(JUNE 27) To begin with the good
news....on July 5th, at
the York Hall, in Bethnal Green, London, there will be THREE female bouts on the
card. On the undercard, featherweight Marianne Marston, now 1-0
(1KO), will be back
in action to fight Karina Kopinska, 2-5-0 (1KO), of Poland.
In addition, they have added another female bout
featuring unbeaten featherweight Maxine McCarthy, 5-0-0 (0K0),
who is coming back into the ring after a two-year layoff. She is set to
fight Latvia’s Julija Cvetkova, 2-10-2 (1KO).
Now for the not-so-good news....
In the main event, that has been "reported" to be a history first in that area,
Angel McKenzie (a late replacement) will be facing Jennifer Retzke for a GBC light middleweight World title fight in a 10-round bout. Due to
this matchup, the event is titled, “History In The Making:
Women’s World Title Fight Headlines London Extravaganza on July
5th”.
[Historical data: Upon
looking up the boxing record of JANE COUCH, she is actually the
first female boxer to have fought in the UK, when she defeated
Brenda Bell-Drexel on September 21, 2003, winning the WBF Light
Welterweight title at the Marriott Hotel, Bristol, Avon, UK;
Couch fought Galina Gumliiska on July 1, 2000, in Southwark,
London, UK, for the WIBF Lightweight title and won; on October
31, 1999, Couch fought Sharon Anyos in Raynes Park, London for
two world title belts (WIBF and WBF Vacant lightweight titles);
and inFebruary of 1999, Couch fought Marischa Shauw in
Yorkshire, UK, for the WIBF light welterweight title.]
In the press release that was
sent out via email, it is explained that the original opponent
[Mikaela Lauren] for Retzke dropped off the card:
Totally
understandable to get a replacement.
But---with that said, having the replacement opponent---Angel
McKenzie fighting for a title shot?
Totally unexplainable.
The only history that we can see being made is the fact that a fighter
[McKenzie] donning a very huge losing record of 4-29-0 (0KO), is
actually being offered a title shot with the GBC Organization to
be representative to the public and boxing community as a boxer
with the fighting credentials to step into the ring to fight for
such a title.
Yes...it may be historical at
this venue, in London---but the bigger issue is that it is a
title shot that should not have 'by any means' even been made in
the first place.
Tale of the tape of McKenzie: 11 Straight losses going into this
fight, without a single win since April 10, 2010, and that win
came by defeating a 4-19-0 boxer in a six rounder. 29 losses
since 2006, with only two minor wins in 2009 and 2010, and yet
has managed to fight for a world title on December 10, 2012 for
a WIBF belt, February 5, 2011, for a World Title WIBF title, and
on July 8, 2008, for a Latvia lightweight title.
Okay…to move on from that topic...Other matches on card
In the press release on the men’s bouts they stated the
following:
In men’s boxing action, Its not just the ladies in action,
recently crowned WBU Lightweight World Champion Stephen “The
Rock” Ormond heads up the male portion of the show, as well as a
trio of Irish lads taking part on the night.
On his last visit to York Hall,
in July last year, Ormond convincingly beat Canning Town’s
Mickey Coveney.
Of the back of this superb win, Ormond was presented the
opportunity to face Hungarian Laszio Robert Balogh for the
vacant WBU crown.
On the 3rd May 2013, at the Carlton Hotel in Tyrrelstown,
Dublin, on just his fourteenth pro outing Ormond stepped into
the ring to face thirty three fight veteran Balogh.
Ormond utterly dominated the opening round, before going on to
stop the Hungarian in just one minute and fifty four seconds of
the second stanza.
On the 5th July the Dubliner will be facing tough Czech battler
Michal Dufek.
Joining his esteemed countryman on July 5th is Irish Light
Middleweight Lee Murtagh who, even though he has fought the
majority of his fifty career fights in the UK, will be making
his first visit to the famous home of boxing in the Capital, as
preparation for his upcoming IBO Inter-Continental title battle.
The final Irish boxer on the show is Steve Collins, no not the
legendary two time, two division World Champion, but his son
Steve Jr, who will be making his professional debut against
Lithuania’s Rolandas Cesna.
# # #
# #
Update of Press Release, after we
posted that Jane Couch was the first to actually fight title
fights in London.
They wrote the following in the release:
**Please note we have been made aware that Ms. Jane Couch had
previously headlined events with World title fights in Bristol,
United Kingdom. As such please see amended copy below that now
states that this will be the first event in the Capital City
headlined by a World Championship fight. Apologies to Ms.
Couch for this error by myself.**
[photo above of Retkze and McCartney: Boxrec] [Source: Press Release]
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