HEAVY LOAD! GORMAN AND DUBOIS READY FOR TWIN ASSAULT
By Frank Warren
Our burgeoning heavy mob welcomed a new arrival last week when the hugely promising Nathan Gorman was added to the ranks.
At the age of just 21, Nathan has already got nine fights under his belt and will move into double figures this weekend at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
He has already demonstrated his undoubted power – with seven KOs recorded so far – as well as proving he can do the rounds with an impressive landslide points victory over domestic contender Dominic Akinlade last time out in April.
Like Daniel Dubois, Nathan was a standout amateur, with his talents being recognised by being awarded a position on the GB Podium squad, but the professional game held a greater attraction for the powerful pair.
His trainer and manager Ricky Hatton, who is not one to get carried away or make rash predictions, really raves about Nathan’s abilities and believes he has got a future world champion on his hands.
It makes for an exciting prospect for us, steering the finest two young heavies in the land towards world honours and there are some good fights to be made in the division in the meantime.
There is one in the pipeline for the new season, with Nathan booked in to fight the also unbeaten Nick Webb for the English title, so watch this space for news on that one.
Our current crop of big fellas – including Hughie Fury at just 22 – represent the next generation of heavyweight contenders, who will be seeking to hunt down and emulate the likes of the more seasoned Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury in the years to come.
With the Olympian Joe Joyce also added to the domestic mix this week, I think I can confidently predict that the heavyweight world title belts should remain predominantly under British ownership for the foreseeable future.
STICKING TO THE heavyweight theme, I was delighted to see Daniel Dubois bag his first professional title in just his fourth fight with the capture of the WBC World Youth belt at the Copper Box on Saturday.
Unfortunately the original opponent we had lined up – who had similar stats to Daniel – fell through at the last minute, so we drafted in Mauricio Barragan, who was the holder of a very decent 15-1 record.
Yes Barragan was giving away a fair chunk of weight, but I believe talk of this being such an advantage is overplayed. If it is such a big factor all the time, then why didn’t David Haye manage to blast away Tony Bellew while he was still on two legs?
Fighting lighter opponents is another challenge for a young heavyweight and it can often be an awkward experience because they are usually much lighter on their feet too.
Some of the comments made about Barrigan’s credentials were ridiculous. The fact is he went over from the first punch Daniel caught him with but, believe me, he is not the first and won’t be the last to do that. Daniel is just so heavy-handed.
You will always get the critics when quick finishes occur, but the crowd certainly like what they are seeing from Daniel, as well as Anthony Yarde, and you can sense a buzz around the arena when their names are called and they make their way to the ring.
You can feel it, the fans like the two of them and know what they are about. We all know people love big punchers and they both fall into that category. They are very accurate in all that they do and both of them are natural athletes who take their sport seriously.
What’s not to like?
Coverage of the world super featherweight title double header featuring Miguel Berchelt v Takashi Miura and Jezreel Corrales v Robinson Castellanos from the Forum in LA begins on Sunday morning at 3am, live on BoxNation
