RYAN GARNER IS looking to turbo-charge his career prospects at York Hall on Friday August 18 with a maiden title success against the 12-1 Spaniard, Juan Jesus Antunez, live on TNT Sports.

The WBC International super featherweight title will be on the line in Bethnal Green when ‘The Piranha’ will be roared on by something like 250 fans from his home city of Southampton.

The 25-year-old has got a definite spring in his step following a stunning second round stoppage of Eduardo Valverde back in May, a performance that reminded ringsiders and TV viewers what a precocious talent he was considered when he broke through back in mid-2016.

Momentum, along with contentment, is now building for the Wayne Batten-trained 13-0 man, who became a father to baby daughter Harper earlier this year.

“Never been better, if I’m honest, everything is going well and I was straight back into training camp after the last one,” said the European champion as an amateur. “So I am just happy I have got a quick turnover and it is good to get on a little roll.

“I’ve been consistent and, even after the last one, my physique was still there, the abs were still there. The old me would have been a bit out of shape, but now my muscles are still popping!”

Prior to his Valverde destruction, Garner spoke of his wish to get people talking about him again and catch the attention of the boxing public. A couple of ripping body shots more than did the trick.

“Even in the commentary and the pundits, they had a lot of praise for me. I needed that because before I’d been, not forgotten about, but nobody was really talking about me.

“When I was 18, just turned over and looking good, there was a ring about my name. It went quiet on me and I had a lot of hiccups and bumps in the road, as well as not very good performances. The camp for the last fight couldn’t have gone any better, the fight couldn’t have gone any better, the whole thing. The praise I’ve had, it has set me up for the rest of the year.

“With a busy me you will see the best of me. I had the fight and, within two or three weeks, I had another date pencilled in, so I am getting on a roll now.”

And, with a WBC International title belt wrapped around his waist, Garner will possess significant currency to trade with.

“I am happy with any title, but this is a serious one and I think it gets you in the top 15 with the WBC. This is just a stepping stone, once you are in there it opens doors for you to bigger and better things.

“With a win I can start ticking off names and moving up in the rankings. Financially too, I am setting up my family so all round I couldn’t be more positive.”

Only a limited number of tickets for McCann vs Baluta remain, available from ticketmaster.co.uk. If you can’t be there, watch live on TNT Sports in Friday, 18 August.

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DENNIS MCCANN (14-0, 8 KOs) WILL bid to add the vacant WBO Intercontinental super bantamweight title to his growing collection of belts when he steps up to take on Ionut Baluta (16-4, 3) at York Hall on Friday August 18, live on TNT Sports.

Also on what should be a thrilling card in Bethnal Green, the British and Commonwealth featherweight champion Nathaniel Collins (12-0, 6) will defend his titles against Raza Hamza (17-1-1, 7).

The Queen of Queensberry, Raven Chapman (6-0, 2) will make a defence of her WBC International featherweight title against the undefeated Lila dos Santos Furtado (9-0, 1) from Brazil.

Featherweight Umar Khan (6-0), super welterweight Khalid Ali (5-0, 3) and super welterweight Joel Kodua (2-0) complete the card in six round fights.

Only a limited number of tickets for McCann vs Baluta remain and available from ticketmaster.co.uk. If you can’t be there, watch live on TNT Sports in Friday, 18 August.

IT WOULD HAVE been just Ryan Garner’s luck if the cut eye he sustained at the end of the third round of his return fight against Jordan Ellison at the end of April had cost him dearly.

‘The Piranha’ had been out of the ring for over a year and, with setbacks and the odd self-inflicted mishap along the way, it has taken him close to five years to cobble together a 10-0 professional record.

But Garner is a rejuvenated fighter who is fully back in love with the sport he clearly excels in. His application in training is matched by his enthusiasm for hard work and staying close to his fighting poundage.

The now 23-year-old is totally committed to fulfilling his obvious potential and leaving his mark on the boxing battleground.

In his own words, he has ‘never been happier’.

So it would have been a cruel twist of fate had the straight shot from Ellison which severed the skin above Garner’s left eye resulted in him taking a first loss. As it turned out, Garner didn’t even realise he was cut and superb work from veteran cornerman Frank Hopkins enabled him to survive and thrive in a six-round points triumph.

“I haven’t watched it back yet because I forgot to record it, but I know from photos that it was a pretty bad cut. It was a weird one because I didn’t even know I had been cut and Frank did a great job making sure there was no bleeding in my eye.

“If it had been stopped I would have lost because it was a punch. Imagine that? I would have been gutted. But, to be honest, the way my life is going at the moment, I have never been happier and everything just seems so positive for me at the moment. I can’t complain.

“I was 14 months out of the ring and, when I got back in there, I think I was just a bit over eager at first to get in there and make a statement. I was falling short and diving in, not being myself, with being rusty and getting caught with shots I normally wouldn’t.

“Once I got into it and shook off the rust, by rounds five and six I was really moving through the gears again. I got my rhythm and everything started to come back so I am hoping in my next fight my timing will be back, I will be fighting someone my own weight and you will see a really good performance.”

Perhaps inevitably, given the youthful competition within the gym, Garner came out looking to do a rush job on Ellison, having watched his teammate Mark Chamberlain take out the same opponent in just over a minute a month earlier.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I could have been rushing it as well and there were other factors. Mark had just beaten him so I was eager to look good, but it is one of those things and it was another learning fight. Doing six rounds at a good pace will serve me well.

“So, in the long run, I was more beneficial than just blowing him out of there. If anything, it is the most I have learned in a fight.

“I had a shiner for a week afterwards and a fat lip, but it was all good and I love it!”

Sunny Edwards outboxed longtime longtime champion Moruti Mthalne to capture the IBF Flyweight championship at York Hall in London, England.

Edwards landed 148 of 907 punches; Mthalane was 106 of 694.

Edwards, 111.3 lbs of England won by scores of 120-108, 118-111 and 115-113 and is now 16-0. Mthalane, 119. lbs of South Africa is 39-3.

Conlan wins Majority Decision over Baluta

Michael Conlan remained undefeated with a 12-round majority decison over Ionut Baluta in a super bantamweight fight.

Conlan landed 170 of 469 punches; Baluta was 97 of 782.

Conlan, 121.9 lbs of Dublin, Ireland won by scores of 117-112, 115-114 and 114-114 and is now 15-0.. Baluta 122 lbs of Madrid, SPA is 14-3.

Conlan said, “Baluta is a tough character, tougher than I thought. And he showed it in his last two performances. He’s as game as they come. But he was missing tons of punches, so I wasn’t really worried. But when {the first scorecard read} was a draw, I was like, ‘What’s going on here?’
 
“It was a good fight, good preparation for what’s to come.
 
“I’ll stay active. I’ll fight in August anyway, and I’ll get straight back in the gym.”

Troy Williamson stopped Kieran Smith in round six of a scheduled 12-round junior middleweight bout.

In round six, Williamson landed a a hard combination that put Smith down and out at 1:28. Smith was down for several minutes, but was able to get to his feet.

Williamson, 153 lbs is now 16-0-1 with 12 knockouts. Smith, 153.4 lbs of Scotland is 16-1.

Ryan Garner won a six-round decision over Jordan Ellison in a junior welterweight bout.

Garner was bleeding from his nose in round three.

Garner, 136.75 lbs of Southhampton, UK won by a 60-54 score and is now 10-0/ Jordan Ellison 141 lbs is 11-33-2.

Joshua Frankham won a four-round decision over Naeem Ali a junior middleweight bout.

Frankham, 152.9 lbs won by a 40-36 score and is now 3-0. Ali, 156.2 lbs is a robust 2-67-1.

RYAN GARNER HAS personally assured Frank Warren that he is back firing on all cylinders and ready to reboot his career at York Hall on Friday on the undercard of Sunny Edwards’ world title tilt.

The ‘Piranha’, still just 23, was widely considered as one of boxing’s finest prospects when he burst onto the professional scene back in June 2016 at the same Bethnal Green venue and soon his sparring services were called upon by champions of the calibre of Carl Frampton and Josh Warrington, who viewed young Garner as a world champion in waiting.

Several well-documented mishaps – mostly weight-related – subsequently stalled his fledgling career and Garner missed a number of opportunities to progress and significantly increase his 9-0 ledger.

Happily, as the Southampton man acknowledges himself, the penny has finally dropped with growing maturity and he is ready to fully dedicate to the sport he excels in. And he put in a call to his promoter to confirm his commitment.

He will be bidding to get back on track on a card headlined by Edwards seeking to seize the IBF world flyweight title held by the formidable South African Moruti Mthalane.

“I can’t wait,” buzzed the Wayne Batten-trained protege. “I am feeling really, really good and, I know a lot of fighters say this all the time, but this really is the best I have ever felt. I have taken everything seriously – my diet, weight, sparring – and it has just been perfect, really.

“Hopefully I get this one done and then get straight back out and stay busy from here on in.

“I used to come into camp much heavier, but coming into this one I was bang on because of what I have been doing outside of the gym. I couldn’t really have asked for a better camp.

“I have hit a reset button and I think I have finally grown up – I am 23 so it is about time!

“I have got commitments in life now, my own aims and goals, so it was time and now the proof will be in the pudding.”

Boxing is what Garner does best, with him having been a decorated amateur and a hugely exciting young professional. It would have been a crying shame to have lost his talents to the building sites of Southampton.

“I have been boxing since I was 10 years old, so for me to have put all that hard work in and winning what I did as an amateur would have been a terrible waste. So I am glad I have turned over a new leaf and hopefully I have a promising future still in front of me.

“I am still working on the building site, although I have had the last three weeks off, but I will be back in on Tuesday after the fight because I want to get as much money as I can to save up for a house and work until I get another fight date.

“It will help me because you have got to go to bed early and have got to do everything right.

“This will be my 10th fight and hopefully I will get into the 20s pretty quickly because I want to stay busy now. I spoke to Frank and we had a catch-up where I was able to thank him for getting me out again.

“I will stay on the straight and narrow and, as long as I do my part, he will do his. So it is all good and he knows I am doing things right. If I produce I know he will because he has done it for me before.

“I am a new man, honestly. I am a man on a mission now.”

In the main event of the behind closed doors London card brilliant South African Moruti Mthalane (39-2, 26 KOs) defends his IBF World Flyweight championship against Croydon’s Sunny Edwards (15-0, 4 KOs).

In a ten rounder, Belfast’s Michael Conlan (14-0, 8 KOs) faces dangerous Romanian Ionut Balata (14-2, 3 KOs).

Darlington’s Troy Williamson (15-0-1, 11 KOs) faces Scot Kieran Smith (16-0, 7 KOs) in a final eliminator for the British Super-Welterweight title, held by Ted Cheeseman.

Southampton Super-Featherweight Ryan Garner (9-0, 6 KOs) and Reading Super-Welterweight Joshua Frankham (2-0) are also in action. Joshua’s cousin, Levi Frankham is the second debutant on the bill besides Kumuteo.

FEROCIOUS PUNCHING SUPER featherweight Ryan ‘The Piranha’ Garner will make his long-awaited return to the ring, with the Southampton starlet having been added to the undercard of the IBF world flyweight title encounter between Sunny Edwards and the decorated champion Moruti Mthalane on Friday April 30, live on BT Sport.
 
In chief support to Sunny’s shot at the star from South Africa, Belfast favourite Michael Conlan enters into his opening assignment at super bantamweight against the in-form Ionut Baluta from Madrid, plus Troy Williamson and Kieran Smith will do battle at super welterweight in a final eliminator for a British title challenge.
 
Garner, 23, has long been touted as one of Britain’s brightest prospects and he last saw action in February of last year in the final Queensberry show before lockdown restrictions took hold. Several setbacks over the last couple of years resulted in his promising career threatening to not reach its potential, but the 9-0 Garner is determined to push on and move from strength to strength.
 
“I cannot wait to get back in there after more than a year and I am in the best shape – both physically and mentally – that I have ever been in,” said the Wayne Batten-trained puncher, who takes on Birmingham’s Paul Holt over six rounds. “It is up to me to make it count and put on a show.
 
“This is a sort of relaunch for my career and I will give it my absolute best shot. There is no turning back for me and once I get this fight and maybe one more under my belt, I want to jump into big fights that will really show everyone what I am all about.
 
“I intend to remind people who watch boxing why I was considered one of the best young talents a couple of years ago. My apprenticeship is coming to an end and I want to be in the title mix by the end of the year.
 
“This is an amazing show to be on, headlined by a big world title fight, which is where I want to be before too long.”
 
Reading’s Joshua Frankham goes into his third fight at super welterweight, having made his debut in September of last year and moved to 2-0 in November.
 
“I am so happy and grateful to be out for a third time since restrictions came in last year,” said the 22-year-old. “I know I am lucky and I am being well looked after by Frank Warren, so it is up to me to repay the faith that has been shown in me and put on a big performance.
 
“I was pleased with my first two fights, but there is so much more to come from me and I want to showcase the improvements I am making on a daily basis working hard with Wayne (Batten) in the gym.
 
“It is quite something that three of us from our gym are getting on this show and it is a tribute to the hard work Wayne puts in with us young fighters.”
 
The third of the Southampton-based Batten’s trio on the card is the debut-making super welterweight Levi Frankham from Cranleigh, who is cousin to Joshua and new Queensberry recruit Charles Frankham.
 
“This is the most fantastic stage to begin my professional career,” said the 20-year-old former winner of two Junior ABA titles, a Three-Nations, an NABC title and National amateur champion. “I have had to wait for quite a while and be fairly patient, but it will be well worth the wait to get out under the lights on such a massive show.
 
“The only thing that could make it better would be if my family and friends could be there to see me and fans were allowed in, but that will be something else to look forward to.
 
“I have worked so hard preparing for this moment and I am determined to make the most of it and make a big impression on my promoter and those watching on TV.”
 
Completing the card is the debut of Muswell Hill super welterweight Jonathan Kumuteo, who will be trained by Ross Pearce has targeted five fights in his first 12 months as a professional
 
“I’m not too excited at the moment because I have been waiting for 12 months to make my debut as the pandemic caused a big delay,” said the former London ABA Champion.
 
“It is what it is, but once I go into the bubble, have my COVID test and jump on the scales to weigh-in I will know it is real.”
 
In 2016, Kumuteo was diagnosed with a rare skin condition that needed several operations and wearing dressings for two years.
 
He added: “I’ve been through a lot of at times, but it made me believe and prepared for this.”
 

Ryan Garner has been inspired by the recent Featherweight thriller between Josh Warrington and Carl Frampton and believes 2019 is his year.

The precocious 21-year-old from Southampton wants some boxing bling to accompany his obvious talent and is adamant that he wants to get into the belt business in 2019.

The Piranha, as he is otherwise known, enters into his ninth professional contest at the Morningside Arena in Leicester on February 23 to kick off a year he strongly suspects will be a defining one for him.

“Why is this year going to be my year?” said the spiteful punching featherweight. “Because this year I am going to be active and busy – and I believe I am going to win a title this year.

“I believe I am going to win something. Anything really, the English, the WBO European or Intercontinental, I just want to win one.”

Garner’s own train of thought is that his apprenticeship has been served and he is ready to participate in some genuine punch-ups against equally willing opponents.

“One hundred per cent, this is the year where I know myself – having been a pro for three years – that this is where I need to step up and face people of a much better level than I have been facing so far.

“So I need to keep my head focused, train my b*lls off and get myself ready.

“I think it will make me look even better and I will enjoy it. These people I have been fighting are half trying just to survive. It makes it harder sometimes.

“I think when people start throwing back that is when I will start stopping people even more because they will leave themselves open.”

Garner concedes that entering into open warfare in the ring is what he enjoys most and it is not something he is prepared to change, bar a little tightening of the defences. He is in the entertainment business and he knows it.

“Definitely, with my style it is always going to be an exciting fight and every fight I’ve had has been that way. It is just the way I am, I am front-foot, aggressive and I won’t change.

Those are my main attributes, my workrate and punch variety, but I need to do little things to not get hit as much so we are tweaking things.

“But my style is what makes me entertaining and you don’t want to take that away from me. It works for me and that is what people want to see on television. Look at the likes of Gatti who everybody wanted to watch.

“When I am fighting I want people to think ‘I’m going to watch that Ryan Garner because he is always in good fights’.

“I want to be in fights like the Warrington-Frampton one,” added the cherubic-looking pugilist, who confirmed that he definitely intends to campaign as a nine-stoner in his bid for honours.

“I am a featherweight, definitely. I was 9st 1lb for my last fight so I was only a bit over. With my nutritionist for my last fight it was the best I have felt going into it. I made the weight and felt totally fresh.”

Tickets for the British super featherweight title clash between Sam Bowen and Ronnie Clark on Feb 23 at the Morningside Arena, featuring Ryan Garner, are available from £40 are on sale NOW via Eventbrite

Hamzah Sheeraz won a six-round decision over Jodean Gannum in a super welterweight fight.

Sheeraz, 156 lbs of London won on the referee card of 60-54, and is now 6-0. Grannum, 158 lbs of London is 4-43-1.

Ryan Garner stopped Jose Aguilar in round three of a scheduled six-round featherweight bout.

Garner dominated the action, and the bout was stopped at 1:44 after a flurry on the ropes.

Garner, 127 lbs of Southhampton, UK is 8-0 with six knockouts. Aguilar, 125 lbs of Managua, NIC is 16-54-4.