Daughter of two-time world champion Steve "USS" Cunningham continues to fight and is put on Heart Transplant List

Fundraiser set up to help offset mounting medical costs and accommodations to be close to hospital in Pittsburgh

For Immediate Release   Philadelphia (July 21, 2014)-- America was introduced to Kennedy Cunningham when her father first fought on NBC back in December of 2012 when he faced Tomasz Adamek in that epic battle, we learned that she suffered from a severed heart condition called HLHS.   In April when Steve fought Amir Mansour on NBC Sports, the family had just received heart breaking news when they we told that Kennedy was not a candidate for heart transplant as they had hoped.   She had her first open heart surgery at 2 days old and the second six months later. She was hospitalized for the first year of her life and suffered many set backs along the way, including a stroke, many blood infections and also required a trach and vent for several years when she was younger. The doctors that cared for her back then all say that she is a miracle, they saw everything she went through and never thought she would live to be 8 years old! Now, almost 9 years later she continues to show us how tough she is! Most children with HLHS undergo a third repair which can allow them to live into adulthood, however it was determined that Kennedy was not a candidate due to the anatomy of her heart and the extent of its defects (small pulmonary arteries and tricuspid valve regurgitation). It was then that we were advised that she would have to have a heart transplant. She went through the entire transplant evaluation in our hometown of Philadelphia at the Children's Hospital there and in March our world was shattered when we were told by the Heart Failure team at CHOP that Kennedy was not a candidate for transplant or any other surgery. We were told, "no matter what, Kennedy is going to die far to soon". They told Steve and his wife Livvy that the best they could do was give her medicine to help her heart function but that there would come a time when her heart would give out and there would be nothing they could do.    "I was so completely heart broken the day her doctor sat me down and gave me the news," said Livvy.  "My world collapsed.  I cried for 3 days straight while I tried to wrap my head around the news and tried to figure out how to live without the hope of a beautiful future for our beautiful daughter, tried to picture our lives without her.  I just couldn't, it was impossible"    The Cunninghams are a faithful, fighting family and decided 'they were not going to give up on their daughter and just watch her fade away. They chose to seek a second opinion. The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh agreed to evaluate her and on June 25th, 2014, Kennedy was accepted into their program and listed for a heart transplant! Receiving a heart transplant is giving her a fighting chance to live the full, energy filled life that every child deserves.    "I'll never forget the day I got the call from my wife with the news, I broke down like never before, I lost it.  I was in the middle of my training camp for a must win fight.  People close to me told me I should pull out of the fight, that it was too much for me.  But I knew that I had to fight for Kennedy, she has been through so many battles in her life and has never once given up and I was not going to let her see her father quit.  I turned my sadness and fear into determination and on fight night, I had to dig deep but it was that determination that got me up off the canvas twice to win.  We will never give up on Kennedy and are so blessed and excited that The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh has agreed to take her on and list her", said Steve Cunningham  Now that Kennedy is listed in Pittsburgh, The Cunninghams' have to travel there 1-2 times per month for appointments and  have to be ready at any time to jump on the road when they get "the call" that she has her new heart waiting for her. Once that call comes in, they will have 4 hours to get her to Pittsburgh and right now, they live 4.5 hours away. Additionally, They will have to remain in the Pittsburgh area for at least 6 months post-op so housing must also be arranged. After Steve's thrilling win on April 4, fans and the boxing community reached out to Steve and Livvy asking how they could help.   The Cunningham's have set up a fund where donations will help this  family cover the out of pocket expenses that come along with this amazing opportunity. Traveling to and from Pittsburgh as well as securing and maintaining a "home away from home" while Kennedy awaits her new heart and recovers from surgery. TO DONATE TO THE KENNEDY CUNNINGHAM TRANSPLANT FUNDRAISER, PLEASE CLICK ON  http://www.heartbyfaith.com/

VINNY MADDALONE – MAURENZO SMITH LIVE THIS FRIDAY ON PANDAFEED.TV

PLUS UNDEFEATED CLETUS SELDIN; ALAN GOTAY AND WENDY TOUSSAINT HIGHLIGHT SIX BOUT CARD

PHILADELPHIA, PA (November 18, 2013)—This Friday night, popular Heavyweight Vinny Maddalone returns to the ring when he takes on Maurenzo Smith in a scheduled eight round bout that will originate from the Paramount Theatre in Huntington, New York.

The event, which is promoted by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, will be streamed LIVE all over the world on www.pandafeed.tv for $9.99.

Maddalone of Queens, NY has a record of 37-8 with 28 knockouts and is on a two fight winning streak.

Maddalone is known for his exciting style has fought the elite of the Heavyweight division in former world champions Al Cole, Evander Holyfield, Jean Marc Mormeck & Tomasz Adamek as well as top contenders Dennis Boysov and Tyson Fury.

Maddalone is coming off a 3^rd round stoppage over previously undefeated Richard Carmack (12-0) on May 11^th.

Smith of Houston, Texas has a record of 12-7-2 with 9 knockouts.

Smith has victories over previously undefeated Robbie McClimans and in his last bout, he scored a 2^nd round stoppage over Ty Cobb (16-4) on October 5^th.

Smith has also fought highly regarded Andy Ruiz Jr. (15-0); Joe Hanks (20-0); Aaron Green (8-0); Tor Hamer (19-2) and Joey Abell (28-6).

In the co-feature, Undefeated Jr. Welterweight Cletus Seldin will take on his most experienced opponent in Gilbert Venegas.

The scheduled eight round bout will see Seldin of Brooklyn, NY test put his undefeated mark of 11-0 with 9 knockouts on the line when he takes on the battles tested Venegas.

Seldin has stopped 8 straight opponents with the latest being a 3^rd round stoppage over Jonathan Cuba on February 23^rd.

Venegas of East Moline, Illinois is 12-11-4 with 8 knockouts.

He has quality wins such as a 3^rd round stoppage over world ranked Ed Paredes & undefeated Lance Williams as well as a draw with future world title challenger Jesus Soto Karass.

Venegas has also faced undefeated Lanrado Tyner, Yukeno Andino, Mike Jones, Jermall Charlo and his last bout he was stopped by Samuel Vasquez on October 12^th.

In a six round Lightweight bout, Alan Gotay (6-0, 3 KO’s) of Huntington, NY will battle Calvin (2-5) of Prichard, AL.

Anthony Karperis (4-2, 2 KO’s) will fight Michael Doyle (2-6. 1KO) of Prichard, AL in six round Jr. Welterweight bout.

Wendy Toussiant (2-0) of New York will square off with debuting Ahmed Tuba in a four round Jr. Middleweight bout.

Max Tassy will box Daniel Pietch (1-2) of Ohio in a four round Cruiserweight bout.

GUNN AND JONES JR. BATTLE IN ‘WINNER TAKES ALL’ TITLE FIGHT

To increase the growing intensity of their upcoming WBU Cruiserweight Title fight, former boxing champions Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” Gunn and Roy Jones Jr. have announced that their bout will be a winner takes all contest, meaning the fighter who earns the belt that night will earn the complete purse. 

These types of stakes are often found in bare knuckle boxing, which Gunn is no stranger to.  Two years ago Gunn fought in the first sanctioned BKB match in over 123 years, winning the heavyweight title of the world.  On December 3, 2013 from the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, PA, he will look to add the squared circle world belt to his trophy case, being the only fighter to possess both bare knuckle and gloved boxing titles simultaneously since the late John L. Sullivan.

About the winner takes all bout, Gunn stated, “By doing this it shows everybody in the world how important and how much this fight means to me.  I’m not coming in for any other reason than to win this fight and win big with a knockout.”

In his last two bouts Gunn faced former world champions Tomasz Adamek and James Toney, losing in a controversial stoppage to Adamek and suffering a broken hand in the battle with Toney, and now will add former pound-for-pound champion and future Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr. to his impressive fight resume.

“Roy is a class act in and out of the ring and it is a privilege and honor to beat him, but that being said, this is my time, and I plan to capture the WBU Title in what I expect to be a very exciting and fan-friendly matchup,” said Gunn.

Both Gunn and Jones Jr. have lived decorated careers inside the ring, and have established themselves as top fighters.  Come December 3 they won’t be fighting to move up the rankings, or to earn sponsorship deals…they will be fighting for one reason, to claim the WBU Cruiserweight Title.

“I’ve never been more focused and ready for a fight, and I know this is my time to shine and knockout Roy,” said Gunn.  “There can only be one…Gunn.”

Bobby Gunn and Roy Jones Jr. meet December 3 at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, PA for the WBU Cruiserweight Title.  The fight will be aired on internet TV and international PPV with details to come. 

Jones Jr.-Gunn Press Conference Footage

Footage By: Tim Kudgis of GFL.TV

Do or Die: Bobby Gunn to meet Roy Jones Jr. in December!

 

Hackensack, NJ (October 17, 2013) – Former IBA, WBC USNBC and WBA NABA cruiserweight titlist Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” Gunn will have a career defining opportunity when he meets former pound for pound king Roy Jones Jr. in December in Pennsylvania.

 

Gunn, who sports a professional ledger of 21-5-1 with 18 wins by knockout, fought James Toney and Tomasz Adamek in his last two bouts but came up short both times. A legendary bare knuckle boxer whose bouts have been viewed more than 600,000 times on YouTube, Gunn also won other cruiserweight belts and was rated in the top 10 by the WBA and WBC. The heavy-handed New Jersey based Canadian was on the verge of retiring but had interest in fighting Jones Jr. for a number of years.

 

“I’ve wanted a match up with Roy for quite some time but it never worked out for a number of reasons,” stated Gunn. "We’ve been working on this for awhile and I wasn’t sure if it was ever going to happen but I’m glad it will. People can say what they want about Roy and I at this stage but this is an extremely important fight. The winner will take a huge step forward and the loser is at the end of the road.”

 

One of the greatest fighters in boxing history, Roy Jones Jr. is one of the few boxers of any era that truly doesn’t need an introduction. In 64 professional bouts, Jones Jr. is an outstanding 56-8 with 40 wins by way of knockout. The former middleweight, undisputed light heavyweight and heavyweight titleholder has wins over boxing greats Bernard Hopkins, Felix Trinidad, the aforementioned Toney and Hall of Famer Virgil Hill amongst others. In his most recent bout, Jones Jr. traveled to Poland and topped unbeaten hometown favorite Pawel Glazewski.

 

Jones Jr.-Gunn is scheduled for 12 rounds in the cruiserweight division. The card is promoted by Jones Jr’s Square Ring Promotions and the exact date and location along with undercard bouts will be announced shortly.

STATEMENT FROM “FAST” EDDIE CHAMBERS

			PHILADELPHIA (August 30, 2013)—This is an open letter to the fans who support me as well to those who don’t. First off, I want to congratulate my opponent Thibiso Mchunu of South Africa for his victory against me.  I do not want to in any form or fashion diminish that win by making excuses about my performance in the ring.  I did my best that I could to make the fight.  To win the fight.  Losing this decision woke up my spirit to compete again and I will continue to pursue my career as a Cruiserweight. I felt fine throughout the bout.  The weight loss was not a factor in my performance.  I did not expect Mchunu to fight such a defensive, awkward fight. I was trying to follow instructions from my trainer, James Ali Bashir.  It was very difficult to do as I am a counter puncher as well who was forced into being the aggressor.  I felt that if I did not doing something to make the fight, there would have been no action during the fight.  I am not that kinda guy who is going to lay around crying over spilled milk.  I want to get right back in there the way the old-school warriors used to do many years ago.  I take full responsibility for this critical setback in my career.  My incentive is back and hopefully I will be able to meet Mchunu down the road and there will be a far a different result. I look forward to meeting the top Cruiserweights in the world.  I think my biggest enemy is inactivity.  I have fought just three times in the last three years.  I want to get busy as soon as possible.  I will show the world that I am a long way from being done. Sincerely “Fast” Eddie Chambers

RENOWNED BOXING TRAINER BUDDY MCGIRT TALKS FIND A DREAM

As things continue to progress and evolve for internationally known nonprofit Find A Dream, renowned boxing trainer and Board Member Buddy McGirt recently gave his thoughts on the importance of what the organization provides.

“What Find A Dream is about, helping kids by offering them boxing and other avenue, it is great,” said McGirt.  “Anything that is going to help them in the long run is huge, and what Find A Dream is doing for them gives them a great opportunity.”

In addition to being known as one of the top trainers in the game—having worked with the late Arturo Gatti, Tomasz Adamek, Antonio Tarver, Matthew Macklin, Paulie Malignaggi and more, inside the squared circle McGirt was a multi-divisional champion. 

“I am happy to be part of Find A Dream and help them spread awareness and bring their mission into fruition,” said McGirt.  “Boxing can help a lot of people, both boys and girls.  It instills inside of them confidence and self-esteem that they can carry over into all aspects of their lives.  Even if they don’t pursue becoming a fighter, it can help them with anything in life because of all of the hard work and dedication that they put into it; it gives them a strong sense of self-motivation.”

In 2012 McGirt joined an All-Star team including Olympic Gold Medalist and former heavyweight world champion Ray Mercer, three-time world champion Bobby Czyz, and 4-time world champion Michael Moorer.

In recent weeks Find A Dream has announced they will be moving their headquarters to the Los Angeles area; currently they have an operation open in Myrtle Beach at One Punch Fitness, and are excited about expanding on the west coast to offer their services to a broader range of people.

Founded in 2010, the organization has prominently expanded on an international level as they have opened up two facilities in the United States, and have participated in various speaking engagements through Europe to spread awareness of the importance of providing children with a healthy outlet to allow them to work towards their goals in life and have a structure to follow.

Going forward in 2013 Find A Dream is in the process of organizing more than half a dozen golf outings, celebrity dinners, meet and greets with their recognized Board and more.

McGirt has recently opened the McGirt Training Facility in Nutley, NJ.  

To learn more about Find A Dream or to donate today to help impact the lives of children throughout the country visit www.findadream.org.  Follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FINDADREAM1?fref=ts.

Check out The Latest FNU Combat Sports Show Featuring Heavyweight Boxer Steve Cunningham

Coming off a very controversial rematch with Tommasz Adamek that took four years to materialize, Steve Cunningham joins our show in the latest episode to discuss his frustration and what drives him to keep fighting after having a win stolen from him by bad judging. The interview starts in the second half of the show after "Psychic" Tom Padgett, "Rabble Rousin'" Rich Bergeron, and Tony "The Tornado" Penecale recap the week in combat sports news. 

Listen to internet radio with Fight News Unlimited on Blog Talk Radio

 

Fight News Unlimited Combat Sports Show Welcomes Heavyweight Boxer Steve Cunningham Thursday Night

Tune in live tomorrow night from 8PM EST to 10 PM EST for the Fight News Unlimited Combat Sports Show on http://www.FightRadio.info. 

Our special guest in the second hour will be Professional Boxer Steve Cunningham, who just suffered a true injustice by way of a bogus split decision loss to Tomasz Adamek on national television. The broadcast was supposed to herald the return of boxing to network TV, but instead the bout put a spotlight on boxing's worst flaws. Cunningham and Adamek also fought to a split decision in their 2008 fight at cruiserweight, a fight Cunningham would have easily won if not for two unfortunate early knockdowns.

We will also recap UFC 155 and talk about what's next for some of the winners and losers.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN LIVE BETWEEN 8 AND 10 PM EST THURSDAY NIGHT

ADAMEK’S PROMOTER QUESTIONS THAT HIS MAN WON THE FIGHT

 PHILADELPHIA (December 24, 2012)—Just moments after Tomasz Adamek scored a controversial split decision over Steve “USS” Cunningham in a rematch of their thrilling 2008 fight, Adamek’s own co-promoter told Ring Magazine’s Joseph Santoliquito  & Philadelphia Daily News Boxing maven Bernard Fernandez that he doesn’t believe that his man won the fight.

 “He Got a Christmas present”, Said Ziggy Rozalski of the decision that just about every ringside observer and Millions of fans watching the fight thought that Cunningham should have been awarded the fight but instead it was Adamek getting the win via disputed decision by 116-112; 115-113 for Adamek and 115-113 for Cunningham.

 The bout highlighted the return of boxing on NBC.

 “By him saying that just further puts a stamp on the point that I clearly won the fight”, said Cunningham.

 “I worked so hard and executed my game plan perfectly and won this fight. There is outrage all over the internet about the decision and I feel bad that my promoter Main Events has done such a wonderful job to get a fight of this caliber back on big network television and for these judges to see a different fight then everybody else is disappointing. Now its time to sit down with my management and promoter to discuss what is next and what to do from here. I trust that Main Events will find the justice here and make sure my career only moves ahead and onto bigger better fights”

WealthTV All In for Boxing

Price vs. Harrison added to loaded Fall Programming Schedule SAN DIEGO (September 21, 2012) - WealthTV, the latest destination for boxing's premier live events, has secured the live United States television rights for the United Kingdom heavyweight showdown between a pair of former Olympians, rising star David Price and battle-tested veteran Audley Harrison, on October 13 (starting at 3 p.m. ET) from Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Price vs. Harrison continues WealthTV's commitment to become a major player in live telecasting of world-class boxing, as well as the network's focus on the heavyweight division. In July, WealthTV showcased world heavyweight contender Tyson Fury's (19-0, 14 KOs) fifth-round technical knockout of veteran Vinny Maddalone. The Price-Harrison announcement comes on the heels of WealthTV's entertaining "Ironbound Throwdown," a Main Events card featuring top heavyweightsTomasz "Goral" Adamek against Travis "Freight Train" Walker that aired September 8. In what many in the boxing community are describing as the best heavyweight round of boxing in recent years, two-time, two division world champion Tomasz  Adamek (47-2, 29 KOs) was floored by a well-trained Walker in the second round. Adamek recovered and dropped Walker (39-8-1, 31 KOs) with both fighters ending the round on their feet, along with the crowd. Adamek battled back to finish Walker in the fifth round. WealthTV's live Sept.8th airing also included two other fights featuring two of America's premier rising heavyweights, United States Boxing Association heavyweight title-holder Bryant "By-By" Jennings (15-0, 7 KOs) and former two-time IBF cruiserweight champion Steve "USS" Cunningham (25-4, 12 KOs), who moved up to heavyweight for the first time, in winning fashion. Jennings was impressive, ending his fight with Chris "Special K" Koval (25-10, 18 KOs) in the opening round, and Cunningham pitched a near shutout en route to a dominating win by 10-round decision over Jason "The Sensation" Gavern (21-11-4, 10 KOs). "We anticipate upwards of 30 to 40 fights on WealthTV through 2013," WealthTVPresident Charles Herring commented. "We're pleased with our programming, thus far, but we're actively looking for more opportunities to feature top-quality, world-class fights and fighters on our growing network." The 6' 8" undefeated Price (13-0, 11 KOs), a 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist, defends his BBBofC British heavyweight title for the first time against southpaw Harrison (28-5, 21 KOs), who captured a Gold Medal in the super heavyweight division at the 2000 Olympic Games. The 29-year-old Price, already rated No. 21 by the World Boxing Council (WBC), captured the BBBof C heavyweight title last May, stopping former Commonwealth (British) champion Sam Sexton in the fourth round. Price is on the fast track in the heavyweight division, while Harrison's career is at the crossroads. Harrison emerged from the 2000 Olympics with great expectations that were never attained. The highlight of his professional career was a 12th round knockout ofMichael Sprott in 2010 for the European heavyweight championship. In his next fight, however, Harrison was knocked out in the third round by then World Boxing Association (WBA) kingpin David Haye, whose chief sparring partner, ironically, has been Price. Other British title fights will air as part of the Price-Harrison card. "This fight continues our heavyweight trend on WealthTV," WealthTV Director of Live Events Thomas Morris noted. "The heavyweight division has traditionally driven boxing and boxing fans, particularly Americans, who love watching the big guys bang." WealthTV recently announced that it has exclusive U.S. rights to broadcast the popular GYM "Fast & Furious" series in Canada, and Hennessy Sports' "Next Generation" series from the United Kingdom. The first installment of the new season of the "Fast & Furious" series is scheduled for the night before the Price-Harrison fight - Friday, Oct. 12 - live from the famed Bell Centre in Montreal, headlined by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super middleweight title eliminator between dangerous Quebec favorite Adonis "Superman" Stevenson (18-1-0, 15 KOs) and American power-puncher Donovan "Da Bomb" George (23-2-1, 20 KOs). The winner between these two powerful hitters will automatically become the mandatory challenger to IBF champion Carl Froch. Other stars in the making slated to fight on the Oct. 12 "Fast & Furious" show on WealthTV include undefeated North American Boxing Association (NABA) champion Kevin Bizier (17-0, 12 KOs), unbeaten North American Boxing Organization (NABO) light heavyweight titlist Eleider "Storm" Alvarez (9-0, 5 KOs), and middleweight knockout artist David Lemieux. (Plus undefeated Colombian heavyweights, now living in Montreal, Didier "Big Daddy" Bence (5-0, 2 KOs) and 2008 Olympian Oscar Rivas (11-0, 6 KOs). WealthTV is available on Verizon FiOS TV (channels 169 and 669 in HD), AT&T U-Verse TV (channels 470 and 1470 in HD), along with more than 100 cable systems across the country. A live feed can also be found online at www.wealthtv.com. About WealthTV WealthTV is the premier lifestyle and entertainment network -the destination for exclusive and original programming, simultaneously transmitted in high definition and standard definition. WealthTV delivers to 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 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.wealthtv.com.

Six Wins Out Of Six For TRAD TKO, Plus Two New Champions

The new season has started with a bang for the fighters from the famous TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town. Besides their fighters winning all six bouts two of the young guns also secured Championship titles.

The weekend got off to a first class start, at the BoxNation broadcast Francis and George Warren’s Queensberry promotions ‘BoxAcademy’ at York Hall on Friday. First on the card was Mark Tibbs trained Super Flyweight
Charlie Hoy who out pointed Anwar Alfadli by a 40-37 points margin. This was followed up with a great points win for another Mark Tibbs trained young gun, when Middleweight Tom Bake secured his third win, by a 40-36 points margin over Joe Walsh.

The final TRAD TKO fighter, Johnny Eames trained Ian Bailey, came in as the clear bookies underdog in the battle for the Southern Area Featherweight title, against previously unbeaten Lewis Pettitt.

One thing that you can be sure of is that don’t ever right off a TRAD TKO fighter, especially not a battler such as young Ian.

The first four or five rounds almost certainly went the way of Pettitt but from then on it was Bailey all the way. The diminutive battler stepped up a gear, dominating the action right through to the two minute, twenty-five second point of the ninth round, when referee Bob Williams stepped in to save Pettitt further punishment.

TRAD TKO supremo and if there’s any justice in this World a future Hall of Famer, Johnny Eames gave his view of the night’s performance. “Yeah, what a great weekend for the TRAD TKO gym and all it’s fighters, whether they
are trained by myself, or Jimmy Tibbs, Mark Tibbs, Bryan Lawrence, Barry Smith, Alec Wilkey, Derek Grainger or Mo Hussain, they’re all out of the same camp.

What a great start to the season for us all, it all started on Friday evening at York Hall at the Queensberry show, promoted by Francis and George Warren.

A great start to the night for the TRAD TKO Gym trained fighters, with Charlie Hoy, a great win for him, looked really good in doing it, I thought he was going to stop the kid at one time, but he didn’t, instead winning it clearly on points.

Young Tom Baker was next, another great win, fantastic win, he boxed really well.

Then of course for me, the performance of the whole weekend, out of all the boys, was young Ian Bailey, who clearly wasn’t given a chance, by anybody, to beat young Lewis Pettitt.

But what we do good up here is upset the form book, and we did it again. Ian Bailey pulled his nuts out and broke Lewis Pettitt’s heart. In the end Lewis just run out of ideas, he just didn’t know what to do, other than get backed up onto the ropes.

Young Ian was like a prowling dog, for want of a better word, young Ian, he was waiting for his moment and that moment finally arrived in the ninth round and boy did he go to work. Young Lewis just didn’t have an answer, but I don’t want to take anything away from Lewis Pettitt as he put in a fantastic performance  and rightly so the two boys got the extra thousand pound each for the best fight of the night.

I can’t say, I can’t put into words, how pleased I am for young Ian Bailey. He’s been all around the country, fighting all the top prospects at four of five days notice. Some of them he should have got the decision, he never did.

We don’t cry over spilt milk here, Ian just gets on with it and comes back to the gym and just carries on. He so deserves to be a champion, hopefully his career turns the corner now.

I’ve already had to very good offers for him to fight, but in my opinion it’s a little bit too soon, after a fight like that, but promoters please keep asking as Ian will fight your boys, he’ll fight anybody at Super Bantam or Featherweight, he don’t care.”

With a nice little cache of three fights, three wins, plus a Southern Area strap, the TRAD TKO crew then headed across town to Alexandra Palace where three more of their young guns were ready for action at Eddie Hearn’s
Matchroom Sport promoted ‘London Calling’ event on Saturday night.

First of the youngsters in action on Saturday was the Bryan Lawrence managed and trained rising Cruiserweight star Wadi ‘Machoman’ Camacho, against fellow unbeaten prospect Andy Ingram.

Camacho, who bears an uncanny resemblance to David Haye, showcased his fully stocked arsenal as he tore the Long Eaton based visitor to pieces, until the referee stepped in at the two minute and forty one second mark,
of the second round, to save Ingram from further punishment.

Four up and two to go, the big one, with sensational Erick ‘The Eagle’ Ochieng defending his English Light Middleweight Crown, against super tough Ryan Toms.

To describe Ochieng’s performance as awesome is an understatement, Toms has a fearsome knockout reputation, yet it was the 25 year old from Stoke Newington that was busy inflicting serious damage to his opponent, so much so that the highly durable Toms challenge was bought to an end at the two minute and thirty seven second mark of the fifth round.

After this performance it is clear that ‘The Eagle’ is ready to fly to a higher level, so expect a British or Commonwealth title challenge in the very near future.

The final fight of the night see the Alec Wilkey trained Danny Connor, who like Ian Bailey the night before came in as clear underdog in his challenge to unbeaten Chris Evangelou. Just as with Bailey, Connor wasn’t fazed by his underdog status one iota.

Each time Evangelou came at him with a single of double handed attack, Connor responded with an equally vicious six, seven or eight strong flurry of punches to push his unbeaten opponent back.

After ten scintillatingly close rounds, the smart money seemed to favour a win for the Matchroom Sport house fighter Evangelou, but that was not to be as when referee Ken Curtis’ scorecard was read out, it showed a tidy
98-94 points victory  in favour of Connor.

The straight talking Johnny Eames gave his view on the Saturday show, as well as the comments made by the Sky Sports’ commentary team during the broadcast of the Connor-Evangelou bout.

“Ok, we get on to Saturday night, the big, big Matchroom show with top of the bill Tony Bellew.

First up was Bryan Lawrence trained Wadi Camacho, going in against an unbeaten fighter, someone had to lose their ‘O’, it wasn’t Wadi as he done a great job, Yeah Buddy stopped him.

We then had our second title up from the gym, which was Erick ‘The Eagle’ Ochieng who was fighting Ryan Toms.

Ryan’s a proven warrior, he can punch a little bit, but Erick overcome the early pressure and pulled a win off in the fifth with a great body shot. I’m sure Ryan’s got really sore ribs this morning, I thought that was a fantastic body shot.

Finally there was our Danny Connor, who again was against an unbeaten fighter in Chris Evangelou.

There's been a big thing being made about Evangelou and him training in Mayweather’s gym, spending loads of money training in Vegas and that.

It goes to show you that the TRAD TKO gym is better than training in Vegas. There was only one winner and that was Danny Connor. I’m not taking anything away from Chris, but in future save your dad’s money and come and
train with us.

On a similar vane, what on earth were the Sky pundits watching I just haven’t got a clue, it wasn’t the fight we were watching that’s for sure.

You can’t win a round with just four or five big hooks when the other kids hitting you twelve or fourteen or fifteen times. I think the computer scoring was wrong too, on punches landed as that was showing it as pretty close as well.

For me these pundits have got to stop getting on the back of the ticket selling house fighter. To me I see the fight how it is Danny clearly won the fight. There’s talk of a rematch, well if I have anything to do with it there wont be a rematch right away as I feel Danny deserves to enjoy his title and why should he be thrown straight back into something where he is going to get robbed. Danny is the Champion and it’s his call.”

Now, I know said six out of six, plus two new titles for the TRAD TKO crew, but three and half thousand miles away, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey another TRAD TKO associated fighter, former two time
IBF Cruiserweight Champion of the World Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham made his maiden outing in the Heavyweight division, against Jason Gavern at the Kathy Duva Main Events promoted event on Saturday night.

Cunningham came through with flying colours, winning every round, to earn an almost shutout 100-90 (twice) & 99-90 points decision.

Also on the card was Cunningham’s old foe Tomasz Adamek, hopefully a rematch of their ‘2008 ‘Fight of the Year’ nominated battle may finally happen, albeit at Heavyweight.

Perhaps in the near future we could even see ‘USS’ Cunningham cruise into London, as  when David Haye moved to the heavyweight division the only major belt he didn’t have in his collection was the IBF version, which was
held by Cunningham. Maybe, just maybe in the near future we can finally see the greatest fight that never was - Cunningham versus Haye right here in the Capital.

As with the other fights Johnny gave his views on the Heavyweight debut of Steve Cunningham. “Rio (TRAD TKO publicist Gianluca Di Caro) terms Steve as a TRAD TKO Fighter because he’s sponsored by our sponsor through him, so we class him as one of our own.

Hopefully he’ll be coming to England soon and we’ll be really pleased to see him at the gym.

Steve Cunningham has just moved up to Heavyweight, had his first fight at the new weight, fought a geezer Jason Gavern, don’t know too much about Jason, but Steve pulled out a great win, great performance winning all ten
rounds on points and looking as sharp as he did as a Cruiserweight, so congratulations Steve Cunningham and we look forward to meeting you.”

Even after such a magnificent, and rewarding, weekend the TRAD TKO crew can’t rest on their laurels as there are no less than nine of their fighters in action next weekend also.

The busy weekend starts on Friday at York Hall, where probably the best British boxer around at this time, Billy Joe Saunders defends his Commonwealth Middleweight crown for the second time, against tough unbeaten Aussie knockout artist Jarrod Fletcher.

Main support for Billy Joe comes from fellow TRAD TKO gym mate Peter McDonagh, who takes on Bradley Skeete for the vacant Southern Area Welterweight title.

It doesn’t end there as also on the Frank Warren promoted  ‘Three Kings’ event are a brace of TRAD TKO unbeaten young guns - Frankie Buglioni, Billy Morgan, Gary Corcoran and Ediz Hussein.

The very next day some of the TRAD TKO crew return to York Hall, when Eddie Corcoran challenges Kris Agyei Dua for the vacant Southern Area Light Middleweight title at the Olivia Goodwin Main Events promoted
‘London’s Calling’ event.

The reason I said some is because others will be heading down to Portsmouth, where exciting Light Heavyweight prospect Joel McIntyre and new boy Tommy Watson are in action at the Jay Morris promoted ‘Punishment
On The Pier’ event.


Tickets for all this weekend’s  events above, plus Mitchell-Burns and other boxing events, are available on-line at www.tkoboxoffice.com or in person from the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym, Gillian House, Stephenson Street,
Canning Town, London E16 4SA.