Tommy ‘Da Gun’ Martin Gets Matty Tew For English Title Eliminator On Oct 11th

On October 11^th, at the O2 Arena in London, St Neots Light Welterweight sensation Tommy ‘Da Gun’ Martin takes his first tentative step towards a domestic Championship accolade, when he faces Southampton’s Matty Tew in an English title eliminator, on the Matchroom Sport promoted MOMENT OF TRUTH, headlined by Anthony Joshua WBC International Heavyweight title challenge.

20 year old Tommy comes into the title eliminator with a rich vein of form - nine wins out of nine pro outings – including an excellent shut out points victory over Ainsley Seivwright on the undercard of the quadruple title headed Matchroom event at the Echo Arena in Liverpool back on the 12^th July.

Following a grueling training session, under the watchful eyes of coach Barry Smith at the TRAD TKO Gym in Canning Town, young Tommy said.

“Yeah, We’ve got Matty Tew on October 11^th, for the English title eliminator.

We’re over the moon with it, it’s a fight Johnny (manager Johnny Eames) wanted for me, he says it’s the right time and I can’t wait to grab the opportunity with both hands.

Been back in training the last couple of weeks, started sparring last week, with the likes of Erick ‘The Eagle (Ochieng) and Darren Hamilton, it’s been going really well, just can’t wait to get to October 11^th to be honest.

It’s awesome to be fighting on such big shows, it really gives me the chance to show what I can do to a larger audience, this was I wanted when I turned pro, you know being on shows like this, being on the same bill as the likes of Anthony Joshua and that, as I believe my talent is up there with all of them and this is my opportunity to show everyone what a talent Tommy Martin really is.

Johnny and Eddie (Hearn) are working really well with each other, bouncing back and forth with names and dates, Eddie’s trying to keep me as active as he can and Johnny’s making sure they’re the right fights for me.

So I’m over the moon with the fight, now I’ve just got to stick with my training, smash all these tickets with all my Team Gun following and keep getting the wins.

Want to say a big thank you to everyone that’s coming, done virtually all my tickets already, that was before they even knew who I was going to get as an opponent and now added more wood to the fire now it’s all over my Facebook and Twitter @Tommy_DaGun and I’m well over the moon with the opponent.

It’s going to be a great night, all competitive bouts, just think I’m just one of the undercard, what’s the main attraction like – brilliant, just brilliant, well worth the money, I can’t wait.”

Tommy ‘Da Gun’ Martin versus Matty Tew English Light Welterweight title eliminator features on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s WBC International title challenge, on the Eddie Hearn Matchroom Sport promoted MOMENT OF TRUTH event at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday 11^th October 2014.

Tickets, priced £40 & £60 are available direct from Tommy, on-line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or call the TKO Box Office on 07960 850645.

www.tkoboxinggym.com

Twitter@TradTkoBoxing

US BOXING COMMUNITY CONGRATS UK PROMOTER BARRY HEARN ON HALL OF FAME INDUCTION

SAN DIEGO, CA (DECEMBER 11, 2013)—Leading US boxing promoters and TV outlet AWE congratulate promoter Barry Hearn of Matchroom Sports for his recent induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Kathy Duva, CEO of boxing’s legendary Main Events, states, “Barry Hearn is one of my favorite people in boxing and he deserves this honor.  Congratulations to him.  It is a tremendous and well deserved honor and I hope he has a great time at his induction”.

Arthur Pelullo of Banner Promotions commented, “I am very happy for Barry.  It’s well deserved - him being elected into the Boxing Hall of Fame.  We have been friends for over 20 years.  Matchroom Sports under his direction has been a major player in the boxing industry for the last quarter century.”

AWE has televised numerous live boxing events in the US with Matchroom Sports, including multiple Prizefighter events, Elimination bouts and two recent world title bouts featuring Carl Froch v George Groves (right photo) and Ricky Burns v Raymundo Beltran.

“We’re excited to congratulate our friend on this well-deserved honor,” stated AWE president Charles Herring. “Barry is truly a Hall of Fame promoter and person.  He brings all the excitement of boxing to fans around the world and has elevated the sport tremendously.”

About AWE

For 2012, AWE earned 2 of the 6 Boxing Writers Association of America nominations for "Fight of the Year" candidates, beating out all other networks except HBO which earned three. AWE also showcased live all 2012 David Price fights.  In 2013 AWE has featured the stunning upsets of Tony Thompson over Price, bouts with Adonis Stevenson and Tony Bellew, who just fought each other for the Light Heavyweight championship; 2008 Olympic Gold Medal winner James DeGale and possibly the most controversial bout which saw Ricky Burns keep his Lightweight title against Ray Beltran. 

The network is currently available nationally on Verizon FiOS TV channel 169 and 669 in HD, AT&T U-Verse TV channels 470 and 1470 in HD, along with over 100 cable systems across the country and worldwide.   The new website for AWE is www.AWEtv.com.

AWE is the premier lifestyle and entertainment network —the destination for exclusive and original programming, simultaneously transmitted in high definition and standard definition. AWE delivers informative shows to its viewers, providing invaluable insights on what every American dreams of – from travel secrets to fast cars, from outrageous homes to live boxing events, and much more.  The network fills a television vacuum by delivering intellectually stimulating, thought-provoking entertainment and always-unbiased news from an insider’s perspective. For more information, please visit www.awetv.com

Iain Weaver Interview: Talks Pro Debut, Luke Campbell, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Vasyl Lomachenko etc.

By Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro


This coming Saturday one of the UK’s top amateur stars, European Silver and Commonwealth Boxing Championships Gold medalist, Iain Weaver makes his long awaited professional debut at York Hall in London.

Back in July last year Iain was on the verge of hitting the big time, pro boxing wise, promoter Eddie Hearn had convinced him to sign with his Matchroom Sport concern with the promise of debuting on his September Alexandra Palace mega event, headlined by Darren Barker’s return.

However this failed to materialize, due to the British Boxing Board of Control refusing to license him after his brain scan highlighted a cyst.

Various appeals followed after independent neurosurgeons cleared him as fit to box, as the cyst was genetic, had been there all his life and presented virtually no danger to his health.

One of the neurosurgeons even stated, that during his career he had only seen one similar type of cyst bleed, and that was due to the person received major trauma after being involved in a serious road accident.

Even though Iain had enjoyed ‘elite’ status as an Amateur, fought 115 times and represented his country at the highest level with the cyst, as well as having various top neurosurgeons clear him, the BBBofC still
refused to license him.

Earlier this year Iain successfully applied for a Spanish license, however as soon as it was announced, that he would be fighting in London on the 27th, the BBBofC successfully lobbied the European Boxing Union to assist
in persuading the Spanish Federation to revoke the license.

Never one to give up, Iain successfully applied to a different European sanctioning organization for a professional license and finally makes his professional debut at York Hall in London this coming Saturday.

I met up with Iain at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town as he finalized his preparations for his long awaited pro debut.

Initially I had asked Iain about the ongoing saga, it had only been a few days earlier that he had been informed that he has been successful in his latest license application, but it was clear that the 23 year old from
Ferndale in Dorset felt uncomfortable discussing the whole sorry affair, much preferring to talk boxing in general.


Rio: Finally you get to pro debut this Saturday at York Hall, it’s been a bit of a drama getting here but now you are, so how do you feel with your first fight being just a few days away?

Iain: Yeah, I think it’s great, I can’t wait to get into the ring. It’s been a long time coming, the 27th can’t come quick enough though.


Rio: You’ve had a great amateur career, what would you say are the highlights of your career?

Iain: I think the highlights were really the European Silver medal and the Commonwealth Games, I won the Commonwealth Youth Games and the Commonwealth Seniors, that was a great experience for me.

It was really special to be a part of them and you know traveling the World with all the other GB lads was a great four years of my life.


Rio: The transition from Amateur to Pro is not always an easy move, how have you coped with the different areas in making the move?

Iain: To be honest, I’ve always had a bit of a pro style anyway. I’ve always suited the pros better, I always started slow in the amateurs and tended to lose the first round and got stronger as the fight goes on. I think doing more rounds will suit me better.

I’m really looking forward to my debut as I feel I should have been fighting pro much earlier. If I hadn’t been on the Olympic squad and had a chance of going to London 2012 I probably would have switched earlier.


Rio: Since you bought up the Olympics, your nemesis Luke Campbell is turning pro with Matchroom Sport, so in the near future we could have ‘Groves-DeGale’ type of showdown between you two again, this time on the
pro circuit.

Iain: Definitely, he suited the amateurs, he was hard to beat, he was a good kid for the weight, three threes suited him, but the pros are a different ball game and I think it’ll suit me more than it’ll suit him.


Rio: I’m going to stick with the amateurs – in your opinion who has been the standout amateur boxer, past or present?

Iain: To be honest it’s either (Guillermo) Rigondeaux from Cuba or Lomanchenko from the Ukraine.

I’ve been in tournaments with Vasyl Lomachenko and I’ve seen him first hand and he is a very special talent.

After watching Rigondeaux the other weekend and watching videos of him in the amateurs, I’ve got to say he’s probably one of the best amateurs ever as well as a World class pro.

He’s a southpaw and he’s quick, I watch him and try and get tips so I can do things that he does.


Rio: I Know Rigondeaux is already in the pros and a unified World Champion, but that aside who are your favourite pro boxers?

Iain: Yeah, but Rigondeaux’s got to be right up there, but when I first started making my move to the pros my coach said I reminded him of Pernell Whitaker.

I didn’t really know too much about him, didn’t know who he was, so I looked him up on YouTube and that’s the style I like, the style I like to fight at.

Yeah, Pernell Whitaker is probably my favourite one. Oh and I was born on the same day as Muhammad Ali, so he’s one of my favourites also.


Rio: Thank you for taking some time out from your preparations to talk with me and good luck on the 27th, although I’m sure you don’t need it.

Iain: No problem, I’d like to say to your readers, it’s going to be a great show, there’s even a big title fight headlining. It’s not on TV, so the only way to see this is get down to York Hall on Saturday.


Iain Weaver will be making his debut, against a yet to be named opponent, on the undercard of the Oisin Fagan versus Chris Goodwin WBF Inter-Continental Lightweight title clash, that headlines Dave Murphy’s Thunderdrome Promotions ‘Thunder & Lightning’ event at York Hall, Bethnal Green in London on the 27th April 2013.


Tickets, priced £65 (Ringside), £35 (Floor)  and £30 (Balcony) are available on-line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or in person from Iain himself or alternatively at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town, London E16 4SA - www.tkoboxinggym.com - or the Ringtone Gym in Euston, London NW1 2PB - www.ringtonehealthandfitness.com - Tel: 07960 850645 or 07557 641597 for further information.