Magnificent 7 London-Bound

LAST WEEK WE enjoyed a London gathering to put a marker down ahead of the Magnificent Seven hitting the capital for the first time on December 7.

There was plenty for everybody to get stuck into, with 13 of the 14 fighters involved in the main fights in attendance and it is clear we have got some mighty confrontations to look forward to.

None more so than the middleweight headliner, with three hugely significant titles on the line in the British, WBO International and now vacant European championships up for grabs.

Denzel Bentley against Brad Pauls is a likely potential humdinger of a fight to make because middleweight has been a special division for Britain over many years. Back in the day, when we were considered no-hopers at heavyweight, the Brits really punched their weight at 160lbs.

If I think back over my time involved in the sport, the eighties was the age of Alan Minter, Tony Sibson, Mark Kaylor and Herol Graham, which came before the later arrival of Nigel Benn, Michael Watson and Chris Eubank as we crept into the nineties.

In more modern times Billy Joe Saunders picked up the baton and became world champion, outfoxing Chris Eubank Jr along the way in a memorable British encounter that captured the imagination.

We’ve got another strong clutch of middles now, with Hamzah Sheeraz poised for a world title tilt, Denzel seeking another bash after running Janibek pretty close, Brad a proud British champion and Eubank still lurking about not showing any apparent desire to fight any fellow middleweights.

So Denzel going up against Brad is a classic fight to make because they actually will go in against anybody and just want to be in the best fights they can possibly be in.

Denzel, who has been a regular feature on our shows across his career to date, rediscovered his ruthless streak with a pair of second round stoppages following him being outpointed by Nathan Heaney. Brad, now with us, comes into the fight off the back of two hugely enthralling fights with Nathan, with the second seeing him taking the Lonsdale belt back to Newquay.

Both of these men are, in many ways, proper old school fighters who go about their business with a minimum of fuss. I also doubt if either of them has been in a bad fight, which makes this a cracking headliner for the London edition of the Magnificent Seven.

There is a belter of a similar ilk happening at lightweight, with the British, Commonwealth and WBO International belts being fought for between Sam Noakes and Ryan Walsh.

This is another one, as I like to say, with fight written all over it.

Sam has done everything right since bludgeoning his way to significant titles. In his last eight fights he has fought for or defended five major belts, including becoming European champion. He has taken the right steps at the right time and he showed a maturity in the way he negotiated the challenge of Yvan Mendy to snatch the EBU title.

He will need this quality again against Ryan. Forget the fact that Ryan is 38 because he has still got it and the way he demolished the very capable and favoured Reece Mould in less than two minutes last time out proved as much.

Ryan is a hugely driven individual who takes everything in. The fact that Mould stated he would win by knockout, in the mind of Ryan, amounted to signing his own defeat warrant. This tough, tough campaigner simply couldn’t comprehend the thought of being knocked and took big offence to the suggestion.

It shows what sort of character he is and Sam sensibly avoided making any rash predictions!

This is a great fight for both men and it will be for all of us watching on. It will be in good company and I will take a look at the other side of the card next week, which includes a couple of heavyweight bangers.

I will complete this week’s previewing with the English welterweight championship match-up between Sean Noakes and Mathew Rennie, one of two English title scraps on the card.

I know fans love title fights at this level getting TV coverage and particularly when the fight is between two fearless and highly ambitious competitors. Sean is making a name for himself now after coming into the professionals at a later stage after taking a few years off from the amateurs.

To his great credit he didn’t just jump into the pros off the back of his younger brother Sam’s success. He went back into the amateurs as a senior and proved his worth. He hasn’t sang from the rooftops over what he can achieve as a professional and is taking each fight as it comes. And with each fight his horizons must be widening because he is showing no signs of finding his level just yet.

He was thrilled to add to the Noakes family title tally with his English success over Inder Bassi last time out in July and now he will take on a very confident opponent in the undefeated Mathew Rennie, a slick southpaw with the stage name of ‘Magic’.

Mathew will view this fight as his breakout moment after doing the hard yards on the off-TV circuit, mostly in Liverpool, with him hailing from the Isle of Man.

The winner in this one will move forward towards bigger challenges, with the potential for fights against Ekow Essuman, the British champion Harry Scarff or our new WBO European champion Eithan James.

It is the beauty of shows like this. When young fighters take a chance in 50-50 fights, it leads to bigger and better opportunities and a major showcase for their careers.