By Sean McDaniel If WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns’ promoter is unable to put together a fight this summer because Burns and #1 WBO Kevin Mitchell, then #14 WBO contender Gavin Rees (36-1-1, 17 KO’s) is a possible back-up plan for Burns.
Gavin Rees
Rees stops Mezaache in 7th round
By Sean McDaniel: EBU lightweight champion Gavin Rees successfully retained his European Boxing Union title on Saturday night with a 7th round TKO win over France’s Anthony Mezaache (21-7-3, 6 KO’s) at the Gymnase Georges Racine, Clichy la Garenne, Hauts-de-seine, Paris, France.
Rees-Mezaache on 3/23: Gavin hoping to get a shot against Burns next
By Sean McDaniel: EBU lightweight champion Gavin Rees (35-1-1, 16 KO’s) will be making his second title defense of his European Boxing Union title on March 23rd against the tough Anthony Mezaache (21-6-3, 6 KO’s) a the Clichy la Garenne, Hauts-de-Seine, France. The 31-year-old Rees really needs to get this win to keep alive his hopes of getting a world title shot against WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns. Reeds also is interested in facing Anthony Crolla, John Murray and Kevin Mitchell.
Where is Gavin Rees’ title shot?
By Gari Jones: It’s been a while since I wrote an article, but I hope you find this one interesting. In a division that hosts such names as Marquez, Katsidis, Brandon Rios and Kevin Mitchell he may be not considered by many to be the best fighter at lightweight, but Gavin Rees (W31, L1, D1, KO 16) whether you like him or not has been a busy man these past couple of years.
Rees defends EBU title against Matthews on Saturday, wants Kevin Mitchell bout
By Sean McDaniel: Former WBA light welterweight champion Gavin Rees (35-1, 16 KO’s) will be making his first defense of his European Boxing Union (EBU) lightweight title on Saturday night against Derry Matthews (29-5, 15 KO’s) at the Newport Leisure Centre in Newport, Wales.
Derry Matthews stops Jennings in the 6th, Rees could be next
By Sean McDaniel: Lightweight Derry Matthews (29-5, 15 KO’s) won his fourth consecutive fight in stopping Stephen Jennings (5-2-1, 2 KO’s) for the British Masters lightweight title on Saturday night at the Greenbank Sports Centre in Liverpool, England.
Crolla could fight Rees on Khan-McCloskey undercard
By Sean McDaniel: New British lightweight champion Anthony Crolla (20-2, 8 KO’s) could find himself facing former WBA light welterweight champion Gavin Rees (35-1, 16 KO’s) on the undercard of the title fight between WBA Super World light welterweight champion Amir Khan vs. Paul McCloskey on April 16th at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, England. Promoter Ricky Hatton may assist in making the Khan-McCloskey fight a bigger seller in the M.E.N Arena by having Crolla, a Manchester fighter, be put on the card to help draw more fans from around the Manchester area to the fight.
Prizefighter Preview – Boxing
By Peter Wells: It’s the final Prizefighter of the year, and we end with a cracker down at Light Welterweight, after all the excitement on December 4th it’ll all be over with for this year.
We start with the oldest fighter in the competition, Jason Cook, the former European and IBO Lightweight champion; he has a record of 25-2 with just 12 knockouts. He last fought a Super Welterweight and is making a huge jump down in weight.
Amir Khan vs. Rees In June?
By Nate Anderson: In the latest boxing news, former WBA light welterweight champion Gavin Rees (27-1, 13 KOs) is reportedly high on the list for future opponents for the undefeated Amir Khan’s (17-0, 13 KOs) next bout on June 21st. Previous to Rees recent 12th round TKO title loss to Andreas Kotelnik on March 22nd, there had been talk of a potential bout between Khan and Rees, but it had come to nothing, with Rees opting for a bout with the Ukrainian Kotelnik. Whatever the case, if Khan decides upon Rees as his next opponent, he’ll be taking tremendous leap up in competition for Rees is light years better than the easy C-level fodder that Khan has fought up to this point his career.
Rees, 27, is like a carbon copy replicate of Ricky Hatton, only without all the hype that Hatton has behind him. It would be a very tough matchup for Khan, who has shown to be a little chinny since turning professional in 2005. This would be a stern test for Khan’s tender chin and one guaranteed to see him take a lot of big shots from Rees.
Rees Better Than Hatton?
By Chris Stein: I’m in agreement with writer Dan Ambrose about his opinion of former WBA super lightweight champion Gavin Rees (27-1, 13 KOs), who he sees as an incredibly talented fighter whose fight with Andrea Kotelnik (29-2-1, 13 KOs) shouldn’t have been stopped by the referee prematurely. Rees was only briefly stunned and was still fighting back at the time that the referee halted his bout with Kotelnik on Saturday night. Rees looked perfectly alright and was merely trying to get his bearing after having had his equilibrium messed up from a punch that landed behind his ear in the 3rd round. Other than that, he was fine and was fighting back without any signs of being in the verge of a knockout. Rees, however, took the stoppage like a true warrior, never complaining for an instant.
Whatever the case, Rees will move on from this defeat and will soon be challenging for another title in the near future. One fighter whom I’d like to see Rees go up against, however, is Ricky Hatton. Rees had been hoping that Hatton would show interest in a bout before the Kotelnik fight, but for some reason Hatton chose not to take a fight with Rees. When I heard that Hatton wasn’t interested in a fight with Rees, I assumed naturally that it was because Hatton felt that Rees wasn’t competition, that he felt that he’d simply steam roll over Rees and make easy work of him.