OLUSEGUN: ‘THE BEST DON’T WANT TO FIGHT ME’

[Stegsie]

Ajose Olusegun has been waiting for 18 months for the chance to fight for a title and the opportunity finally arrives on Friday night when he fights Gary Reid for the vacant Commonwealth light welterweight title.

Last Friday Olusegun was one of the many TV spectators who witnessed Colin Lynes outpoint Motherwell’s Barry Morrison in the Scot’s first British light welterweight title defence.

Only 12 months ago Lynes had agreed to fight the still unbeaten Olusegun 19-0 (10) for the vacant Commonwealth title only for him to pull out 10 days before the bout.

The tide has now turned for the talented Olusegun who undoubtedly deserves a change of luck.

“I have great respect for Gary Reid 13-16-1 ( 8 ) as he is the only British based fighter who is willing to get into the ring with me, Olusegun said.

“If Colin Lynes wants to get it on I am ready for him too. There are no excuses this time for him not to fight me for his British title.

“I will also be rooting for Ricky Hatton when he fights Jose Luis Castillo in Las Vegas next week. Ricky is a real fighter’s fighter and I would welcome the opportunity to fight him. I am so eager to get in the ring with him I would fight him for my purse only so if I lose he doesn’t have to pay me.

“I am desperate to fight the best but the best don’t want to fight me. I am a lonely shark in the light welterweight ocean.

“I need big fights to satisfy my hunger and 2007 and 2008 are going to be big years for me now that I am finally getting the chances I deserve.

Frank Maloney Promotions presents the vacant Commonwealth light welterweight championship fight and full supporting card at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, Ledrington Road London SE19 2BB on June 15, 2007. Tickets are priced at £70 and £40 and are available by logging onto http://www.frankmaloney.com or by calling the Box Office at 0871 226 1508. The fight is also televised live on Sky TV. For any further press information please call 02086914165.

[Horse]

“If Colin Lynes wants to get it on I am ready for him too. There are no excuses this time for him not to fight me for his British title.

Is Olusegun eligible for the British Title? I don't think so.

[Coco]

I'll fight him!

[hitman_hatton1]

i rate olusegun highly.

he'd beat the likes of witter and m'baye.

[jimmy the gent]

i've sparred with Ajose many times. I'm usually about a stone heavier than him. He's a quality operator, that can mix it up, and can box, he has quick hands and pretty quick feet, with a solid enough shot for a light welter. He beats the likes of lynes, barry morrison and daws. I think he'll have more of a harder time with bami, and mutley but wins. I def. think he can make an impact on the elite of the division, whether he's good enough to beat them is a thing that he is going to have to prove when he gets there.

[ArtOfWar]

i've sparred with Ajose many times. I'm usually about a stone heavier than him. He's a quality operator, that can mix it up, and can box, he has quick hands and pretty quick feet, with a solid enough shot for a light welter. He beats the likes of lynes, barry morrison and daws. I think he'll have more of a harder time with bami, and mutley but wins. I def. think he can make an impact on the elite of the division, whether he's good enough to beat them is a thing that he is going to have to prove when he gets there.

I seriously doubt he will get there. It's taken him forever to get a commonwealth title shot. He simply doesn't have any kind of name and being that he's a foreigner fighting in Britain means things aren't likely to change. Add that to the fact that his promoter doesn't carry much weight (figuratively speaking) and it's hard to see how Olusegun will make it anywhere near the top.

[Autobarn]

it will be criminal if he doesn't make it. he has all the talent that brtish boxing needs. he needs DEVELOPING. if developed, he smashes up bami, mutley and the rest. if he beats those level guys, he's ready to bridge the gap between domestic/commonwealth and world level. don't waste this talent maloney.

[jimmy the gent]

ArtofWar,I disagree. He has lived in Britain for five years now, he has beat some top names, he's been here long enough that he knows quite a few people. As you are seeing he is getting his name out there and this will be the second time he has received top billing on sky. Topped with the fact that he is a nice fella with a likable and marketable personality, thats not afraid to challenge the best.

[Max Molyneux]

i rate olusegun highly.

he'd beat the likes of witter and m'baye.

Thats a bit premature to say.

[Autobarn]

Olusegun said “I will also be rooting for Ricky Hatton when he fights Jose Luis Castillo in Las Vegas next week. Ricky is a real fighter’s fighter and I would welcome the opportunity to fight him. I am so eager to get in the ring with him I would fight him for my purse only so if I lose he doesn’t have to pay me.

“I am desperate to fight the best but the best don’t want to fight me. I am a lonely shark in the light welterweight ocean.

“I need big fights to satisfy my hunger and 2007 and 2008 are going to be big years for me now that I am finally getting the chances I deserve.

i think ajose has stumbled onto something here, without realizing it!! he needs to follow hatton's lead by coming to the usa for quality fights...IMO he will do way better than audley harrison when audley had his brief fling in the states!!

audley's plan was a great idea, he just wasnt able to execute as he had hoped!! i believe ajose will be successful if he relocates to the usa for a year or so and makes a name for himself!!

i've been thinking of that. his promoter maoney seems comfortable promoting David Haye. Haye is another guy who will leave Maloney. In this case, he is going to quit the moment he wins a heavyweight title belt...it seems he doesn't know what to do with olusegun or munyai. i mean, they were going to be on Martin Power's undercard FFS (Power, twice outclassed by Munyai...). If given the chances, Olusegun's not going to retire age 30 to become a model or a DJ. He's a natural fighter.

In America, someone like Shaw or DiBella would have snapped him up and got him undercard fights on world title cards.

I believe he has to go to America to get fights. He's too good for the limited leisure centre mentality.

[WildWaylon]

i've sparred with Ajose many times. I'm usually about a stone heavier than him. He's a quality operator, that can mix it up, and can box, he has quick hands and pretty quick feet, with a solid enough shot for a light welter. He beats the likes of lynes, barry morrison and daws. I think he'll have more of a harder time with bami, and mutley but wins. I def. think he can make an impact on the elite of the division, whether he's good enough to beat them is a thing that he is going to have to prove when he gets there.

IMO you should know better than most how good he is, so I respect your comments - Really looking forward to the fight tomorrow but it doesnt seem to be enough of a challenge, and he should win pretty easily - Not sure he has to move to the States, there are people here such as Lynes, Bami, Muttley, Daws, Morrison etc who can test him - I actually think he could even beat Witter who is IMO not as good as he has been in the past - Its down to his promoter to push for the top fights after this one rather than have him defend against people with no real chance - I think he is very capable of selling tickets in this country because he is popular with the British public and will be even more so if he has a good win tomorrow - He has confidence without arrogance unlike Witter who isnt that popular because of his arrogant attitude - I say push him forward, its time to let him swim in the deep end of the pool and mix with the guys who are already there.

[fried bread]

He means that Maloney likes to stage shows involving local boys, often at sports/leisure centres. Minor shows involving what are now retreads. Whereas the 2 Africans are obviously exciting, accomplished and have real ring presence. Given that he is underselling world level prospects and giving other guys 2nd and 3rd chances (Power, Napa, probably the list goes on but I'm not interested in these fighters), a lot of people think this is criminal.

[DAVE2005]

Also David Barnes is now light welter that would be a good scrap too.

[hitman_hatton1]

i rate olusegun highly.

he'd beat the likes of witter and m'baye.

Thats a bit premature to say.

not for me.

he proved against ali that he can fight at a high tempo and has good skills.

i'm convinced.

[Autobarn]

Also David Barnes is now light welter that would be a good scrap too.

Barnes has a good tricky style. With that combined with his strange mindset, it'd be a decent workout for Ajose.

Ajose is one fierce guy. Why did Sky not show his last fight?! He can look a bit wild sometimes, but he has a lovely right jab, super fast hands and is ferocious. Terrific fighter.

Oh, btw, Munyai foe named shocker! Harry Ramogoudi...Not heard that name before LOL. at least Munyai doesn't have to boil down all the way to 122.


Max only wants the Sports Network seal of approval. If that ever happened, he'd have no end of enthusiasm, LOL

[Autobarn]

Olusegun gave a showing best described as "Witter-esque." All that talent and you made it easy to root for the OTHER guy. It was clear as he made the ring walk that he'd fallen in love with himself. I liked Ajose when he was unknown and gunning for ppl. I don't like him like this, and I was his biggest cheerleader.

Of course, we can't expect him to be special every time. But he can do better than that.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I'm with you there. You don't become a big draw by showboating and taking the piss, or skipping around the ring in a fight you are dominating.

In the early stages, it looked like all he Olesogun had to do was to continue to apply pressure to force a stoppage of one kind or another, but he seemed unwilling to stand still long enough to do so. Too much opportunity was wasted trying to look flash and skittering around the ring.

I've not seen enough of him to know if that is his general style, but prior results suggest he is capable of far better.

Perhaps the occasion got to him a little bit, the pressure might have made him cautious of getting caught with a big shot when he was headlining a show.

He seems to have all the tools at his disposal, though his jab could be straightened up a bit, it was a bit like an overhand right at times.

Jury is out on what he can do at a higher level, easily dominated the fight, but he would do better to abandon all that showboating, it's not going to win him any fans at all.

Had he scored a devastating KO tonight, which I think he could have done, despite Reid's toughness, he would have made some new fans, all he achieved tonight was pissing a few purists off.

The commonwealth title is no big shakes these days, lets face it, so he hasn't got anywhere just by winning the title, and I think he is still going to struggle to get opportunities with that nightmarish style of his. If I had a European level or fringe world class performer, why would I put him in the ring with Olesogun?

I see a long road ahead for Ajose, fighting his way gradually up the European rankings, before getting a shot against the likes of Bami.

For what it is worth, I think he would have the beating of Bami, who isn't the hardest to find, but he would need to be focussed and not piss about, because Ted can certainly bang if given an open target for that uppercut.

[Old bones Ian]

I've posted this on another thread , but thought i'd ask here as well.

Did olusegun remind anyone of the night Naz Hamed outboxed Vincenzo Belcastro, but showed to much contempt and ended up not pleasing the crowd.

[Autobarn]

Sort of. But Naz didn't let Belcastro hit him. Ajose was clowning but the joke was on him in the end. He even got shaken at least once or twice.

When Ajose gets on with the job, he is awesome. He has the fastest hands in British boxing. He bashed up Pryce and Numbembe. This guy has defining wins. Which no other 'world class prospect' types have (Munyai aside).

But I have to say I was disgusted tonight. The inacivity and shit interim fights can't help.

[jimmy the gent]

I think 'disgusted' is a bit strong. I thought he looked very good against a limited tight, tough guy. he probably could have stopped it, but didnt need to. I dont think that he over did it with the showboating, i just think that he wanted to show how good he is and his way of showing this was to show boat. I too, am not a big fan of over showboating. But this certainly was no Naz-belcastro. What impressed me most with Ajose was his hand speed, and creating angles plus he seems to have excellent stamina.

Well done to Gary reid, you stuck in there.