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| Cyrus Pattinson – Alnwick, England – 5-0, 3 KOs – fighting Chris Jenkins for the vacant WBA International Welterweight Title: “It’s more excitement than pressure to be honest with you. I remember sneaking into the arena and now I’m headlining it. It’s something that I’ve always picture and visualised. I’ve been working hard for this. This opportunity came up and I was ready to take it. Here we are. He’s showed he’s got a lot left in the tank. He’s not been in one-sided losses. He could have got the decision against Tyrone McKenna. He was beating Marku on points. He beat Indongo – unified World Champion. He can’t be on the slide that much if these fights were only six months ago. I know it’s going to be a tough test and it’s definitely what I need in my career. We’ve progressed every fight. I’ve evolved as a fighter. I’ve grown into the professional style of things. Me and Graeme have been working very hard in the gym. I think it’s coming together and we’ve built on the last camp as well. Hopefully you’ll see a lot of that on Saturday night. St James Park is an amazing place isn’t it, but Jenkins is the only opponent that exists in my mind. That WBA International Title is the only belt that exists in my mind. I’ve never ever looked past any opponent and I’ll continue to do that.” Chris Jenkins – Garnant, Wales – 23-6-3, 8 KOs – fighting Cyrus Pattinson for the vacant English Heavyweight Title: “First of all I’d like to show my respect towards Cyrus. He’s a good fighter. He thinks likewise of myself. I think I blew up on the scene back in 2013 so it’s ten years in the game. I’m just happy to get given another opportunity on such a great card in Newcastle. I do look a bit fat in the poster compared to him though. I I’d have known he was wearing that I’d have made more of an effort. He looks like he’s going on a date. We’re there to do a job on Saturday. I’ve had a good camp with my team and Gary Lockett. I’m the older of the two, I’m well-seasoned. Hopefully that will pay off in the fight on Saturday. I don’t feel any pressure. Not one bit. I don’t feel pressure. If anything, pressure makes me perform better. He’s headlining a show in his home city, in front of his own fans. Is it going to go against him? No, it’s going to boost him up a bit more. I know what I’ve got to do. If the fight isn’t going my way, but it’s an entertaining fight, I know I’m in there for the big fights still. I want to keep myself in that mix. I want to go out on a high. What drives me in this game is my children. I’ve got three young boys and that’s what drives me in the game. If I can keep winning then they can say daddy is a champion.” Pat McCormack – Sunderland, England – 3-0, 2 KOs – fighting Dario Socci in an eight round international Welterweight contest: “I’ve had three fights and two first round stoppages so for in my professional journey. I got six rounds under my belt in my last fight which was another step up the ladder. We’re just going to keep on stepping up the ladder. The pros are a totally different game. Obviously in the amateurs it’s only three rounds. You can win the first two and coast the last. In the pros you’ve got to be fit and you’ve got to be ready. It’s a 12-round fight, that’s what we’re going for, title fights. It’s a completely different ballgame, smaller gloves, it’s a proper fight and people get hurt in this game. You’ve got to do everything that you can to be the best that you can be. We’re just taking it one step at a time. I’ve only done seven rounds as a professional. On Saturday I’ve got a good strong fighter. He took Troy Williamson 10 rounds. This is exactly what I need at this stage of my career. To be honest I’m not going in there to get people out of there. My first couple of fights I was wanting to get them out of there as fast as I could. I bumped into an Argentinian last time who was just there to survive. He wasn’t there to win. I’d never really had that in the amateurs. Even when you got on top of someone they would never stop trying to win. It’s a little bit different. I’m ready for a good hard eight rounds. I want to show my skills and what I’ve been working on. It’s not about getting him out of there. If it comes it comes. I’m just going to go out there and show what I’ve been working on in the gym. I think I’m on a different level to him. I’m going to show that on Saturday night.” Dario Socci – Rome, Italy – 15-7-2, 6 KOs – fighting Pat McCormack in an eight round international Welterweight contest: “It’s going to be a totally different fight to the Troy Williamson fight. Williamson is physically really strong. It was a very tough fight against him. Pat has great boxing IQ, he has skills, he’s fast. I will try to fight a very short distance from the beginning. I have a lot of experience as a pro, amateur and pro is a totally different world. I always remember Lomachenko against Salido. Loma had two gold medals at the Olympic Games and Salido was the underdog. I will go for the upset as well. Of course, I’m not Salido, but he’s not Lomachenko.” Hopey Price – Leeds, England – 9-0, 3 KOs – fighting Thomas Masson for the vacant WBA Continental Super-Bantamweight Title: “I don’t think I’ve been fully tested yet. I boxed good opposition in the early stage of my career but never once in there have I felt like I’m finding it tough. I’ve always been levels above the opposition I’ve been in with up until now. I’m a student of the game so I’m always watching these big fights. I’ll watch the Fulton vs. Inoue fight with interest, I always see it as how can I beat these guys. I believe that I’ll be there one day. In two or three years these are the guys that I’m going to be fighting. I always watch them and keep an eye on everyone around my weight. I’m coming for the number one spot so I’ve got to look at the best in the world. I’m confident in my ability and I feel that I’m not far away at all, but I’ve still got to realise that I’ve only just turned 23. I’m only nine fights in. That’s why I’ve got my trainer and manager Dave Coldwell. Thankfully I’ve just signed a new deal with Matchroom, Eddie and Frank. I’ll leave that in their hands. Whenever they’re ready to let me go I will fight anybody in the division.” Thomas Masson – Bruay-la-Buissiere, France – 20-5-1, 7 KOs – fighting Hopey Price for the vacant WBA Continental Super-Bantamweight Title: “In terms of motivation nothing has changed. You’re right, in comparison to Hopey I’ve had a very long career. He’s a lot younger than myself, but as soon as this fight was proposed to me I didn’t hesitate at all. I’ve got lots of experience. You touched on the World Title fight, I had a crack at the WBC World Title. I’ve got experience boxing all over the world and you never lose that hunger. I certainly haven’t lose it. You’re not always going into fights to win a belt or win a title. I always feel that you gain experience from fights. I go into fights to pick up experience and to become a better fighter. I went into that World Title fight and I’d had a year of inactivity, I’d not been in the ring for such a long time. Maybe that explains what happened at the start of the fight, but I feel like I really started to come into it towards the end of the fight and I gave it a real good shot at trying to win it. You learn from those experiences for sure.” Solomon Dacres – Birmingham, England – 5-0, 1 KO – fighting Robert Ismay for the vacant English Heavyweight Title: “I think it’s just boxing IQ. Little things like distance control, controlling the rounds, everyone thinks that Heavyweights are just doing to come forwards swinging and being as strong as they can be. I think I’ve got a bit more finesse for the Heavyweight division. I’m not going to run. I’ve done my running in the training camp. If I jab and move he won’t hit me. If I stand in the middle of the ring I’ll beat the shit out of him. That’s his only chance to touch me. I love it. His fans have got their football flags here today. Football has nothing to do with this. It’s good. There’s nothing better than his fans coming to support him. They’ll rile him up and everything and it’s just going to give me more incentive to put the performance on that I’m going to put on. I’m not far away. I’ve sparred World Champions and former World Champions. I’ve not been dossing around in the sport, I’ve been sparring the top guys in the gyms and putting the work in. I know that I’m not far off those guys at all. It’s just a matter of getting more fights under my belt. His best performance is sitting in that chair with a mic. We’ll see if he can make the ten-round distance. That’s his only hope, if he can clip me early. He’s going to be f*cked after about three rounds. That’s his only option.” Robert Ismay – Newcastle, England – 11-0, 4 KOs – fighting Solomon Dacres for the vacant English Heavyweight Title: “This is what I turned pro for. The only reason that you haven’t heard of me is because of what I thought was a career ending hand injury. The only reason that you haven’t heard of me winning British Titles, Commonwealth Titles is because of that. My career was on the up, and do you know what? I would have snubbed my nose up at the English Title on the way up. But obviously I’m not now. I’m 35 and I’m having one last crack at the whip. I intend to take it with both hands. I’m not giving absolutely anything away about what I’m going to do. We all know what he’s going to do, he’s going to dance. He’s going to run. Isn’t he? If you don’t run, and you stand in the middle of the ring and meet me then there’s only one outcome. You’ll come out second best. You’ll find out when I hit you on the button kid. You don’t know who you’re stepping in the ring with kid. You haven’t got a clue. Your team haven’t got a clue. Where do you think I came from? I came from the best amateur club in the country. He doesn’t know anything about my amateur pedigree. I’m going to knock him out. It’s as simple as that. That belt is staying in Newcastle.” Callum French – Gateshead, England – 3-0, 1 KO – fighting Jordan Ellison in an eight round Lightweight contest: “It is brilliant to be back home. Obviously boxing on GB all around the world, boxing in these Eastern European countries, these sports halls all over the world. It was nice to come home in 2018 to the Gateshead Leisure Centre and do it in front of my friends and my family. This is just another step up, boxing at the arena where I’ve always dreamed of doing it since I first laced on the gloves at 13. I’m loving the journey. This is what it’s all about at this stage of my career, getting these experiences in. There’s no point going in there and blasting journeymen out. You want durable opponents in front of you who are going to take you rounds and help you learn your trade a bit. I think that’s why Matchroom are doing such a good job with me and other fighters on the stable because they’re putting us in competitive fights early on and not just throwing journeymen at us. They’re putting us in fights that we’re actually going to learn something from. I’m glad they’re doing that. I’ve boxed at a high level all over the world and you don’t want to come down too many levels.” Mark Dickinson – West Rainton, England – 4-0, 1 KO – fighting Ben Ridings in an eight round Middleweight contest: “I’m back at Birtley, back at home and happy, relaxed and confident going into the fight. I just can’t wait to show the different side of boxing that I’ve got now I’m back at Birtley. I’m going to put a good performance in on Saturday. It means a lot to me to represent Birtley. I wear the Birtley boys tracksuit with pride. The Birtley boys are taking over. Without Graeme (Rutherford) I don’t think Birtley would have the name that it has. It definitely wouldn’t. It’s all down to him. He’s very dedicated and gives up a lot of his own time and puts it into us. He’s trained me since I was 6. He’s been like a second father figure in my life. He’s not just a good boxing coach but a good life coach as well. He’s got my mind in the right place for where I need to be on Saturday night. Ben Ridings seems like a game enough lad and he’ll come to fight. I’m going to show that there’s different levels in boxing and I’m a few levels above Ben Ridings. We’ve talked about these nights for years, since we’ve been training together on the Team GB squad and as boys at Birtley. They’re finally happening now with a big Matchroom show in the North East. All of us fighting together on the same card is a dream come true.” Adam Reichard – Sunderland, England – 1-0 – fighting Jahfieus Faure in a four round Lightweight contest: “We were the first at the arena because we had a couple of fighters on the undercard. I was the first one with my hands wrapped but we didn’t end up ringwalking until about 11.45pm. I think it was after 12 by the time we got out. It was a long night to say the least but it was all good experience. I haven’t had much of a look at my opponent. I leave that to my coaches. I’ve seen the size of him and what he looks like, stuff like that. I’ll box whoever I’m put in front of. I’m over the moon to be fighting back at the arena. Since I’ve been boxing at 7 or 8 you always dream of boxing at the arena. That’s where you want to be. I’ve dedicated my whole life to boxing. Who wouldn’t want to be on these shows? It’s my second time at the arena and I’ve sold a good few tickets.” Maiseyrose Courtney – Eltham, England – 1-0 – fighting Buchra El Quaissi in a four round Super-Flyweight contest: “My debut was nuts really. I didn’t really have any time to think about it or warm up. The whip came upstairs and told me I had five minutes, I got my gloves on a bosh, straight out. Afterwards, that’s when it sunk in a little bit. My professional debut walking out to 7,000 people. It was a little bit scary. I thought I did well. I wanted to do a little bit better, I’d have like to have knocked her out. I’m very lucky to say that I’ve had that experience happen really quickly in my first fight. It was proper scary. I always spar girls that are a little bit heavier than me, a little bit more experienced. Thanks to Kevin and Tony down the gym, they know what they’re doing with me. I get beat up in sparring, hopefully on the night I don’t get beat up. When I used to box for Repton I never used to box like a pressure fighter, I used to box on the back foot dancing and all of that fancy stuff. With Kev I had to go through a process of changing my style. I’ve only had one fight so I don’t want to start calling people out, but I will if it comes down to it. If the time is right then I’ll take it.” Muhammad Ali – Leicester, England – making his professional debut in a four round Super-Bantamweight contest against Sean Jackson: “When I was younger, I was a little chubby kid. I lost a lot of weight when I was only ten years old and then my coach said to me that I might as well start boxing. I’ve loved it since then and I’ve never stopped training and fighting. I’ve always loved to do it. We’ve got some top level lads in the gym and I’m constantly learning about how boxing is; every skill, the way the fights go, how the boxing life is. I’m learning about the life of a boxer and it’s brilliant. I don’t feel any pressure carry this name. When I was an amateur, I had this name, I’ve had this name since I was born. I don’t feel any pressure about it. He’s a legend himself, he created it. Whatever god has got planned for me, that’s it. Sam Jones has been brilliant to me. He’s helped me through turning pro and everything like that. He helped me sign with Matchroom and I can’t thank him enough. God willing I’ll get a knockout.” |
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