts with fo u rtime world champion Carl Froch and a tight split decision with former WBC Super Middleweight C h a m p i o n Badou Jack, but finally Groves has got his moment in the sun.

May he bask in glory.

Als o, credit must go to Groves for the touching words he spoke in his post fight interview, where he dedicated the win to previous opponent Eduard Gutknecht, who is unfortunately still in a serious condition in hospital after collapsing after a fight with Groves back in November 2016.

w o r l d l eve l in the Super Middleweight division is almost frightening: DeGale holds the the IBF belt, Eubank Jr clutches at the laughable IBO strap and Callum Smith could potentially become the

WBC holder, should he overcome Anthony Dirrell.

The only other belt is Mexican WBO Champion Gilberto Ramirez and he is quickly becoming one of the most avoided fighters on the planet.

Every fan would love to see a unification bout and there is too much money to be made not to have these kind of fights next. It’s a brilliant time to be a boxing fan and when the new boxing season rolls in, best believe it’s strap season.

So what next then for WBA Champion?

T h e Written By: On The Canvas d o m e s t i c @CanvasBoxing scene at onthecanvasboxing.wordpress.com

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Golden Years.

Written By: Jim Marshall @BoxingTriviaGuy

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oxing’s advent as a modern sport can be traced back to the restoration of the British monarchy in 1660, a recreation once banned under Oliver Cromwell, now flourished and the press were also free to cover such events.

The first great figure in modern boxing was James Figg, who was born the youngest of seven in around 1695, Thame, Oxfordshire. Back then, few could have anticipated the legacy he would carve into the history of pugilism. After earning his fistic stripes locally, he was brought to London by Timothy Buck, a noted master in the art of defence and he was taken under the patronage of the Earl of Peterborough.

By 1719 Figg had his own amphitheatre and had proclaimed himself Champion of England.

On one sunny morning in June 1727, London’s high society including Prime Minister Robert Walpole and Jonathan Swift (in town to promote Gulliver’s Travels) queued alongside the working classes to see Figg face Ned Sutton of Gravesend.

The two fighters had met twice before and it was one win apiece so far. By noon, 3000 people filled a venue designed to accommodate less than half that number and as the fighters climbed on stage the palpable buzz of anticipation from the crowd erupted into cheers. As was the custom at the time, a pugilist was expected to master a number of disciplines including swords, daggers and sticks, as well as hand to hand combat.

Swordsmanship was to be the first skill contested

by Figg and Sutton.

Blades clashed and sparks flew, Sutton forcing the champion’s sword backwards toward his own shoulder. A trickle of blood ran down Figg’s bicep but as it was a self-inflicted wound, the gladiators reset their positions. This time Figg didn’t waste a moment. A feint threw Sutton off balance and

the champion slashed open the challenger’s shoulder. After 30 minutes rest, boxing was next, with Figg relying on skill and Sutton on brute strength.

After a cautious start, Sutton grabs Figg and slams him to the floor - no rules had been written yet to prohibit such tactics nor any for kicking, eye gouging or hair pulling. An incensed Figg returns in kind, sending Sutton crashing to the wooden boards.

cudgels (short sticks) but after such a brutal fist fight, it is somewhat of an anti-climax. The battered, bruised and almost blinded Sutton submitted to Figg, the undisputed champion of all of England.

Figg would retire three years later in 1730 and while his pupil Jack Broughton would transform the noble art into a sweet science, Figg will always be boxing’s first champion.

The challenger resorts to boxing as we know it and almost knocks Figg into the crowd, as even ropes weren’t in use yet. Several burly men in the front row throw the champion back up on stage and after a brief rest, Sutton’s lack of stamina begins to show. Figg batters his antagonist about the head and chest.

“Is it enough?”

Figg asks.

“Enough indeed.” replies Sutton.

The third match is that of

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Next Month’s Agenda

Preview: Saunders v Khurtsidze July 8th Smith Jr v Barrera July 15th Broner v Garcia Jtuly 29th Review: Ward v Kovalev June 17th Buglioni v Summers July 1st Pacquiao v Horn July 2nd

Thank You

Contacts:

Thank you to everyone who was involved in the making of the latest edition of Big Write Hook.

This month sees a complete re-brand of the magazine from the logo to the layout and everything in between.

This is all down to the creative acumen possessed by Ryan The Designer who has taken the mag from a wild amateur to a slick professional in just three weeks. I can not credit Ryan enough, as his handy work has also helped me rope in brilliant boxing writers from Top Class Boxing, Fight Talk, On The Canvas, Boxing Trivia Guy and poet Andy Brierley.

It is a pleasure to work with people so passionate about their own discipline; designing, writing or poetry, but we all have a shared love of boxing.

I would like to reserve a special thank you to Bradley Saunders for giving us his time and I wish him all the luck in the world on his return to the sport. Also thanks to Tim Rickson for arranging the interview.

Thanks to pro boxer Tommy McCarthy for offering his time as well ahead of a big fight he had, we will most certainly be interviewing him in a later issue.

Lewis Calvert @LewCalvert91 Ryan J Wilson @Ryan_Designer Bradley Saunder @BradSaunders86 Tim Rickson @TimRickson Craig Scottof @Fight_Talk1 fighttalk.net Paul J Daley @TopClassBoxing topclassboxing.co.uk On The Canvas @CanvasBoxing onthecanvasboxing.wordpress.com Jim Marshall @BoxingTriviaGuy Andy Brierley @AndybbBrierley Tommy McCarthy @TommyMac90

Finally, I would like to make personal thank you on behalf of everyone at Big Write Hook to each and every person reader, retweeter and general boxing fan for making this magazine what it is. @BigWriteHook

@Ryan_Designer

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www.issuu.com/bigwritehook @bigwritehook