HARD WORK AND DEDICATION – THE ONLY WAY
Having been a professional boxer for some nine years now, I pride myself on being a diligent, hard-working and dedicated athlete. I’ve had to do everything the hard way, and I would not ask for it to be any other way. I know that I have had to sweat a lot of blood and tears, and it makes it really worthwhile when things come together in such a positive way.
I’ve had a great career so far, which has seen me win the British title plus the Global Boxing Council championship and International Boxing Organisation championship in Germany. I have been ranked as high as fourth in the world.
I have beaten the world number three and two time world title challenger Delvin Rodriguez, and world number nine and former world champion DeMarcus Corley. I dropped a very close split ten round decision to world champion Danny Garcia who recently knocked Amir Khan out in four rounds.
I’m very proud of not just my career achievements, but also how it has been achieved – “hard work and dedication”.
I’m always looking to raise the bar at my training camps and Wellman products have helped me push my body to its limit and beyond. I feel like superman after an intensive eight week camp.
A tried and trusted approach of the ‘toughest I can take training’ coupled with the knowledge I have gained as a qualified dietician and nutritionist, and supported by taking products like Wellman Sport, Ultra Glucosamine, Ultra Omega-3 and Neurozan make my body work at high performance.
Healthy eating, non-stop exercising in the gym and taking Wellman is what any sports person or active person needs to support a healthy lifestyle.
I complete 25 to 30 hours exercising a week, and believe me, that is not easy. I have to push my body especially hard on the days I am tired and in pain, but my success in life and in the ring make it so worthwhile.
Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) are now, unfortunately, increasingly commonplace in boxing, with world champions Andre Berto and Lamont Peterson failing drugs tests over the last year.
We fear this might be the tip of a very dangerous iceberg.
I refuse to cheat or ever be tempted by PEDs.
There are a lot of young and upcoming boxers and athletes who look up to me. It has taken years to build that reputation, and it only takes one stupid decision to throw it all away.
Give me hard work, a balanced diet and the right proven supplements from a critically acclaimed organisation like Vitabiotics every time.
I am one of Britain’s best exports to America over the last five years, and I am proud of the fact I have done it the right and healthy way by exercising, eating healthy and taking Wellman products.
My future is bright. My future is owned by me. I’m fully responsible and proud of everything I do and take.
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”
AS GOOD AS IT GETS
Many have recently said that boxing is dead. How wrong could they be? Boxing is very much alive and kicking. The two highest paid sports people in the world are boxers; Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao!
David Haye vs. Dereck Chisora sold out the West Ham United football stadium, Upton Park, on Saturday night; it has a capacity of some 40,000.
The British Boxing Board of Control were not pleased that the fight was going ahead, but David made a cool three million from the event. The fight received more publicity than any boxing match since Mike Tyson came to Britain.
David Haye is a genuine superstar and backed up his boasts against Chisora in what was a terrific fight. David used his boxing skills, speed and power to get the result that he wanted. Dereck was closing in on David, but became reckless with his defence and got caught. The rest is history.
Dereck has now lost four in a row, but they all came against highly respectable fighters; Tyson Fury, Robert Helenius, Vitali Klitschko and David Haye.
Dereck can now fight David Price, Audley Harrison or get a rematch with Tyson Fury. For someone who has only had 20 fights he has been in some real blockbusters.
David Haye is without doubt the number one British heavyweight at the moment. David brings real excitement to the heavyweight division.
As 15 year old teenagers together at a Fitzroy Lodge show, he told me that he would go on to become world champion and he has backed up his teenage boasts. Not many people can do that.
Self-proclaimed ‘Superstar’ Amir Khan was knocked out by my former opponent, WBC world champion, Danny Garcia, on Saturday night.
Many people, including Danny himself, believe I won our fight, but bad decisions happen in boxing. Danny has gone on to beat former champions Nate Campbell, Kendall Holt and now Amir Khan. This is Amir’s second loss in a row, but I believe he can still come back.
Maybe it’s time for him to leave Wildcard, as he is behind Manny Pacquiao and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in the pecking order.
His defence was poor against Garcia, and that along with no ‘boxing brain’ cost him dear. Amir had all the tools to beat Danny, but he did not use them, he should have boxed his ears off. You just don’t fight a puncher. Lots of movement, speed and boxing against Danny would have seen Amir crowned WBC world champion. But let’s get real, all fighters can lose.
Johnny Nelson lost twelve fights before becoming world champion. Amir has lost only three. He will be back!
Danny Garcia has my good friend, world number one, Ajose Olusegun, next. That will be a cracking fight, as Danny will be super confident now. Ajose has all the tools to beat Danny, and I believe he will win.
Sky pundit, Johnny Nelson, had a terrible start to his professional boxing career. He lost his first three fights. By his 11th fight he had already lost five fights with six wins. But with his hard work, determination and self-belief he went on to win the British, European and WBO world cruiserweight titles.
He would have had many doubters, but that drove him to incredible heights. Johnny Nelson is the perfect example that if you have a dream, you should go for it, no matter what obstacles come your way.
I appeared on BoxNation TV on Monday evening, talking about the weekend’s fights. The legendary sports presenter, Jim Rosenthal, interviewed me and it was a real pleasure.
I’m now looking forward to this season, as there are loads of big fights out there for me; Kendall Holt, Humberto Soto, Marcos Maidana, Andre Berto, Victor Ortiz and Lamont Peterson are all fighters I want to fight before I retire.
US promoters have been showing me loads of love over the last two years, and it seems likely that I will finish my boxing career in America.
After I beat world number three, Delvin Rodriguez, he went on to fight for the world title against Austin Trout. After beating DeMarcus Corley, he dropped a point’s defeat to WBA ‘regular’ champion, Marcos Maidana, and then beat world number 16 Gabriel Bracero and former European champion Paul McCloskey.
I’ve given world champion Danny Garcia his hardest fight by far.
I achieved all this without a promoter. Imagine what I can do when a promoter backs me. America beckons and I am ready.
“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” – W. Edwards Deming
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
I’m ambitious and motivated beyond belief. Boxing is my profession, but it does not define me as a person. Every sportsperson has a relatively short career, therefore we have to achieve what we can in quite a short space of time whilst maximising our earning potential.
I’m one of the best boxers in my weight division in the world, which is a great feat in itself, but my talent still has so much more to give. I’m hungry for success in and out of the ring.
I find myself far more respected in America than in Britain, but that suits me just fine, as that has always been a near impossible feat for a British boxer.
Great British boxers like Lloyd Honeyghan, Ricky Hatton, Nigel Benn, Lennox Lewis and currently Carl Froch and Amir Khan have that stateside respect.
Very few British boxers in the last 30 years have campaigned over there and won against world rated opponents.
I am one of a small but elite British club!
I have great people around me who inspire me. Mr Isola Akay started All Stars boxing club in 1974. He has gone on to produce many amateur champions. The Queen awarded him an MBE in 2000. He will be walking with the Olympic torch on July 26th through Kensington. He started All Stars with an inspired dream, hard work and little else.
I still train at All Stars for the simple fact that I was inspired by Mr Akay and his son, former British champion and Olympian Tee Jay Akay, as an eight year old kid.
Now I serve to inspire the young boxers as they see me training amongst them. They motivate me even more to keeping achieving my goals.
Failure is not an option for me. It doesn’t matter where you come from it is all about where you are going in life.
The ‘Great Ones’ always have minor setbacks, but that is why they are great, because they always find a way to bounce back. I feel that I have greatness within me.
What I have achieved so far in my career has been great by anyone’s standards. Very few fighters have achieved what I have done without a promoter. It is unheard of.
David Haye is the only British fighter who has achieved more than me without a promoter backing him.
Most British fighters would love to have the career that I have had so far.
I’ve beaten WBC world number nine and former WBO world champion, DeMarcus Corley, and two time world title challenger, Delvin Rodriguez, in America. I dropped a split decision to current WBC world champion, Danny Garcia, in 2010, which many people thought I won.
Danny next fights Amir Khan.
I have won the IBO International title and the British title. I have been right up there as world number four.
Maybe I am greedy, or maybe I am just never satisfied, but I have so much more to accomplish, in and out of the ring.
I loved being British champion, as I am a proud Londoner, but it was so hard to motivate myself for fights with Nigel Wright, Steve Williams, Jason Cook, Ben Murphy and Darren Hamilton after fighting Danny Garcia, Delvin Rodriguez and DeMarcus Corley.
If Lenny Daws wins the European Union title against Ville Piispanen then he can perhaps earn himself a rematch against me?
I so want to fight the world’s best at 140lb and 147lb fighters; be it Marcos Maidana, Kendal Holt, Humberto Soto, Lamont Peterson, Andre Berto or Victor Ortiz.
All top athletes lose be it tennis players, sprinters, footballers or swimmers, but the best always come back big. Even the mighty Usain Bolt lost in the recent Jamaican Olympic trials (twice!), but you wouldn’t bet against him coming back large at London 2012.
When I lost to the current WBC world champion, Danny Garcia, in 2010, I came straight back by winning the IBO International title in Germany, and beating the IBF world number three, Delvin Rodriguez, in America.
I dropped a very controversial decision in my last fight. Sky Sports commentator and former world champion, Jim Watt, Boxing News and boxing fans up and down the country, thought I’d won, but bad decisions have been rife in boxing in 2012; along with corruption and boxers taking performance enhancing drugs.
Our beloved sport is in desperate need of a real ‘clean up’.
I’ve been very hard done by, but I’m not the first or last boxer it will happen to. Sadly it has become a regular feature of contemporary boxing, so nowadays you just have to accept the odd bad decision in your career and move on.
Britain’s number one promoter, Frank Warren recently provocatively commented that there are “corrupt officials in the British Boxing Board of Control” who govern the sport in Britain. Let’s just leave that well alone.
America is calling me! Just watch how I come back. I’m still rated as one of the best fighters in the world, and I feel I’m just behind Amir Khan in Europe in the 140lb division.
My stock is still high in America, as only this week Golden Boy Promotions asked if I would take the place of WBA 140lb regular champion, Marcos Maidana, in his proposed fight against Keith Thurman at welterweight which was to be televised by HBO, as part of Adrien Broner’s title defence on Saturday 21st July.
Marcos pulled out of the fight as he was not happy to be a ‘stepping stone’ for Thurman.
Unfortunately I’m weighing 159lbs now as I’m training for an August date in America.
Promoters in California, New York, Minnesota and North Carolina have all recently expressed their willingness to have me on their shows.
The love and respect I get in America means everything to me.
That is why I started boxing, because of the love I had for American boxing. Stars like Mike Tyson, Pernell Whitaker and Marvin Hagler lit a huge fire inside me. My desire and passion has always been to be in big fights in America.
Boxing fan and Britain’s number one tennis star, Andy Murray, missed out on becoming the Wimbledon champion over the weekend. It was not for lack of effort or guts. He is down, but he is nowhere near out. I believe he will win that elusive and much coveted Grand Slam one day soon, after being a finalist on four occasions now. He got to the finals of the US Open and the Australian Open twice, and now Wimbledon!
Roger Federer has now won Wimbledon seven times. He put on a master class of talent and resolve. He is one of the greatest players, if not the greatest that has ever played the game.
My old amateur friend, David Haye, is fighting my gym mate, Dereck Chisora, this Saturday at Upton Park.
David is proven on the world stage, and has been an inspiration to me throughout my professional career.
He has been the WBO, WBC & WBA cruiserweight champion, along with being the WBA heavyweight champion. He is one of Britain’s best fighters over the last thirty years.
Dereck Chisora lost his British title last year, and since then has put in two great performances. He was clearly robbed against Robert Helenius in Finland for the European title. That fight was one of the best heavyweight fights I have watched since the days of Lennox Lewis.
Dereck then pushed Vitali Klitschko all the way in a war of attrition, when he challenged for the WBC heavyweight world championship.
30,000 people will be packed in the stadium with potentially hundreds of thousands watching on BoxNation.
This is the biggest fight in Britain since Lennox Lewis came from behind to stop Britain’s most loved boxer, Frank Bruno.
I wish both fighters the very best for Saturday.
“Live as if your were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Gandhi
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA
A new start and a new set of goals are at the forefront of my mind.
I’ve had a successful nine year career so far, but there is a load more for me to achieve, and I’m still fresh and hugely motivated.
Over the last two years I have beaten IBF world number three and two time world title challenger Delvin Rodriguez, British champion Lenny Daws, former European champion Jason Cook and I dropped a split decision to current WBC world champion Danny Garcia. I won the British and IBO International titles and I was ranked 4th in the world by the International Boxing Federation.
I been offered fights with Josesito Lopez and Victor Ortiz in the past and the two men faced off last weekend. It was a good fight and I would love to fight either of them in the future.
The US approach to matching the best against the best makes for real spectacles and real events and I’m impatient to get back in the mix.
Josesito Lopez’s promoter, Dan Goosen, has mentioned to me that they would like to do another show in Saint Lucia, so you never know. Lopez and I could fight in the Caribbean which would be a mega fight.
Humberto Soto was knocked out by Lucas Matthysse on the undercard. The 140lb division is packed with talent.
Amir Khan is fighting Danny Garcia, who I fought in 2010, in July. Khan should win and a fight with Lucas Matthysse seems like an obvious fight to be made.
My team have been in talks with promoters in America over the last few weeks and I’ve been offered bouts in New York City, which I would love to take part in. The last time I fought in New York was when I beat former WBO world champion and current WBC world number nine, DeMarcus Corley. Corley recently stopped former European champion and Amir Khan victim, Paul McCloskey.
In March when I was last in Las Vegas, training at the Mayweather Gym, Floyd’s team told me that the door was open for me if I ever wanted to train at the gym again. I will spend a few weeks over the summer there. I love being in that environment. There is a winning mentality in the air and everyone is on their own journey, but they are also supportive towards each other. I love that feeling. It is the same in Gleason’s gym. Maybe that is a reason I thrive in America.
Next season should be exciting with Hatton Promotions backing me on the International scene.
There are many mouth-watering big fights to be made with the likes of Kendal Holt, Marcos Maidana and Humberto Soto, they are all very possible and are fights I would relish now I’m back on my world journey.
“The world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going”
I’LL BE BACK
I ruled over the British 140lb division for exactly 15 months.
My reign saw me beat two of the division’s best fighters in the last ten years. Lenny Daws and Jason Cook have been British, European and World IBO champion between each other.
WBC world champion Danny Garcia who many thought I beat back in February of 2010 is due to fight Amir Khan in July.
WBA world number four, Delvin Rodriguez, who I beat two years ago, lost in his challenge to WBA 154lbs world champion Austin Trout last weekend. He has now challenged for the IBF Welterweight and WBA Junior Middleweight titles. He is a seasoned world level campaigner that I enjoyed 10 rounds with and beat in a competitive battle.
I have been resting my body and mind in my grandfather Reginald Treasure’s homeland of Jamaica for the past two weeks. I’m ready and excited about competing on the world scene again.
Many British boxing fans only know me as British champion, but I was a successful world level campaigner before I was British champion. I started boxing to fight the world’s best and be the best I can be, and nothing has changed.
I have six years left in my boxing career which will see me win more International titles and fight the world’s best. I really do love my chosen profession, despite its ups and downs.
British boxing is blessed to have two 140lbs fighters representing on the world scene.
Since the amateurs I always wanted to fight Lenny Daws. He was the only fight I wanted in Britain. From when I achieved that feat I really should have went back to the world scene, but the lure of the Lonsdale belt; once I held that beautiful piece of craftsmanship, I really wanted to own it outright.
In a few years time I’ll come back and regain the British title and finally get a Lonsdale belt for keeps. It’s unfinished business for me.
I’m currently reading Sugar Ray Leonard’s autobiography, The Big Fight.
One of his many great quotes regarding opponents really stands out as being both true and apt for me; “It’s impossible to be motivated if the competition doesn’t match up. We are not robots. We save our best for the best”.
I’m no different.
The best fights in my career have been against WBC world number nine, DeMarcus Corley, WBC world Champion, Danny Garcia, and two time world title challenger, Delvin Rodriguez.
During the month of April three of America’s top promoters offered me the type of fights I started boxing for.
Goosen Tutor offered me a fight with Josesito Lopez. Lopez is now fighting Victor Ortiz in June as Andre Berto failed a drug test.
$100,000 was put on the table for me to fight in Russia against Khabib Allakhverdiev, who I have sparred in Florida back in 2008. Kendall Holt has now accepted the challenge.
Mayweather Promotions wanted me on the Mayweather/Cotto card on May 5th. Jesse Vargas was the opponent in mind. Steve Forbes later challenged him.
I had to turn these fights down due to my commitments as British champion. I am now free to continue my assault on the world scene. I haven’t fought a world level operator for two long years.
I’m excited again!
I’m a real big game player and I need big fights to get the best out of me.
It’s actually really exciting times as I’m heading back on my world journey that I interrupted for the Lonsdale belt.
The focus for my team and Hatton Promotions is to secure the fights that will propel me back to the world scene where I truly belong.
“I never thought of losing, but now that it’s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life. ” – Muhammad Ali
Last Minute.com – Again
This week, days before our title fight, saw Steve Williams pull out citing a ‘chest infection’.
When I challenged Lenny Daws for the title, I was sick in bed the week of the fight. I was bedridden up until the day of the weigh in. It meant that much to me, that I would have rolled out of my coffin to fight Lenny.
It was very disappointing not to fight Steve, as I was mentally focused for battle with him, but I had this same situation with my last fight, when Nigel Wright pulled out of our fight due to a failed brain scan.
Southern Area and British Masters champion, Darren Hamilton, has stepped up to the plate, and I thank him and his manager, Spencer Fearon, for that.
Prize-fighter winner Adil Anwar’s manager and some of his fans accused me of ducking him. Really? I’ve fought WBC world champion, Danny Garcia, former WBO world champion and WBC world number nine, DeMarcus Corley, WBA world number four and world title challenger, Delvin Rodriguez, British champion Lenny Daws, former European and IBO champion Jason Cook.
Darren Hamilton to me has the better record. Darren has beaten two time British title challenger, John Watson, a couple weeks ago. He is the only man to stop Peter McDonagh. He has also beaten Dave Ryan, who Adil Anwar fights on Saturday. Darren Hamilton deserves the British title shot more in my opinion. I have never taken the easy option.
I could have pulled out of my last British title fight, but to ensure the show went on I said I would fight anyone. Ben Murphy stepped in. I also could have pulled out of this fight, and waited for my fight with Steve to be rescheduled, but I have again taken the hardest option.
Darren will come to fight, and I am prepared for a hard night at the office.
He may be a 6-1 underdog, and I may be a 10-1 on favourite, but boxing is littered with upsets, especially ‘late notice’ ones, so you can never take anyone lightly.
His handler, Spencer Fearon, awarded me with a trophy at his ‘Hard Knocks’ promotion last March for my victory over Lenny Daws. That night Darren became the first man to stop McDonagh. Even Lenny Daws and Britain’s only World amateur champion, Frankie Gavin, could not achieve that feat.
That night, I announced in the ring that I would give Darren the opportunity to fight for the title, when possible, and I have stuck to my promise.
Spencer called me before my Ben Murphy fight to wish me his best. We will put our friendship aside for this fight.
I’m expecting a hard fight, but there can only be one winner and that is me.
Steve Williams is deluded if he actually believed he could beat me in our postponed fight. He needs saving from himself. Look at his record and look at mine. There is no competition.
Just like Lenny Daws, Jason Cook and Ben Murphy he would have come storming out. It was the biggest fight of his boxing career. Just like them he would have been systematically broken down.
Fighting Steve Williams in Liverpool didn’t excite me anything like my previous fights in America have done. WBA world number four and world title challenger, Delvin Rodriguez, former WBO world champion, DeMarcus Corley and current WBC world champion, Danny Garcia, are stand out names on my record and in the world of boxing. I’m looking forward to adding some more big names to my record in the near future.
I was offered an IBF world title eliminator on June 22nd in California against Josesito Lopez. Kendall Holt was due to fight him, but for whatever reason he is not now. The timing is obviously terrible as I am fighting on Saturday.
There are big fights stateside awaiting me, which is exciting and motivational. How many British fighters get the type of offers I’m getting on such a regular basis? I am obviously held in high esteem in America, as over the last three weeks, three of the world’s biggest promoters have wanted to showcase my skills on the big stage.
After I win the Lonsdale belt outright, I will be able to accept these opportunities. I’ve made a huge sacrifice to be British champion.
The 140lb division is alive and kicking, with some fantastic fighters currently campaigning on the world scene, I am looking forward to getting back onto it.
Ricky Hatton has promised me some major fights in the division, and now as my British title reign is coming to a natural close. There are some exciting times ahead.
Juan Manuel Marquez, Timothy Bradley, Lamont Peterson, Brandon Rios, Humberto Soto, Marcos Maidana, Zab Judah and Kendall Holt are all former and current champions. It is an action packed division.
Something I can sink my teeth into once I dispose of Darren on Saturday.
The British Boxing Board of Control’s Robert Smith has stated that I have to fight mandatory challenger, Steve Williams, in order to win the Lonsdale belt outright. I was looking to fight Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas, September 15th on the undercard of Saul Alvarez’s fight.
The sacrifices I have made to own this Lonsdale belt outright has been frustrating at times, but when I achieve that feat there will be no looking back. America keeps calling for me to come back. I’m very excited about the big fights stateside in the future – I can’t wait.
Beating Steve was a formality in my mind. The result was already foretold. I was looking forward to getting it over and done with.
I’ve spent fifteen weeks getting prepared for my fight on Saturday. Eight of those weeks where spent in America, learning from the pound for pound king, Floyd Mayweather himself, and at Gleason’s gym under the expertise of Jihad Abdul Aziz and Harry Keit.
Harry will be in my corner on Saturday night with Don Charles. Harry has been in my corner for all my major fights. Delvin Rodriguez, Danny Garcia, DeMarcus Corley, Lenny Daws and Jason Cook.
Darren Hamilton will be a harder fight than Steve would have been, but I’m fully prepared and ready!
I weighed 141lbs the morning before the weigh in, so my weight is on point.
I am focused on getting rid of Darren Hamilton on Saturday then I can sit down with Hatton Promotions and see where we go from here.
Just this week Ricky Hatton said he believes I deserve a world title opportunity, and he definitely knows what he’s talking about, so that is the end goal.
I will be appearing on the lively and always opinionated, Steve Bunce Hour on BoxNation at 8pm on Monday 22nd May with his two championship belts.
STANDING IN MY WAY
When I enter the ring with Steve Williams on Saturday I will be ranked 7th best 140lb fighter in the world by the IBO. It is a great feeling to be recognised in the world of boxing by my fellow fighters and the organisations overseeing it.
All the hard work and dedication has been worthwhile.
To be ‘King of Britain’ is also a remarkable achievement, something I have achieved against all the odds. I am a very proud British champion and I will defend my crown with all I have.
Another thorough and comprehensive week of training; where I’ve focused on flexibility, strength, agility, recovery and nutrition. These are the things that all top athletes work on.
Many boxers struggle with their weight loss. Not me!
I am very professional when it comes to dropping weight. I eat on average 3000 calories a day, and drop 2lbs a week.
I use High5, NRG Fuel and Vitabiotics. They help me push my body to its limit. I use Swelter wear during my cardiovascular sessions, and they help me to drop those extra pounds. If you know what you are doing with sports and nutrition, it becomes so much easier!
When I’m in top condition I just don’t get tired. I am always calm and relaxed during a fight, no matter how fast the pace is. I am a true professional.
As world WBC number nine, DeMarcus Corley, who I beat four long years ago, showed recently in Belfast, there is a huge gap between British, European and World level.
Steve is about to experience this first hand.
Another former victim of mine, 154lb WBA world number four, Delvin Rodriguez, is fighting for the WBA junior middleweight title in a couple weeks.
My last loss was over two years ago to Danny Garcia, who many thought I beat. Amir Khan is looking to fight him on July 7th.
Golden Boy Promotions have offered me two lucrative pay days in the last few weeks. The world’s top promoters respect my game. I’ve even been invited back to the Mayweather Gym in Las Vegas, as I impressed in my training stint there.
Many fight fans have noticed that I am a total different fighter as British champion, than I was as IBO International champion and IBF world number four back in 2010.
I’m not disrespecting Lenny Daws, Jason Cook or Ben Murphy; they are all good British level fighters. I am just a world level fighter. I haven’t had to get out of third gear to beat them, and no matter how great a shape Steve gets himself in, he is not a better fighter than Jason Cook or Lenny Daws. He doesn’t have the fitness of Lenny, or the ‘one punch’ power of Jason. They were slight threats. Steve is zero threat.
My best performances have come against 140lb world champion Danny Garcia, 147lb world title challenger and world 154lb number four, Delvin Rodriguez, and former WBO world champion and current 140lb world number nine, DeMarcus Corley, who has just beaten WBA world number ten and former European champion, Paul McCloskey.
‘Chop Chop’ made McCloskey look like a basic fighter. It just shows the difference between being a world level fighter, and a British/European standard fighter. Steve is a British level fighter, and not a very good one at that.
I’m going to turn Steve Williams’s dreams into his nightmare. I beat him up in his gym in Liverpool, so it will be deja vu for Steve, just this time there will be no games.
It is time for business.
Steve Williams will be an easy night’s work for me. How are you going to be sparring basic fighters, when you are challenging a ‘3D’ champion?
I’ll only be happy with a knock out win, for me anything else will feel like failure.
Steve will be like a dart board with me hitting ‘bulls eyes’ all night. He is a walking target with no defence at all.
Steve Williams will be a punch bag, and his British title hopes will be over, on 19th May.
Steve is obviously excited, and looking forward to fighting me. Why would he? I have fought all over the world against some great fighters. Who has Steve faced or beaten? Absolutely no one. Steve Williams has been ‘breast fed’ his whole career. Beating and struggling with nobodies.
I looked past Lenny Daws, Jason Cook, and Ben Murphy and now I’m looking past Steve Williams.
After I beat Steve I plan to go back on the world scene and fight the likes of DeMarcus Corley, Danny Garcia and Delvin Rodriguez again.
Fighting these world class opponents is what I enjoy and crave.
Steve Williams can’t outbox me or outfight me. I’m better than him at everything, and he will find out come fight night. Train as hard as you want. I’ve forgotten more than Steve Williams or his team will ever know.
I find it amusing that Steve and his team actually believe they can beat me. That’s like San Marino beating Brazil in a football game. It is never going to happen. It is laughable in fact.
As Jim Watt stated about Steve Williams in his loss to Lenny Daws, “Steve Williams has no head movement, no defence and no answer to the jab. He has tremendous courage, but you need more than that to win titles.”
My sentiments entirely; Steve Williams is a basic ‘ABC’ boxer. We could fight ten times, and he would lose ten times.
I’m looking to send Steve into early retirement. How many chances do you want to win the British title? If you are not good enough to beat Lenny Daws, you certainly can’t beat me. Lenny bullied Steve in their encounter.
He knows deep down in his heart he faces mission impossible against me. He looked terrible against Karl Place in a fight that he won to get the British Boxing Board of Control to make him my number one contender. He was slow, clumsy and predictable.
Saturday 19th May will be the easiest British title fight that I will ever have.
Over the last four weeks I’ve completed on average thirty hours a week of training. As the pound for pound king, Floyd Mayweather says, “Hard Work and Dedication”.
I have made a massive sacrifice to be British champion.
How many fighters would turn down world title eliminators, and fights in Las Vegas, just because they want to own a Lonsdale belt – very few, if any.
Steve and his very ordinary team are obviously training hard and want to beat me, but ‘skills pay the bills’ and Steve has zero skills. He will be my punch bag for the night. An easy night’s work. I am going to walk through Steve Williams and knock him out. I said I would stop Ben Murphy and Jason Cook. We know the result of those.
Steve Williams’s conqueror was my victim. I had Lenny ‘dancing with the stars’ when we fought, and Steve will be seeing those same stars come May 19th.
PRESS RELEASE 11.05.12
Why would any British fighter sacrifice a world number 4 ranking to compete solely on the British domestic scene for a year?
It perhaps doesn’t sound commercially astute, but then you’ve probably never met Ashley ‘Treasure’ Theophane, the current British Light Welterweight Champion.
There is nothing normal about Ashley.
Being successful means everything to him. He has come from the most humble of origins; he has had a short spell in jail, but was found ‘not guilty’, and that served as the catalyst for a truly amazing story.
After racking up a string of wins in the UK he was still failing to attract a promotional deal, despite his obvious talents and success. Ashley headed off to the tough and unforgiving rings of the USA for a few intense and defining years.
Recognition and respect from his peers, the boxing cognoscente, and most importantly the fans in the US, has given him a platform that the UK boxing industry has again been slow to recognise and truly appreciate.
Outperforming in foreign rings against home town favourites in the USA, Germany and St Lucia to name but a few, has toughened him, honed his skills and encouraged him to return home in order to leave a positive legacy for many who also strive to deliver despite the odds stacked against them.
This is no ordinary man, or ordinary boxing champion. In these extraordinary tough times, we are always looking for ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results, and provide necessary hope borne out of self-belief and determination.
Ashley sacrificed material gain to come home and try to make a ‘positive difference’ for those whose ‘shoes he has walked in’.
We all need local role models.
He has been world ranked for the last twenty one months; he beat DeMarcus Corley, who de-railed Paul McCloskey’s push for world title contender status. He beat world light middleweight number 4, Delvin Rodriguez, and dropped a controversial and ‘wafer thin’ decision to Danny Garcia, the current WBC world champion.
On May 19th at Aintree Racecourse, as chief support to the David Price Sam Sexton British heavyweight title fight, Ashley will defend his British title against Steve Williams.
Our largely unknown UK ‘Treasure’ will win the Lonsdale Belt outright by defeating Williams.
This will enable him to return to the world scene and fight the top ranked fighters where his skills and talent clearly belong.
He is an author, a social activist, an elite athlete, but most of all a role model for all who have faced adversity.
He is currently an ambassador for Ted Baker clothing, where the best of British boxing meets the best of British clothing.
Ashley will also feature in the Vitabiotics Wellman nationwide advertising campaign that starts this month in tube stations, taxis and magazines.
For more information on Ashley please go to www.ashleytheophane.com
Facebook Ashley ‘Treasure’ Theophane
Twitter @ashleytheophane
See a brilliant article on Ashley, ‘Life with a Legend’ in May’s issue of Boxing Monthly.
For interviews please contact Penny Goldwater on 01892 513601 or penny@carayol.com
