BoxRec

thinking about sugar ray leonards tv programme, if we had the ability and the financial clout to organise a similar type thing but using home grown talent, who would we have in it?

ive chosen 12 fighters in and around the light-middleweight and welterweight divisions. some rookies and some proven ability. some punchers and some slicksters.

how do you think these fellas would get on, who would win?

anthony small 17-1(11)
colin mcneil 11-2(3)
takaloo 25-6(17)
kell brook 15-0(8)
gary young 17-1(8)
ross minter 17-2-1(8)
stuart brookes 9-0(3)
kerry hope 10-0(1)
steve conway 34-8(7)
craig watson 11-1(3)
nadeem siddique 20-0(4)
gary woolcombe 24-1(9)

gary woolcombe would stand a good chance if the prelims were over 5 rounds.

some of the fellas are not used to fighting over the shorter distance, so they would have to adapt, but for a high octane puncher like takaloo, the 5 round distance might suit him.

High octane puncher and takaloo in the same sentence?

A while since Tak had that type of work-rate.

I like Small to befuddle some of these rawer fighters over short-distances.

Marcus Portman, the tall West Bromwich southpaw who is currently WBF champ at eleven-stone, would give all of them hell over 'The Contender' distance.

He is a demon over six rounds.

Tom Podmore.

rhino222 wrote:some of the fellas are not used to fighting over the shorter distance, so they would have to adapt, but for a high octane puncher like takaloo, the 5 round distance might suit him.

Thats the reason i picked Woolcombe, he throws alot of punches in combinations, so you would say he'd win 2 rounds off of any of those boxers with this style, which puts him in a great position in a 5 round fight.

Steve Conway would win this, the shorter distance would suit him too, this is a fella who could really have done something if he had any backing

Coco wrote:Steve Conway would win this, the shorter distance would suit him too, this is a fella who could really have done something if he had any backing

you may have a point there, ive always been a fan of steve and the guy is undoutably talented but never really fulfilled his potential, caught in the trap of having to pay his mortgage and therefore taking fights at short notice i guess, money makes the world go round, in all walks of life...

I'd give Craig a good chance of winning it....

he's improved ten fold, but not enough to beat a fully grown light middle IMO.

He's without doubt one of the most improved fighters in the UK over the past few outings though. Rumours he's going to fight Mathew hatton for the english title.

A lot of young talented fighters where invited on the contender but refused for many reasons.

Bute, Pascal and I believe Green were all invited to participated in this season.

I'd have thought the options/promotional deal they appear to have to sign to is something that'd put a lot of fighters off entering. On boxingtalk you see a lot of ex contenders talking about how they haven't got the fights they want or need, and haven't been fought regularly after being on the contender. I don't know if you have to sign up with them long term or not... it certainly hasn't done Manfredo, Gomez, Mora any bad - Stevie Forbes has a had a couple of fights since, but I've read he's wanted more. Some of the guys that didn't do too well have been complaining that they've not been promoted though - although maybe we don't know the whole story.

Is Paul Smith still a sports network fighter, or is he now promoted by the contender team?

EddieShredder wrote:Is Paul Smith still a sports network fighter, or is he now promoted by the contender team?

He's fighting on the 8th December on the Reebok Stadium bill, which indicates he is still fighting for SN.