By Michael Payne: On Tuesday May 19th at Earls court in London Barry Hearn is returning with his successful prizefighter tournament where eight cruiserweights will battle it out for a ₤25,000 top prize in one night. Barry is promising that this will be even more successful than previous competitions. Here is a rundown of the fighters competing & my tip for the winner.
Dean Francis (30 – 3 – 1, 24 KO’s)
Dean is a former European, British & Commonwealth champion, Winning titles at super middleweight & light heavyweight. The man from Basingstoke has a good KO ratio & is one of the favorites to win the tournament. Dean is 35 now & he sees this as his last chance to push on & get a crack at a world title.
Darren Corbett (27 – 4 – 1, 16 KO’s)
The 36 year old from Belfast is a former commonwealth champion at cruiserweight losing the title to fellow competitor Bruce Scott in 1998. He has also fought another follow competitor in Neil Simpson beating him by a split decision in 1999.
Terry Dunstan (20 – 2, 12 KO’s)
At 40 Terry is the oldest competitor in the competition & will also view this as his last chance to make a big impression. Terry is a former European & British champion at Cruiserweight & although he has had less ring experience than some of the other guys he has been in the ring with Carl Thompson losing in the 12th round by KO in 1999.
Mark Krence (23 – 6, 6 KO’s)
Mark 32 who normally fights at Heavyweight but is coming down to cruiser for the competition is a former English champion & has fought for the British title on two occasions losing to Matt Skelton & Scott Gammer. His former opponents also include current WBA Heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev who knocked him out in five rounds in 2005. Mark is not known for his KO power but because he is used to fighting heavyweights this could change fighting the smaller men.
John Keeton (26 – 16, 17 KO’s)
John will be 37 on the day of the tournament & would see winning Prizefighter as the perfect birthday present. The former British champion at cruiserweight has also met a couple of the other fighters previously losing to Bruce Scott by KO in 2000 & 1994 & losing to Terry Dunstan by TKO in one round in 1996. With his poor record against other men in the competition & 16 losses under his belt John is an outsider to take home the prize money.
Neil Simpson (36 – 18 – 1, 11 KO’s)
Neil 38 from Coventry is a former British & commonwealth champion at light heavyweight. He is coming off a loss at the end of last year to up and coming heavyweight Derek Chisora. He has also fought Dean Francis previously losing by TKO in 3 rounds in 1996. At 38 years old & with 18 losses Neil is another outsider to win the prize.
Micky Steeds (12 – 4, 3 KO’s)
At 25 Micky is the youngest of the men competing. He has fought for the British cruiserweight title in 2008, losing on points to Robert Norton. The London fighter is the most inexperienced of the fighters, the biggest name on his record being Scott Gammer who has beaten him twice. With the lack of experience & a lack of KO power this could be a baptism of fire for the young man or it could point his career in the right direction.
Bruce Scott (37 – 9, 18 KO’s)
Bruce who is 39 from Hackney in London will also see this as his last chance to make an impact. He is a former British & commonwealth champion. Bruce is one of the most experienced guys in the tournament having fought world class opponents in Nicky Piper, Johnny Nelson & most recently Enzo Maccarinelli (all be it losing to all three). The fact he has beat Keeton twice previously & Darren Corbett once. Bruce will be confident that he can win this but the fact he hasn’t fought since 2006 could cause him to be too ring rusty to pull it off.
Prizefighter may not include the best fighters on the planet but with its unique format where they fight in a knockout basis on one night always makes for exciting viewing, so if you have not seen the tournament before I highly recommend watching it. My tip to win will be Dean Francis.
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