MTK: The Golden Contract | Light-Heavyweight Tournament

[handsofstone]

Happy days , that weekend there was brutal without any sport, I'm still tipping Burton to win it outright, even though Wood and Mimoune let me down already

[margaret thatcher]

Mimo didn't let you down so much as those f@cking disgusting judges Marcus McDonnell, Chas Coakley, and Kieran McCann did

A-side bois!! MTK cash grabbers!!

Ref couldn't even believe what he was hearing

[handsofstone]

That was horrendous that

[margaret thatcher]

I wonder about Ricky Bolotniks, was a bit of a journeyman but his last 2 wins are nice

[3132DW]

While most worldwide boxing events are being shut down, Friday’s “Golden Contract” light heavyweight semi-finals card at York Hall in London is still a go. Tickets are still available and all the scheduled fight week festivities will proceed normally for the MTK Boxing event that will air live on Sky Sports in the UK in association with Matchroom Boxing and on ESPN+ in the US in association with Top Rank.

Light heavyweights Hosea Burton (25-1, 11 KOs), Liam Conroy (18-5-1, 9 KOs), Ricards Bolotniks (16-5-1, 7 KOs), and Serge Michel (10-1, 7 KOs) will learn their opponents this week. Each fighter will pull a ball out of a bag and the man who gets the “golden ball” will be allowed to choose his opponent. The eventual winner of the tournament earns a two-year, five-fight deal with six-figure purses for each fight guaranteed.

I wonder if this will change before Friday, something to watch if not horrendous having so little sport on.

Would say after than Bulletin from Prime Minister this won’t be going ahead. Expect most shows now cancelled Apr/May.

[PeteCatermole]

Maybe behind closed doors ?

[Ruthless-RKO]

The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) has announced that all events in March that fall under its jurisdiction have now been cancelled.

Shows around the world havie been canceled at an alarming rate due to the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, with the BBBoC officially followng suit.

“With regard to the above [Covid-19] and the statement made by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, all public tournaments under the jurisdiction of the British Boxing Board of Control are unfortunately cancelled," Robert W. Smith, general secretary of BBBoC announced in a statement on Tuesday. "Further consideration of the matter will take place at the beginning of April.”

Confirmations have been coming through, with this week’s MTK Golden Contract light heavyweight semi-finals, which also featured the Commonwealth and vacant British super lightweight title clash between Philip Bowes and Akeem Ennis-Brown, now postponed. Full refunds will be available from point of sale.

“The #GoldenContract light-heavyweight semi-finals will take place at a later date and we look forward to bringing big-time boxing back to as many venues and as many TV screens as quickly as we can. In the meantime, we hope you all stay safe,” MTK Global wrote in a statement published not long after inboxes received word from the British Boxing Board.

[Ruthless-RKO]

MTK's Golden Contract Finals Are Targeted For Late August

MTK Global is aiming to stage their first show in the UK since the coronavirus pandemic next month, with the Golden Contract super-lightweight and featherweight finals likely to go ahead on the same show in late August.

Ohara Davies and Tyrone McKenna are due to clash in an acrimonious final at super-lightweight, with Ryan Walsh and Jazza Dickens the last two standing at featherweight.

Both made it through the semi-finals in February but plans to stage the finals have been put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic. Now it appears likely the both fights will take place on the same show behind closed doors.

Paul Gibson, the chief strategy officer for MTK Global, said they were working the Sky to stage the bouts in August after Eddie Hearn’s Fight Camp series has wrapped up.

However, the tournament’s light-heavyweight final stages will be delayed. The semi-finals – featuring Hosea Burton, Serge Michel, Liam Conroy and Ricards Bolotniks – had been due to take pace on March 20, but was postponed three days before because of the rising threat of the pandemic.

Because of the multi-nations cast list, it is unlikely those semi-finals will now take place until September at the earliest, with a rush then on to stage the final this year.

“It will need to be after Eddie has finished his Fight Camp shows, because all Sky resources will be tied up in that,” Gibson said.

“The super-lightweight and featherweight finals feature four British and Irish boxers, so it is a lot easier to control, without having to have people flying in. We have been unlucky with the light-heavyweights, because we were all set to go for March 20 when the lockdown stopped it. Now we will have to wait a bit longer.”

MTK Global will be back before the Golden Contract shows and is planning to stage shows in July, August and September, as part of its deal with ESPN+. The shows will be shown in the UK on IFL TV.

The company is also looking to stage a show in Kazakhstan in mid-July, although there will not be any Dubai shows in the near future.

“The Board have put a lot of hoops to jump through, although all of them are absolutely necessary and they have been very good,” Gibson said. “But there is quite a bit of infrastructure and procedure needs to be put in place.

“We are hoping to do a show in late July, late August and late September. They will be limited cards but they will be good competitive matches, with some top prospects getting out too.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Still waiting on Semi Finals for this one..

[NoScoutingReports]

[Ruthless-RKO]

Golden Contract light-heavyweight semi-final draw made

The Golden Contract light-heavyweight semi-finals were confirmed last night – after a dramatic draw from Production Park Studios in Wakefield.

The four remaining fighters in the competition are Hosea Burton, Liam Conroy, Ricards Bolotniks and Serge Michel, with each of them taking part in the draw online via Zoom.

Alex Steedman and Barry Jones hosted the draw to determine who would receive the Golden Ball and have the opportunity to select their opponent. After drawing the balls on behalf of each fighter alphabetically, it was Michel (10-1, 7 KOs) who had the chance to choose.

He opted to face Conroy (18-5-1, 9 KOs) with that fight taking place on September 30, meaning that Burton (25-1, 11 KOs) will have to travel to Riga, Latvia to take on Bolotniks (16-5-1, 7 KOs) in the other semi-final on September 26.

The four fighters reached the semi-final stage after impressive showings in the quarter-final, with Bolotniks earning a devastating first round knockout win over Steven Ward, and there were impressive points wins for Burton over Bob Ajisafe, Conroy against Andre Sterling, and Michel vs. Tommy Philbin.

The fight between Conroy and Michel is another huge addition to the event on September 30, as that will also feature the highly-anticipated super-lightweight and featherweight finals, with Ohara Davies taking on Tyrone McKenna, while Ryan Walsh goes up against Jazza Dickens.

It will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports in association with Matchroom Boxing, and live in the US on ESPN+ in association with Top Rank.

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[Ruthless-RKO]

Liam Conroy vs Serge Michel on September 30, live on IFL TV

Serge Michel appears to have his sights already set on the #GoldenContract final – branding Liam Conroy as a ‘warm-up fight’ ahead of their light-heavyweight semi-final later this month.

The two men will meet on a massive card on September 30, which will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports in association with Matchroom Boxing, and live in the US on ESPN+ in association with Top Rank.

Michel (10-1, 7 KOs) received the Golden Ball during last week’s draw and decided to pick Conroy (18-5-1, 9 KOs), and the German is in an extremely confident mood.

Michel said: “I never expected the Golden Ball to stay inside the bag until the end, so I guess God’s hand was in the game in my favour.

“I haven’t been in the ring since December when it was the quarter-finals, and Liam Conroy will be a good warm-up for me before the finals.

“My coach and father will study Liam and I trust and listen to what is said. Of course, together with my coach, I’ll take a look at one of the other fights of Conroy and then we will set up our plan.

“I will come to England as a guest and I expect a tough fight and no gifts. I have trained hard for this and I will win clearly and convincingly.

“I think these last few months were not easy for everyone, but I never lost sight of my goal and the goal is to win the tournament. This forced break makes me even more hungry for this fight than ever.”

Liam Conroy has warned Serge Michel that he’s made a big mistake by picking him ahead of their #GoldenContract light-heavyweight semi-final.

Michel (10-1, 7 KOs) received the Golden Ball during last week’s draw and decided to pick Conroy (18-5-1, 9 KOs), but the Englishman says that has made him even hungrier for the battle.

Conroy said: “I was pleased with the draw. I would have been pleased whichever way it went but finally getting an opponent to think about has lit a fire in me. Now I have someone to picture when visualising the fight.

“Being picked has given me an extra little boost in training because Serge chose me. The fact he thinks I’m the one he has the best chance against makes me so hungry. I think our styles gel well and it makes for a good fight, but I can only see me winning at the end of it.

“I’m so excited. It’s been a long few months over lockdown since the cancellation last time and I’ve just been dying to fight the whole time. I’m so lucky MTK have put this on behind closed doors.

“I know Michel was an Olympian so he must be a high standard of boxer, but apart from that I don’t know too much about him. I’m expecting it to be a real 50-50 and coming towards the back end of the fight my desire will be shown.”

The semi-final between Conroy vs. Michel take places on the undercard of the #GoldenContract super-lightweight and featherweight finals, as Ohara Davies faces Tyrone McKenna, and Ryan Walsh takes on Jazza Dickens.

The other light-heavyweight semi-final sees Hosea Burton travel to Latvia to take on Ricards Bolotniks on September 26, with that fight broadcast live on IFL TV.

[PredatorHayds]

I can see Burton being the overall winner of this as long as he avoids a big shot in Riga.

[handsofstone]

Bolotniks icing Ward was a bit of a shocker, Ward caught cold, it makes this fight a bit interesting, I'd have thought Burton/Ward would've been competitive so may be more to this than Burton just boxing his way safe to a wide decision, Bolotniks I'd imagine looking to take Burton's head off, still Burton should nullify Bolotniks for the points win

[Ruthless-RKO]

[PredatorHayds]

I think Burton will stop him Saturday.
Burton will get rounds in the bank and walk him onto something mid-late rounds.

[margaret thatcher]

Let's go cinderella man Ricky Bolotniks, go in there and out man him like Bugs did

[steve689]

Burton will stop Bolotniks. He beat Ward simply because Ward is not very good.

[margaret thatcher]

Bolo is on a hot streak and used to bigger men, Burton is at best 1-1 (stoppage loss) at Brit level with only 11 stopped in 26, go on Bolo and upset another

[Cholo_cws]

Bit confused. Are both Burton-Bolotniks from Riga and Dorticus-Breidis from Germany being shown by Sky Sports on Saturday?

[NoScoutingReports]

Bit confused. Are both Burton-Bolotniks from Riga and Dorticus-Breidis from Germany being shown by Sky Sports on Saturday?

The Burton fight is live on YouTube via iFL TV:

[Ruthless-RKO]

Bit confused. Are both Burton-Bolotniks from Riga and Dorticus-Breidis from Germany being shown by Sky Sports on Saturday?

The Burton fight is live on YouTube via iFL TV:

Golden Contract was supposed to be Sky Sports, but I think cuz the WBSS moved to Germany, they could have done a split telecast tbh.

[Manchester Massive]

I'd take Burton to stop him also, he usually does well when fighters come forward to him

[IrishGuy]

What do yous make of Oliver Joyce vs Baluta? Is that on this card?