Call me cynical...

[bennie]

Former British light-welterweight champion Mark Winters struggled to a draw in his last fight with Martin Watson in an eight-rounder at Belfast. "I was shocking," Winters admitted afterwards.
He's just been announced as the next challenger to British lightweight champion Graham Earl.
Oh, the game never fails to disappoint.

[Kilburn]

What exactly happened to Jon Thaxton? He was supposed to be getting a shot at Vanzie not so long ago.

Winters is clearly a poor British title challenger right now, although after the semi-scare against Jon Honney last time they're obviously going to take no chances with Earl while he's gunning for ownership of the Lonsdale belt.

[TerribleTerry]

A motivated Winters who has made weight properly is a legitimate threat. He has some silky skills.
Whether this will be the fighter who shows up or not is another question.

[steve689]

That's Boxing these days for you Bennie, you would think his draw and overall performance would push him back another couple of fights but a bad performance seems to push him closer to the title challenge! Travis Simms and Lawrence Murphy's recent wins highlighted the problem with Boxing today for me, both came from nowhere and with one punch left the respective arena's as "World Champions". Ridiculous :(

[celticwarrior]

Write off Winters at your peril. His decision loss against Earl before was regarded by some as contentious and on his day when he's up for it he's a match for any lightweight in Britain. Remember he's a former British champ at light welter and has a draw with James Hare. His last fight was disappointing but I'm willing to put that down to a motivation problem. He'll certainly be up for Earl who lets face it hasn't exactly looked unbeatable recently.

[Kieran]

Kilburn,
Thaxton was involved in a car crash, when a lorry struck his car about 10 months ago ? and he sustained a shoulder injury that is taking a while to sort itself out, hence the inactivity.

[Kilburn]

Oh right cheers beagle, that was a set back he could've really done without.

[silkov]

Whats happened to Vanzie?... he was robbed against Earl and should have been given an instant rematch..... I wouldn't blame him if he's walked away from the game after the shabby way he's been treated.

[stujones]

Whats happened to Vanzie?... he was robbed against Earl and should have been given an instant rematch..... I wouldn't blame him if he's walked away from the game after the shabby way he's been treated.

Yeah I agree, I'm not sure who Vanzie is connected with. He deserves a rematch, although I do think he's in decline.