Mark Little cruiserweight

[Floyd the snake]

After 4 steady years building up 12 straight victories Mark was matched with a Lithuanian debutant at York Hall last night , seemed a strange match up in the first place and I'm surprised the board allowed the match up to take place , but to then lose on points seems very strange , was the guy a complete ringer and Mark / Steve Goodwin stitched up by an agent , was the Lithuanian a world class amateur and Mark got found out to be area level , just seems a strange one all-round with the level of imports we get over here now .

[MasterG]

Should have booked closer to home. Plenty of boxers in this country wanting work. I have no sympathy for them.

[smiling assassin]

Getting to 12-0 not boxing anyone with a winning record. This is why the pro game is pony. So many pros out there who wouldn't get out of their region in the elites, some wouldn't even be entered. They turn over for the ego boost. Fighters should not be fighting journeyman past their 6-8th fight

[ERIC GUY]

I spoke to the guy, he told me he had 10 white collar fights. I told him , you must have had a good few fights as a junior, he smiled.

[leejonesjnr]

Lithuanian debutant brought over from Lithuania or living in U.K.?

[bripez]

What was the point if that - 4 years of flogging tickets to your mates

[coneye]

12 Wins versus the debutant ,, and he does'nt read the scrip[t ,, absolutly LOVE IT , music to my ears it is ... Would love to see more of it ,,

If he got set up , so what ,, wheres his pride anyway , , you really would expect a pro with 4 years and 12 wins under his belt to refuse to fight a debutant ,

[smiling assassin]

12 Wins versus the debutant ,, and he does'nt read the scrip[t ,, absolutly LOVE IT , music to my ears it is ... Would love to see more of it ,,

If he got set up , so what ,, wheres his pride anyway , , you really would expect a pro with 4 years and 12 wins under his belt to refuse to fight a debutant ,

Suprised he still got people willing to pay £40 to see when he ain't stepped it up in 4 years. Actually he did (this geezer didn't have a losing record )

[margaret thatcher]

Mark Little looks more like 45 than 31

[knockout]

Lithuanian debutant brought over from Lithuania or living in U.K.?

Living in Hull apparently.

One of his unlicensed fights is on YouTube ( I assume it’s him)

[bripez]

Lithuanian debutant brought over from Lithuania or living in U.K.?

Living in Hull apparently.

One of his unlicensed fights is on YouTube ( I assume it’s him)

Probably had 300 amateur fights

The sad thing is that I bet there isn’t a “promoter” who will take this lad on and build him up - he either won’t get any fights or will be told the score and have to be one a journeyman

[margaret thatcher]

[bripez]

Only skimmed it, but clearly he did not have 300 amateur fights!

[margaret thatcher]

He basically looks about the level of a decent novice amateur you'd see on a club show

[Nightmare Roy]

So fast to collect from the bookies he nearly forgot the belt.

[MasterG]

I bet no one kept their eye on the betting for this one. Maybe Little had a bet on himself.

[margaret thatcher]

Would there be betting on a fight at that level?

[knockout]

Living in Hull apparently.

One of his unlicensed fights is on YouTube ( I assume it’s him)

Probably had 300 amateur fights

The sad thing is that I bet there isn’t a “promoter” who will take this lad on and build him up - he either won’t get any fights or will be told the score and have to be one a journeyman

whilst I share your sentiment 100%, as you mentioned already, whilst the lad is fit, strong and moves ok, he is definitely still in the "raw" category.

plenty of really good overseas fighters who based themselves here had to play the opponent roll or take fights against people no one else wanted to fight.

Peacock had a handful of guys like that 10 years ago.

Ovil McKenzie - who finally made it to the top but took incredible mental strength to come back from those defeats as an "opponent " and cruelly came as close as you can to wining a world title, before retiring with health issues.

Erik Teymour - Russian Junior champ (beat Lebedev), Russian senior runner up (lost a close one to Makarenko in late 2000, Makarenko won the worlds in June 2001. Ended up having to match up against Sam Soliman at catch weight in his 7th fight.

Elvis Mihailenko - had to fight 6-0 prospect Tony Dodson in his 3rd fight, ref called a draw, you can draw your own conclusion there, built up a winning record, ran out of opponents, had to get in with a guy no one wanted any part of in Peter Oboh.

they are just 3 example of guys I have personal experience with who could have made it to the very highest level if they had the luxury of a well financed promoter.

Peter Oboh himself was another one, Nigerian import, not many guys at light heavy could have handled him at that time (RJJ excluded obviously) he was super fit, strong, awkward southpaw. he had to fight Mohamed Siluvangi ( 17-0 )in his sixth fight.

you can be sure the above guys seldom got a proper camp (lots of late notice jobs) and couldnt get the right fights at the right stage of their career to help them on there way.

Even the best amateurs need a number of pro fights, so they can get used to the style, lack of headguards, distance etc (this is less important now with the WBSS which bridges that gap a bit)

[Gnome]

Probably had 300 amateur fights

The sad thing is that I bet there isn’t a “promoter” who will take this lad on and build him up - he either won’t get any fights or will be told the score and have to be one a journeyman

whilst I share your sentiment 100%, as you mentioned already, whilst the lad is fit, strong and moves ok, he is definitely still in the "raw" category.

plenty of really good overseas fighters who based themselves here had to play the opponent roll or take fights against people no one else wanted to fight.

Peacock had a handful of guys like that 10 years ago.

Ovil McKenzie - who finally made it to the top but took incredible mental strength to come back from those defeats as an "opponent " and cruelly came as close as you can to wining a world title, before retiring with health issues.

Erik Teymour - Russian Junior champ (beat Lebedev), Russian senior runner up (lost a close one to Makarenko in late 2000, Makarenko won the worlds in June 2001. Ended up having to match up against Sam Soliman at catch weight in his 7th fight.

Elvis Mihailenko - had to fight 6-0 prospect Tony Dodson in his 3rd fight, ref called a draw, you can draw your own conclusion there, built up a winning record, ran out of opponents, had to get in with a guy no one wanted any part of in Peter Oboh.

they are just 3 example of guys I have personal experience with who could have made it to the very highest level if they had the luxury of a well financed promoter.

Peter Oboh himself was another one, Nigerian import, not many guys at light heavy could have handled him at that time (RJJ excluded obviously) he was super fit, strong, awkward southpaw. he had to fight Mohamed Siluvangi ( 17-0 )in his sixth fight.

you can be sure the above guys seldom got a proper camp (lots of late notice jobs) and couldnt get the right fights at the right stage of their career to help them on there way.

Even the best amateurs need a number of pro fights, so they can get used to the style, lack of headguards, distance etc (this is less important now with the WBSS which bridges that gap a bit)

[MasterG]

Would there be betting on a fight at that level?

indeed.

[Ivor clement]

I can guarantee you all that Andrius didn’t have ANY amateur bouts in Lithuania, he didn’t put a glove on until he came to live in hull about 4 years ago. He initially started at a kickboxing club and used to come to my fitness sessions. He was very very raw. I saw something in him and he picked things up pretty quick. He said we he wanted to have a go as a pro so I’ve trained him for about a 6 months properly and got him his pro license.

[Floyd the snake]

Well done , some achievement for a debut , the hard part now will be getting him out again unless a Yorkshire based promoter will invest in you a bit .

[knockout]

I can guarantee you all that Andrius didn’t have ANY amateur bouts in Lithuania, he didn’t put a glove on until he came to live in hull about 4 years ago. He initially started at a kickboxing club and used to come to my fitness sessions. He was very very raw. I saw something in him and he picked things up pretty quick. He said we he wanted to have a go as a pro so I’ve trained him for about a 6 months properly and got him his pro license.

Good stuff ! Definitely a good athlete and presumably has to fit training around a full time job

[WelshJack]

Would there be betting on a fight at that level?

indeed.

Highly doubt it, don’t get most S4C Welsh cars odds. Would love to know what bookies you use

[Deserter]

Probably had 300 amateur fights

The sad thing is that I bet there isn’t a “promoter” who will take this lad on and build him up - he either won’t get any fights or will be told the score and have to be one a journeyman

whilst I share your sentiment 100%, as you mentioned already, whilst the lad is fit, strong and moves ok, he is definitely still in the "raw" category.

plenty of really good overseas fighters who based themselves here had to play the opponent roll or take fights against people no one else wanted to fight.

Peacock had a handful of guys like that 10 years ago.

Ovil McKenzie - who finally made it to the top but took incredible mental strength to come back from those defeats as an "opponent " and cruelly came as close as you can to wining a world title, before retiring with health issues.

Erik Teymour - Russian Junior champ (beat Lebedev), Russian senior runner up (lost a close one to Makarenko in late 2000, Makarenko won the worlds in June 2001. Ended up having to match up against Sam Soliman at catch weight in his 7th fight.

Elvis Mihailenko - had to fight 6-0 prospect Tony Dodson in his 3rd fight, ref called a draw, you can draw your own conclusion there, built up a winning record, ran out of opponents, had to get in with a guy no one wanted any part of in Peter Oboh.

they are just 3 example of guys I have personal experience with who could have made it to the very highest level if they had the luxury of a well financed promoter.

Peter Oboh himself was another one, Nigerian import, not many guys at light heavy could have handled him at that time (RJJ excluded obviously) he was super fit, strong, awkward southpaw. he had to fight Mohamed Siluvangi ( 17-0 )in his sixth fight.

you can be sure the above guys seldom got a proper camp (lots of late notice jobs) and couldnt get the right fights at the right stage of their career to help them on there way.

Even the best amateurs need a number of pro fights, so they can get used to the style, lack of headguards, distance etc (this is less important now with the WBSS which bridges that gap a bit)

Great post. Also demonstrates why I really don't believe the 'if they're good enough, they're ready..." mentality. There's a skill to developing a fighter the right way...