BoxRec

The British middleweight division has a number of contenders waiting impatiently for WBC number one Howard Eastman to secure that second elusive world title shot and vacate his Lonsdale Belt. Scott Dann, Steven Bendall, Wayne Elcock, P.J. Maxwell and Peter Jackson are just such contenders. But the dark horse of the division is born-again Ryan Rhodes in my opinion. He has a big year ahead of him if things go to plan. He could soon be right back up there...

Bennie, if Ryan Rhodes becomes British Middleweight Champion I will buy you a bottle of your choice.

Do you think his chin has anything left?

Loynesy wrote:Bennie, if Ryan Rhodes becomes British Middleweight Champion I will buy you a bottle of your choice.

Do you think his chin has anything left?

We'll see in his next fight in February. I can't reveal the opponent, as I've been sworn to secrecy, but it's a fight that makes or breaks the Sheffield man.

Bennie - you tease.

Is he domestic?

Bennie - my crystal ball says he is the comeback opponent for Tito.....

Michael Monaghan.

Although beating this guy wouldn't exactly "make" Rhodes.

Ah...yes, it's Tito. No, seriously, it is domestic, and when I say a win will put Rhodes back up there, I mean back up in the domestic mix.

bennie wrote:The British middleweight division has a number of contenders waiting impatiently for WBC number one Howard Eastman to secure that second elusive world title shot and vacate his Lonsdale Belt. Scott Dann, Steven Bendall, Wayne Elcock, P.J. Maxwell and Peter Jackson are just such contenders. But the dark horse of the division is born-again Ryan Rhodes in my opinion. He has a big year ahead of him if things go to plan. He could soon be right back up there...

Mmm... have you been reading my breakthrough fighters of 2004. I do agree. You did forget to mention Lawrence Murphy and Ruben Groenwald (has he retired though).

As for Ryan Rhodes' opponent - my guess would be a revenge job against Blundell or maybe an exciting fight against Sam Soliman.

Would love to see him against Soliman.

Knockout would know if they were fighting, he's good mates with Sam.

Loynesy: I last spoke to Sam a couple of weeks a go and there was no mention of this...it seems highly unlikely.

Sam finally has a manager who understands how the rating system works and he is getting Sam fights that will increase his ratings..... gone are the days when he will take a last minute fight in the opponents back yard.

I'd like PJ Maxwell to come thru.

Just been chatting to him over on Eastside - nice Lad, little amateur backround but he sounds like a man in a hurry - hoping for some BBC exposure.

Also Rhodes seems to have been around for ever, with little success - such is the price you pay for pedalling the "Spice Boy" tag.

Firt of all, certain posters may well accuse me of bias.
However, 2004 is the big year for Rhodes, as Bennie has pointed out.
There has been a game plan with Mick Hennessey for a while now, and all things equal early 2004 will see that game plan come to fruition.
Loynsey - I'll take your bet if it's on offer.
Lugh - Rhodes is 27 so whether you feel he's been around for ages fact is, he's now in his prime.
Jacko posts on here - let him tell you what it's like in the ring with him at the moment.
Rhodes is back in peak form, so ignore him at your peril.
I'm quite enjoying the fact he's out of the lime light at the moment.
I have a feeling some eyebrows would have been raised had highlights of the Jackson fight been shown.
Forget Blundell - he doesn't want to know despite repeated offers.
Soliman won't happen.
Rhodes has had his problems in the past - but they are over.
New regime training wise.
Settled family man with his wife and two lovely daughters.
Listen, some boxers take longer than others to mature, but you never lose natural ability.
It took a lot to get him back where he is today and I can't see him wasting this chance.
I haven't seen a name mentioned here domestically, that Rhodes would not happily take on today and you can add the Sports Network crew Farnell Lockett etc.
Time will tell ....

LUGH,
I've got to take you to task re "little success"
So, Lonsdale belt owned outright, won in the shortest time in history, and fighting for the World Title at 21 represent little success ?
Give me the Lonsdale belt any day than a poxy WBU / WBF so called World Title.
Did Elcock a load of good, didn't it ?
I am proud of what Ryan has achieved already, and if he never won another fight, you can't take his "little success" away.

Thanks for the inside information, Kieran. I had been informed Ryan would be fighting Lee Blundell again in February...that looks unlikey now.

Bennie,
I've been out of the UK, so unless something's happened in the last few days..... I'll find out.
The target has always been another fighter you mentioned, with the same initial !!!

Oh, right. Steven Bendall. That's a good fight for Rhodes.

bennie wrote:Oh, right. Steven Bendall. That's a good fight for Rhodes.

Bendall cannot punch too hard and his chin isnt to great... a very winnable fight for Ryan

Knockout,
Subject to what happens with Eastman, this could be a great match up for the vacant British title, don't you think ?

The Middleweight scene in Britain is a little bit desperate at the moment and that also goes for the world too! Ryan Rhodes can return and i hope he does, i remember him arriving on the scene with wins over guys like Lindon Scarlett, Paul Jones and then that title tilt against Otis Grant, a fight with the very ordinary Steve Bendall is winnable for Ryan.

My pick for heir apparent a few months back would have been Wayne Elcock no question, he seemed to have it all after he tamed Anthony Farnell but that loss to Lawrence Murphy has set him back of course. Scott Dann is a decent fighter but i doubt if he is British level quality although he put up a decent effort against Eastman for how long it lasted. P.J. Maxwell is a darkhorse, all i have seen of him though is that blow out of Andy Holder, is he any good?

Steve,
Maxwell, aka Drinkwater is well known to us in Sheffield.
He had a spell at Wincobank.
He's a total inigma.
He's a problem whoever Manages or trains him.
Billy Graham even had a go at one stage.
He's the "Alexander" of the Middleweights.
If you give him the chance to connect, he has very powerful hands.
However, I don't think he's got the ability to handle anyone "cute" who would take him to the latter stages of a fight.
He suffers as well from indiscipline.
Swearing at referees at an audible level for the crowd to hear has happened before.
It cost him a slot on the BBC recently.
I agree maybe a threat, but I wouldn't be concerned in a Rhodes v Maxwell fight.

I havent seen Maxwell so i cant comment but sounds like i good lad coming through.Funny thing about Ryan was i used to watch Ryan with my mates in the pub,i think i had had one amateur fight at the time and i remember thinking "man this guy is awesome" so boxing him was strange, the fight it's self i found Ryan very easy to man handle in the corners he was very light though he actually looks bigger than me on the tape when you watch it.I got to say i thought he had made a big improvement from the Blundell fight,it's true i am nowhere near this guys class or experiance so talk about me in maybe two years time guys..lol....serious he hit me from angles i never new exsited!! but honestly they never hurt me or wobbled once once though he did win every round.I think Ryan and Bendall would be a great fight typical boxer v Talented fighter in Rhodes.
For the record Ryan was a very nice guy after the fight i was suprised i always thought he was to cocky maybe it had somehitng to do with me taking him the distance.

Jacko,
You are so wrong about Ryan.
1/ Not cocky
2/ Not arrogant, but
3/ Always genuine about his opponent.
You gave him an excellent, well overdue workout.
You were better than Wesley and Gilbert.
You mention him being easy to handle.
Ryan is a Middleweight, in fact I believe he should still operate at Light Middle.
He's no Super Middle, but when he knew your weight, he wasn't going to give you a stone advantage.
However, Ryan does retain his power when down at 11st 6lbs.
This match was originally made at Middle.
Had that transpired, then the man handling may have taken on a different meaning.
I hope you manage to secure fights against other top ranking operators.
It would then be interesting to do a comparison.
I'm surprised you say never hurt, some of the early body shots you took, didn't look that way to me !

Jacko11 wrote:I havent seen Mazwell so i cant comment but sounds like i good lad coming through.Funny thing about Ryan was i used to wacth Ryan with my mates in the pub i think i had had one amateur fight at the time and i remember thinking "man this guy is awesome" so boxing him was strange, the fight it's self i found Ryan very easy to man handle in the corners he was very light though he actually looks bigger than me on the tape when you watch it.I got to say i though he had made i big improvement from the Blundell fight,it's true i am nowhere near this guys class or experiance so talk about me in maybe two years time guys..lol....serious he hit me from angles i never new exsited!! but honestly they never hurt me or wobbled once once though he did win every round.I think Ryan and Bendell would be a great fight typical boxer v Talented fighter in Rhodes.
For the record Ryan was a very nice guy after the fight i was suprise i always thought he was to cocky maybe it had somehitng to do with me taking him the distance

Very honest, thankyou.

I look forward to seeing Ryan back and believe he does have a geniune chance to breakthrough in 2004 (as I mentioned), people seem to be not mentioning Murphy or Groenwald much here, they are the two in pole position with Farnell back down at Light Middle.

Kieren i meant he was very light when i was tanggled with him chap not that he was a push over weight wise i have found other opponents heavy when i'm up close what you are saying is right Ryan is not a super middle he is obviously a middle but i dont understand the Ingles and why Ryan won so much at light middle and they seem to promote him against Heavy opponents,surley they should be trying dam hard to get him back to light middle though he didnt look like there was much weight to come off him last week and he weighed 12'1 lbs only a pound lighter than me and we weighed in together.
When i said his punches didnt hurt..Lol...they did hurt me but i was more struggling with his awkward style and angles to worry about the pain of his punches! I have been hit harder taking nowt away from Ryan.Thanks for saying i did well,as i thought i did taking the fight at a weeks notice and two weeks after a heavy virus,i learnt a lot off Ryan.

Loynesey,
Take it you've had second thoughts about the bet ?
The offer's there if you want it.