Boxing News: Junior Witter, Marco Huck, Andriy Tsurkan

By Boxing News - 04/28/2008 - Comments

Junior Witter is looking forward to impressing a big TV audience in the next defence of his WBC light-welterweight title at the Trent FM Arena Nottingham on Saturday, 10th May. Witter (Bradford, England) is aiming to end the undefeated record of mandatory challenger Timothy Bradley (Palm Springs, USA) in the third defence of his prestigious world title on a Hennessy Sports in association with GoldenPalace.com show that also features WBC Super Middleweight mandatory challenger Carl Froch..

After knocking out former world champion Vivian Harris (Guyana/USA) in his last fight in September, Witter is looking to produce another brilliant performance in front of the ITV1 (UK) and ShoBox Special (USA) cameras for a watching television audience on both sides of the Atlantic.

He said: “It’s a great chance for me to show a wider audience what I can do, and I intend to grab that opportunity and show the world I’m the best light-welterweight in boxing right now.”

“Some people who will have perhaps heard of me but not seen me box will get the chance to see me in action for the first time and they won’t be disappointed.”

“Bradley is a top opponent and the better opponent the better I perform… just ask Vivian Harris. Bradley has got a great knockout ratio as his record suggests, so I expect him to be aggressive and he will come to fight, which is just how I like them.”

“After seeing me box in front of a massive TV audience both in the UK and the States, once I do a job on Bradley even more people will be asking: why won’t Ricky Hatton fight Junior Witter?”

Tickets can be purchased from Trent FM Arena Nottingham 24hr Ticket Hotline on 08444 124 624 or via nottingham-arena.com

Marco Huck and Sauerlan ink early contract extension

Marco “Captain” Huck has extended his contract with Sauerland Event and manager Wilfried Sauerland through 2011. “Marco is one of the biggest talents in the cruiserweight division,” Sauerland managing director Chris Meyer said. “We´ve been trying to tie him to us for quite a while and we´re very happy that the new deal has now been finalised.”

The 23-year-old (20-1, 15 KOs) has taken the world of boxing by storm. He needed just three years to earn a world title shot. After his meteoric rise to stardom, it was hard to assess his market value. “I tried not to undervalue myself,” he said. “I gave it a very deliberate thought. But it was always clear that I wanted to keep boxing for Team Sauerland. That´s where I started my career and that´s where I want to continue it..”

Last weekend, an agreement was finally reached. “It was important for me that the sporting perspectives are right and that I could work out under Ulli Wegner again,” Huck added. “It was also crucial to have a solid foundation for the future.”

Team Sauerland made it all possible. “I am very happy about that,” Huck stated. “Now I can fully focus on my performances in the ring.” Huck will be in action again in Bayreuth on May 17.

Tsurkan Scores Career Best Victory

Apr 26, 2008 Ukranian born and Bronx resident Andrey Tsurkan (26-3 17KO) scored the biggest win of his career Friday night as he outgunned fellow tough guy Jesse Feliciano (15-7-3 9KO), scoring a TKO at 1:17 in the eighth round of a scheduled ten round Jr. Middleweight contest, at The Utopia Paradise Theatre in The Bronx, NY. The fight was televised live on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights.

The fight was as advertised, with both guys locking horns right from the opening bell. Both styles were mirror images of each other as the fighters stood at close quarters trading freely. Tsurkan landed a picture perfect right hand late in the round which dropped Feliciano for a short count and then followed up with crisp combinations which had Feliciano on rubber legs as the bell sounded ending the round. Feliciano came out strong in round two as the fighters once again engaged each other, both landing big shots. The fight went back and forth but it was clear that Tsurkan’s punches were cleaner and crisper but Feliciano would always try and answer.. As the fight entered the eighth round, it seemed Tsurkan had built a clear lead. Midway through the round, with Feliciano refusing to take a step backwards and Tsurkan landing heavy and damaging blows, referee Benji Esteves called a halt to the fight as Feliciano was taking a lot of punishment due to Tsurkan’s relentless assault. Everyone applauded Esteves’ decision in stopping the fight, as Tsurkan was certainly inflicting damage on the game Feliciano, who has proven time and time again what a real warrior he is. This was a thrilling crowd pleasing brawl which had the fans in attendance on their feet throughout.

The semi-final eight round Heavyweight contest saw Poland’s Albert Sosnowski improve to 43-1 (26 KO) with a fifth round stoppage of game Terrell “Baby Bull” Nelson (8-5 5KO). Sosnowski was making his American television debut. Albert showed poise throughout as he withstood an early assault from Nelson. Sosnowski landed the more telling blows as both fighters set a good pace. Sosnowski landed a beautiful right uppercut followed by a clean left hook which dropped Nelson in the fifth round. The end was in sight as Nelson arose and fought back bravely but referee Wayne Kelly stopped the fight at 0:52 of the fifth as Sosnowski landed numerous clean punches.

Undercard action was plentiful. The evening started off with Heavyweights Joe Hanks (2-0 1KO) and Corey Winfield (2-4 2KO) locking up in an entertaining four round bout won by Hanks 40-36,39-37 39- 37.

The second bout of the evening featured Middleweights Bryant Pappas (6-0 6KO) and Mike Terry (1-3 1KO). Both fighters came out swinging for the fences but Pappas’ persistence paid off as he stopped the game Terry midway through the third round of a scheduled four round bout.

In a wild four round Featherweight contest Eddie Irizarry (2-0 1KO) thrilled his large contingent of fans stopping Jean Ramos (0-1) at the end of the first round. The action was frenetic from the opening bell. Irizarry dropped Ramos with a neat left- right combination but Ramos came back firing as he caught Irizarry with a huge left hook staggering into the ropes. Irizarry came right back and landed monster shots as Ramos went down again near the end of round and was unable to continue as the bell sounded ending round one. This one had the fans going wild.

In an upset Clarence Moore (5-3-1 5KO) avenged an earlier loss to hometown favorite Jon Schneider (7-2-1 5KO) knocking out Schneider at 2:48 of round two of a scheduled four round Cruiserweight bout. Schneider was impressive early but walked into short uppercut followed by a left hook which stunned him badly. Moore seized the opportunity and landed a vicious uppercut which put Schneider on the deck for the count.

Hot Welterweight prospect Raymond Serrano Jr. (5-0 3KO) won a hard fought four decision over journeyman Damon Antoine (7-24-1 3KO). Serrano, just 18 years old, displayed poise and sharp punching over the course of the fight winning by scores of 40-36,40- 36, 39-37.

The nearly sold out crowd was treated to a highly entertaining, action filled evening of boxing. Star Boxing head honcho Joe DeGuardia was thrilled by the evening’s fights. “This was a throwback to the glory days of boxing. Each fighter who participated tonight came to fight and tried to win. I am very proud of the performances they gave all of us in attendance and those who watched on ESPN2.”