Ovil McKenzie apparantly schooled badly in sparing

[Wake up call]

You wrote "at the gym tonight Ovill McKenzie was toyed with".

Maybe you just worded it badly.

[damianhucker1]

You wrote "at the gym tonight Ovill McKenzie was toyed with".

Maybe you just worded it badly.

no i didnt , read again
i was saying thats when it was said

[Tommy Gunn13]

Gary Mayor must be 37/38 now,bit late in the day to be turning pro..Shame really because he was very skillfull 20yrs back

[damianhucker1]

Gary Mayor must be 37/38 now,bit late in the day to be turning pro..Shame really because he was very skillfull 20yrs back

yeah must be not far off , doesnt look it though , youd believe he was 24

[Pugilist-specialist]

I spoke to him once Damian and he got a pro license but never any fights. It got suspended following that incident. Gym fighters a bit harsh I believe. Think he beat nasseem as an amateur too. Get him on one of your shows danmian
H

I don't think he did box Naz - he used to train at Wincobank in his school holidays.

[dewipowell]

Mike Shinfield told me that Clev was Ovill's last spar and that was 10 days before the fight. Unless he changed his mind (?) then someone's telling porky pies.

[kamicazze]

Mayor is a Phenomenal boxer no doubt Hucker. To say anyone is a gym fighter is unfair. Sparring is the closest thing to a fight that can possibly be. Ok some guys react differently under pressure but for me if some one is fantastic in sparring, with the right nurturing they will be good in a fight.

[Scottrf]

Mayor is a Phenomenal boxer no doubt Hucker. To say anyone is a gym fighter is unfair. Sparring is the closest thing to a fight that can possibly be. Ok some guys react differently under pressure but for me if some one is fantastic in sparring, with the right nurturing they will be good in a fight.

But if they don't have a fight, they are a gym fighter.

It's not an insult, it's a fact.

[English Wizard]

Im told at the gym tonight that Ovil McKenzie was toyed with and made to look rather stupid in sparring by an Ex pro and current sparring partner of Carl Froch , Gary Mayor .

This information has come indirectly from Gary himself ( he told someone else but i was earwigging)

It was apparantly to such an extent that McKenzies team banned Gary as it was considered demoralising to him .

Now dont get me wrong Gary is good , in fact hes imo world class (story for another time maybe from someone) , but surely this would be bad news for Ovil in the build up to such a big fight for him

Good news for tony though .

Pure bullshit ! What counts is fight night, sugar ray Leonard had terrible spars before Hagler and then put on a masterclass, every fighter has bad days in sparring,if that's what happened , but I douby it, don't mean nothing, Froch had real trouble with Louis Garcia in Sparring before he won his 1st world title. Ovil will be ready for his fight so will Bellew, could turn out to be a great fight. If this Gary Mayor guy who does not appear to be a boxer at present was to fight Ovil what do you think would happen ? Ko inside 3 rounds to Ovil, I am suprised you listened to someone like that, people always think they won in sparring, Ovil sparred Cleverley did well there, maybe Mayor is better then a world champion ? You must be a family member, close friend or easily fooled mate?

no mate , people on here , know my connection to boxing , and ive alreadygot a "fact" on the guy wrong on this very thread , so that shows how close i must be , not a case of easily fooled either just that ive seen the guy sparring and know he looks good , hes an ex amateur star and if it wasnt for his time he did in jail im pretty confident everyone else on here would know who he is .

I understand the points that sparring means nothing , although if thats really the case then why bother sparring ,???? no need to do something thats meaningless , ;;-) either way he could have merely been exagerating for all i know but i suspect he would at very least be a good match for Ovil , theres a reason he gets work as a sparring partner for froch .

Fair enough mate

[canonball1234]

Sparring can go bad sometimes I saw ovil gave cliton woods a he'll of a spar!

[damianhucker1]

Mike Shinfield told me that Clev was Ovill's last spar and that was 10 days before the fight. Unless he changed his mind (?) then someone's telling porky pies.

if you read correctly i said he "apparantly" got banned from the gym for demoralising Ovil in this alleged spar , so for all we know it was 6 weeks ago , not 10 days ago , maybe after this one time spar Cleverly was brought in as chief sparring partner .

[kamicazze]

Mayor has sparred Cleverley in the past too. Done him for 2 rounds then his fitness could not keep up

[stujones]

I don't give Ovil that much of a chance (I think he blew his chance last time). However, this seems like a bit of a non-story. Its gone from having an insinuation that Ovil has been regularly schooled in the run up to this fight. To a one time spar (how many rounds?) and it could have taken place when Ovil was not in shape.

Not saying there is no truth in it, but what happens 6 or more weeks ago will not have a major bearing on his fight. If thats the case, Ali should have given up years before Zaire.

[exittored]

Im told at the gym tonight that Ovil McKenzie was toyed with and made to look rather stupid in sparring by an Ex pro and current sparring partner of Carl Froch , Gary Mayor .

This information has come indirectly from Gary himself ( he told someone else but i was earwigging)

It was apparantly to such an extent that McKenzies team banned Gary as it was considered demoralising to him .

Now dont get me wrong Gary is good , in fact hes imo world class (story for another time maybe from someone) , but surely this would be bad news for Ovil in the build up to such a big fight for him

Good news for tony though .

This may be true but how do you know that Ovil didn't allow himself to be be roughed up and dominated to prepare for similar punishment from Tony, i know many fighters who have allowed themselves to get bashed up in sparring to get battle hardened most famously Ali.

I think Ovil is going to surprise a lot of people when he fights Bellew again.

[Pugilist-specialist]

Mayor has sparred Cleverley in the past too. Done him for 2 rounds then his fitness could not keep up

Did you see this?

You did claim he beat Naz even though they were many weight divisions apart.

[damianhucker1]

there aint half some fecicious pudenda on here , i only repeated something gary had said in the gym as i thought it may be of interest yet people try to take it out of context , for example stu jones - i never claimed it was more than one spar , but likewise i dont know how many .
all i know was that Mayor claims he was banned from the gym for demoralising Ovil McKenzie following him making Ovil looking poor in sparring , now you can all take that at face value and no more , i do not how truthful it was , how many rounds , how long they sparred or when , i dont know what shape either was in , im not conspiring against anyone , im no-ones relative or close friend as far as any pro boxer at all , i don know who he beat as an amateur , gary isnt one of my unlicensed fighters ,i didnt use the word apparantly for any other reason than i didnt actually see it myself , i reported what i heard , no more .

Theres no more to this that i can add other than the original post apart from answer to people who misquote my original post .

And as far as people saying what happens in sparring has no bearing in the fight , if thats the case why bother sparring .

Nothing more to add to this thread , as i said ill reply to people misquoting my original post , as some are probably deliberate attempts to make sound a prick , wheras others will be genuine mistakes .

[kamicazze]

there aint half some fecicious pudenda on here , i only repeated something gary had said in the gym as i thought it may be of interest yet people try to take it out of context , for example stu jones - i never claimed it was more than one spar , but likewise i dont know how many .
all i know was that Mayor claims he was banned from the gym for demoralising Ovil McKenzie following him making Ovil looking poor in sparring , now you can all take that at face value and no more , i do not how truthful it was , how many rounds , how long they sparred or when , i dont know what shape either was in , im not conspiring against anyone , im no-ones relative or close friend as far as any pro boxer at all , i don know who he beat as an amateur , gary isnt one of my unlicensed fighters ,i didnt use the word apparantly for any other reason than i didnt actually see it myself , i reported what i heard , no more .

Theres no more to this that i can add other than the original post apart from answer to people who misquote my original post .

And as far as people saying what happens in sparring has no bearing in the fight , if thats the case why bother sparring .

Nothing more to add to this thread , as i said ill reply to people misquoting my original post , as some are probably deliberate attempts to make sound a prick , wheras others will be genuine mistakes .

Half of them are armchair fans not directly involved with the sport. I'm not saying being an arm chair fan aint good but to say sparring doesn't effect your fights is the biggest load of bull ive ever heard. A thread should be started on the topic and i bet all the pro's on here will back me up.

[stujones]

there aint half some fecicious pudenda on here , i only repeated something gary had said in the gym as i thought it may be of interest yet people try to take it out of context , for example stu jones - i never claimed it was more than one spar , but likewise i dont know how many .
all i know was that Mayor claims he was banned from the gym for demoralising Ovil McKenzie following him making Ovil looking poor in sparring , now you can all take that at face value and no more , i do not how truthful it was , how many rounds , how long they sparred or when , i dont know what shape either was in , im not conspiring against anyone , im no-ones relative or close friend as far as any pro boxer at all , i don know who he beat as an amateur , gary isnt one of my unlicensed fighters ,i didnt use the word apparantly for any other reason than i didnt actually see it myself , i reported what i heard , no more .

Theres no more to this that i can add other than the original post apart from answer to people who misquote my original post .

And as far as people saying what happens in sparring has no bearing in the fight , if thats the case why bother sparring .

Nothing more to add to this thread , as i said ill reply to people misquoting my original post , as some are probably deliberate attempts to make sound a prick , wheras others will be genuine mistakes .

Fair call, personally I think your original post is offering an opinion based on relatively little information e.g. "this is bad news for Ovil" and "Good news for Tony" - I think knowing when this took place would be quite important information before making that opinion.

I do think your original post gave an impression that you knew more than you later stress, based on these statements. Also when you say it was "demoralising" for Ovil IMO gives the impression that this took place frequently. I would imaging most fighters wouldn't bar an sparring partner after one session.... they would like to see if they could do something different the next time... and the next time etc before becoming demoralised.....

Nothing personal, just my take on your original post that IMO needed more facts. Off course sparring performances have a bearing on a fight, it helps you get fight fit, helps shed off any rust and keeps you sharp. My point was, how Ovil was performing 6 weeks ago might not have any reflection on how Ovil is performing now.... perhaps he would dominate Mayor in sparring now. Ali being the classic example, he would regularly look outgunned and dominated in sparring (particularly early in camp) yet he was officially the best heavyweight on the planet.

I appologise for calling it a non-story, it isn't a non-story and thanks for letting us know. Just I thought there are still alot of questions and maybe more could be made of it than there really is based on the lack of information.

[stujones]

there aint half some fecicious pudenda on here , i only repeated something gary had said in the gym as i thought it may be of interest yet people try to take it out of context , for example stu jones - i never claimed it was more than one spar , but likewise i dont know how many .
all i know was that Mayor claims he was banned from the gym for demoralising Ovil McKenzie following him making Ovil looking poor in sparring , now you can all take that at face value and no more , i do not how truthful it was , how many rounds , how long they sparred or when , i dont know what shape either was in , im not conspiring against anyone , im no-ones relative or close friend as far as any pro boxer at all , i don know who he beat as an amateur , gary isnt one of my unlicensed fighters ,i didnt use the word apparantly for any other reason than i didnt actually see it myself , i reported what i heard , no more .

Theres no more to this that i can add other than the original post apart from answer to people who misquote my original post .

And as far as people saying what happens in sparring has no bearing in the fight , if thats the case why bother sparring .

Nothing more to add to this thread , as i said ill reply to people misquoting my original post , as some are probably deliberate attempts to make sound a prick , wheras others will be genuine mistakes .

Half of them are armchair fans not directly involved with the sport. I'm not saying being an arm chair fan aint good but to say sparring doesn't effect your fights is the biggest load of bull ive ever heard. A thread should be started on the topic and i bet all the pro's on here will back me up.

Kamicazze - I've been completely misquoted..... What I meant was IF this spar session(s) took place early in camp, it doesn't necessarily mean Ovil is not going to peak at the right time. It is a tadge difficult to judge Ovil's ability to cope with Mayo based on a spar session that happened when Ovil might not be in shape and might be rusty. How much has Ovil being "ticking over" since the last fight with Bomber. This might have been his first spar when out of condition and rusty. Damien doesn't know these facts.... if this took place a couple of weeks ago, then it would be a cause for concern.

An early spar session in a camp had far less bearing than later when the weight has been made and the fighter should be sharp. Again, I mention the Ali example as the classic case. View his sparring clips early in camp and you'd be not wrong to think "how is this guy heavyweight champ". Hatton is another fighter to mention how poor he was early in camp with his spars.

In my youth I sparred hundreds of rounds.

[Deserter]

[o say sparring doesn't effect your fights is the biggest load of bull ive ever heard. A thread should be started on the topic and i bet all the pro's on here will back me up.

But I don't think anyone's saying that. What they're saying is that it's a dangerous game trying to read too much into it. As I and others have mentioned on this thread, plenty of fighters can look bad in sparring in the run-up to the fight, some of that will be down to conscious decisions such as working on weaknesses rather than concentrating on strengths. Equally, some fighters have looked a million dollars in sparring yet on the night have been unable to reproduce the goods. You can't deny that.

[damianhucker1]

there aint half some fecicious pudenda on here , i only repeated something gary had said in the gym as i thought it may be of interest yet people try to take it out of context , for example stu jones - i never claimed it was more than one spar , but likewise i dont know how many .
all i know was that Mayor claims he was banned from the gym for demoralising Ovil McKenzie following him making Ovil looking poor in sparring , now you can all take that at face value and no more , i do not how truthful it was , how many rounds , how long they sparred or when , i dont know what shape either was in , im not conspiring against anyone , im no-ones relative or close friend as far as any pro boxer at all , i don know who he beat as an amateur , gary isnt one of my unlicensed fighters ,i didnt use the word apparantly for any other reason than i didnt actually see it myself , i reported what i heard , no more .

Theres no more to this that i can add other than the original post apart from answer to people who misquote my original post .

And as far as people saying what happens in sparring has no bearing in the fight , if thats the case why bother sparring .

Nothing more to add to this thread , as i said ill reply to people misquoting my original post , as some are probably deliberate attempts to make sound a prick , wheras others will be genuine mistakes .

Fair call, personally I think your original post is offering an opinion based on relatively little information e.g. "this is bad news for Ovil" and "Good news for Tony" - I think knowing when this took place would be quite important information before making that opinion.

I do think your original post gave an impression that you knew more than you later stress, based on these statements. Also when you say it was "demoralising" for Ovil IMO gives the impression that this took place frequently. I would imaging most fighters wouldn't bar an sparring partner after one session.... they would like to see if they could do something different the next time... and the next time etc before becoming demoralised.....

Nothing personal, just my take on your original post that IMO needed more facts. Off course sparring performances have a bearing on a fight, it helps you get fight fit, helps shed off any rust and keeps you sharp. My point was, how Ovil was performing 6 weeks ago might not have any reflection on how Ovil is performing now.... perhaps he would dominate Mayor in sparring now. Ali being the classic example, he would regularly look outgunned and dominated in sparring (particularly early in camp) yet he was officially the best heavyweight on the planet.

I appologise for calling it a non-story, it isn't a non-story and thanks for letting us know. Just I thought there are still alot of questions and maybe more could be made of it than there really is based on the lack of information.

just to be clear that whole post wasnt aimed at you just a tiny part of it , i was basically replying to many comments , i dont argue with what youve just said , just felt some people were saying it was bollocks and seemed to me like they thought i was chatting crap despite it only being me repeating something

[majormayor]

Hey hey hey! its Gary Mayor here! Can I just make a few very valid points please? For starters I go gym cause I like to keep in shape. I am not in training to fight anyone! I am not a gym fighter i just do it cause I love it, Boxing is my hobby!
Ovil McKenzie is a warrior and I would never disrespect him in anyway. I hope he wins tonight and I will be there cheering him on! Have I sparred him before? Yes I have and the first time I did I was running for my life! Thats all i'll say about that!
Would i like to box again? Of course I WOULD CAUSE i LOVE THE SPORT! Am I any good? Well if I get my licence to fight then you will see if I am or not! Will I be a boxing legend? Probably not! Will I make myself happy? Probably will!
All you guys on here have very valid points in many ways and I respect you all! Thanks. Oh yeah by the way I haven't fought for nearly 20 years and I have never boxed as a pro, just mainly a junior amatuer! If I do come back maybe I will call myself Gary "The Journeyman" Mayor! Hahahahaha. Cheers guys
Oh yeah, I have sparred Carl Froch as well and I was running for my life there too! Not a great resume` for someone allegedly so good! lol
Seriously though, I am a decent boxer and if given the chance i may surprise a few people with my abilities!
Thanks anyway guys

[damianhucker1]

Hey hey hey! its Gary Mayor here! Can I just make a few very valid points please? For starters I go gym cause I like to keep in shape. I am not in training to fight anyone! I am not a gym fighter i just do it cause I love it, Boxing is my hobby!
Ovil McKenzie is a warrior and I would never disrespect him in anyway. I hope he wins tonight and I will be there cheering him on! Have I sparred him before? Yes I have and the first time I did I was running for my life! Thats all i'll say about that!
Would i like to box again? Of course I WOULD CAUSE i LOVE THE SPORT! Am I any good? Well if I get my licence to fight then you will see if I am or not! Will I be a boxing legend? Probably not! Will I make myself happy? Probably will!
All you guys on here have very valid points in many ways and I respect you all! Thanks. Oh yeah by the way I haven't fought for nearly 20 years and I have never boxed as a pro, just mainly a junior amatuer! If I do come back maybe I will call myself Gary "The Journeyman" Mayor! Hahahahaha. Cheers guys
Oh yeah, I have sparred Carl Froch as well and I was running for my life there too! Not a great resume` for someone allegedly so good! lol
Seriously though, I am a decent boxer and if given the chance i may surprise a few people with my abilities!
Thanks anyway guys

hope you dont think i was out of line in starting this whole thing off , bit of hype and publicity never hurt anyones boxing career , i dont claim to really know you , we just rub shoulders at the gym , but i know that some of the lads are learning a lot from you in the sparring, which can only be good . Safe .

[majormayor]

Hey hey hey! its Gary Mayor here! Can I just make a few very valid points please? For starters I go gym cause I like to keep in shape. I am not in training to fight anyone! I am not a gym fighter i just do it cause I love it, Boxing is my hobby!
Ovil McKenzie is a warrior and I would never disrespect him in anyway. I hope he wins tonight and I will be there cheering him on! Have I sparred him before? Yes I have and the first time I did I was running for my life! Thats all i'll say about that!
Would i like to box again? Of course I WOULD CAUSE i LOVE THE SPORT! Am I any good? Well if I get my licence to fight then you will see if I am or not! Will I be a boxing legend? Probably not! Will I make myself happy? Probably will!
All you guys on here have very valid points in many ways and I respect you all! Thanks. Oh yeah by the way I haven't fought for nearly 20 years and I have never boxed as a pro, just mainly a junior amatuer! If I do come back maybe I will call myself Gary "The Journeyman" Mayor! Hahahahaha. Cheers guys
Oh yeah, I have sparred Carl Froch as well and I was running for my life there too! Not a great resume` for someone allegedly so good! lol
Seriously though, I am a decent boxer and if given the chance i may surprise a few people with my abilities!
Thanks anyway guys

Thats cool! If I ever do turn pro I think alot of people would be surprised! Watch this space I say!


hope you dont think i was out of line in starting this whole thing off , bit of hype and publicity never hurt anyones boxing career , i dont claim to really know you , we just rub shoulders at the gym , but i know that some of the lads are learning a lot from you in the sparring, which can only be good . Safe .

[damianhucker1]

Hey hey hey! its Gary Mayor here! Can I just make a few very valid points please? For starters I go gym cause I like to keep in shape. I am not in training to fight anyone! I am not a gym fighter i just do it cause I love it, Boxing is my hobby!
Ovil McKenzie is a warrior and I would never disrespect him in anyway. I hope he wins tonight and I will be there cheering him on! Have I sparred him before? Yes I have and the first time I did I was running for my life! Thats all i'll say about that!
Would i like to box again? Of course I WOULD CAUSE i LOVE THE SPORT! Am I any good? Well if I get my licence to fight then you will see if I am or not! Will I be a boxing legend? Probably not! Will I make myself happy? Probably will!
All you guys on here have very valid points in many ways and I respect you all! Thanks. Oh yeah by the way I haven't fought for nearly 20 years and I have never boxed as a pro, just mainly a junior amatuer! If I do come back maybe I will call myself Gary "The Journeyman" Mayor! Hahahahaha. Cheers guys
Oh yeah, I have sparred Carl Froch as well and I was running for my life there too! Not a great resume` for someone allegedly so good! lol
Seriously though, I am a decent boxer and if given the chance i may surprise a few people with my abilities!
Thanks anyway guys

Thats cool! If I ever do turn pro I think alot of people would be surprised! Watch this space I say!

hope you dont think i was out of line in starting this whole thing off , bit of hype and publicity never hurt anyones boxing career , i dont claim to really know you , we just rub shoulders at the gym , but i know that some of the lads are learning a lot from you in the sparring, which can only be good . Safe .

Sound , thought about it afterwards and realised it may not have been the smartest idea to say it on here with regards to you getting offered work as a sparring partner , but people on here know who you are now , so thats a few more tickets sold if you do ever box pro