Jason McClory: The young guns of Queensberry Promotions

In his latest column for Boxing Social, Queensberry Promotions’ matchmaker Jason McClory casts his expert eye on the stable’s future stars and reveals what the coming months and years have in store for them.

I want to get away from Covid-19 because I’m sick of hearing about it, and I’m even more sick of having to work during it, but that’s a different column all together. 

So, let’s have a look at the ‘Young Guns’ in the Queensberry stable. We have some exciting prospects aged 25 or under who could go on to do big things in the next couple of years.

The obvious one is Daniel Dubois, but he’s really a contender now and I’ll cover his career in detail in the future.

Apologies to anyone who has been left out, but this column is long enough as it is!

Dennis McCann, 19, bantamweight (6-0, 4 KOs).

There’s not many I’ll say this about at this early stage, but he’s a future world champion. He’s got everything. When I say everything, I mean everything. He’s technically gifted, he’s got a whack on him, he’s fearless and he’s a diligent trainer. He’s got it all going for him. And he’s not a bad looking lad – some people get all the fucking luck, don’t they? On top of that, he sells a bunch of tickets as well. Everything you can ask for in a young fighter, Dennis has got – apart from patience. He’d want to go in with a world champion tomorrow, but I suppose that’s no different to any other boxer, is it? He’s probably one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult prospect to match, because his talent outweighs everything else. He’s a lot more talented than a 19-year-old, six to eight-round fighter normally is. Getting opponents in for him is a fucking nightmare. Sometimes you have to think, ‘Am I doing the right thing here?’ Before the pandemic happened, he was going to fight a kid from Tanzania. To bring someone over from Tanzania involves some amount of paperwork with visas and the like. Normally you wouldn’t do all that for a 19-year-old in and eight-rounder, but Dennis is different. Covid obviously put a stop to that, but he’s out on the 15th [against Brett Fidoe]. The one thing he is missing at the minute is experience, it’s our job to get him that experience. His opponents will be getting stepped up over the next 12 months. The matchmaking team can’t afford to mess it up, because he really is a talent. We have to make sure he gets the right opponents, at the right time. Each opponent has to bring a different set of puzzles for Dennis to unlock.

Chris Bourke, 25, super-bantamweight (8-0, 5 KOs).

He won his first title the other week, winning the Southern Area super-bantamweight title against Ramez Mahmood. I honestly believe he can go onto fight for, and win, the British title when it becomes vacant. Over the next 12 months, I’d like to see him win the British title and maybe a regional title from one of the sanctioning bodies. Brad Foster is a few steps in front of him, but hopefully Chris can come through behind Brad and for the next 12 to 18 months, pick up where Brad left off with the British title. He’s a champion now and he’ll continue to be in championship fights, whether they be area titles, regional titles or British titles. There are a lot of experienced fighters at super-bantamweight, like Michael Ramabaletsa, that Chris could fight. That would be a good fight for him. You’ve also got all the fighters Brad Foster fought: Ashley Lane, Lucien Reid and James Beech Jr. If he can get the same experience as Brad, he can come up right behind Brad. I’ve always been impressed by Chris Bourke. He’s a good technical fighter and he can bang as well. He’s a natural talent and he’s part of that hub at the Peacock Gym that contains: Denzel Bentley, Louie Lynn and Daniel Dubois. He’s in good hands with Martin Bowers.

Brad Foster, 22, super-bantamweight, (13-0-2, 5 KOs).

From the moment I saw Brad, I knew he was a talent. He hadn’t had a pro fight and I watched him in a sparring session in a Wolverhampton gym. I said, ‘There’s something about this kid’. I just thought he was interesting. He came from a kickboxing background and he was so young. I then watched his debut and thought, ‘Fucking hell.’ Every shot was so crisp. I suggested he come on board with Frank Warren. He was supposed to box on one of our shows and got injured so he couldn’t, and things just fell by the wayside. As soon as I came back from my hiatus of two or three months away from matchmaking, he was the first fighter I brought back in. He’d just won the British title then, so we put him in with Ashley Lane and he won the Commonwealth title. The rest is history. He has developed his career the hard way and it’s hard to believe he’s still so young. He’s 22-years-old and he’s got a Lonsdale Belt outright, with no amateur experience – it’s madness! I think he’s the real deal. Purely from a matchmaking point of view, I’d like him to get some experience with regional titles from the sanctioning bodies, maybe even the European title. I’d like to keep him at European level for the next 12 months, just to let him learn at a higher level before he moves up to the next level. It just makes sense. You don’t want to chuck him in at the deep end, you went to let him swim up to the deep end.

Willie Hutchison, 21, super-middleweight (11-0, 7 KOs).

Willie is a good fighter. He won the World Youth Championships in 2016 and he’s easy to work with. He’s at that stage at the moment where we are asking, ‘Is he a super-middleweight or is he a light-heavyweight?’ We are still trying to work that out. He’s in against Luke Blackledge next time out, which is a steady enough fight. Luke has plenty of experience; he’s been a champion himself; he’s been in with Rocky Fielding and Callum Smith. There’s a lot Willie can gleam from fighting somebody like Luke Blackledge who’s got a winning record and still has a little bit of ambition left. Blackledge would like nothing more than to overturn the applecart, wouldn’t he? In the next 12 months, you’ll see Willie take steps towards minor titles, building up the experience he needs at 10 and 12 rounds to fight for the British title and beyond. We just want to get him in the mix, now. He’s had his learning period and I think he’s ready to be stepped up a level with each fight. We’ve seen what he can do: he can punch, and he can box. Look at the gym he’s in, he’s in the Ingle Gym with the likes of Liam Williams, Kell Brook. They’ve got experience in the gym. He’s got everything going for him. I’d expected him to have a title around his waist within the next 12 months and, if he isn’t the British champion, he’ll certainly be knocking on the door of it.

Muhammad Ali, 24, super-bantamweight, (1-0, 0 KOs).

Obviously, there was a little bit of bad press about him regarding the alleged doping when he was on the Olympic squad, but this guy is a phenomenal talent. I first heard about him when he was a 16-year-old kid. I know a few people, and when I say people I mean current and former world champions, he’s been sparring with this last month and the reports say there’s not many spars he has not come out on top of. He’s got a great amateur pedigree. He’s only had one professional fight so far, so we need to get him the experience to bring him along. Over the next 12 months, it’s going to be a case of getting different styles in with him, over different lengths of fights. That’s got to be the main aim. Ideally, he would have boxed three more times than he has, but due to lockdown and all that stuff, it’s derailed the plan slightly. Over the next 18 months, we’ll see how he goes, but he could end up being one of those who gets fast-tracked.

Louie Lynn, 24, featherweight, (7-0, 6 KOs).

The little buzzsaw, the dynamo! Obviously, Louie didn’t make his debut with us, but he’s managed by Francis Warren now, and trained by Martin Bowers. The first fight I saw him in, I loved it. He’s my sort of fighter; all-action, relentless. He fought someone who was coming with a bit of ambition last time in Monty Ogilvie. He’s probably looking at an area title in his next fight. I normally like boxers to have about 10 fights before going for a title, but there are so few fighters in the lower weights in this country, that there’s nothing Louie is going to learn in an eight-rounder than he won’t learn in an area title fight. Once Louie has won an area title, if someone like Raza Hamza is still about, that’s a possible fight. Louie is going to follow the same path that Chris Bourke is on, only one weight higher.

Ryan Garner, 22, super-featherweight, (9-0, 6 KOs).

Ah, ‘The Piranha’! Another one of those naturally gifted fighters, but in the past, he’s thought that talent alone was going to take him to where he wanted to be. He’s had setbacks, but I believe he’s a massive talent. He’s starting to put the hard work in now. We’ve all got a wild side to us, and he’s no different, but he’s behaving and he’s training regularly. I keep tabs on him with his trainer Wayne Batten. If he can knuckle down, I believe he can challenge for a version of the world title, I really do. It depends on who’s top of the pile at the time. Before all that, we’ve got to get him his first title of some kind; whether that’s the Southern Area super-featherweight title, or an inter-continental title. He’s one fight away from fighting for his first title. He needs to have an eight-rounder first. Over the next 12 months, he’s going to be fighting for titles.

Mark Chamberlain, 21, lightweight, (6-0, 4 KOs).

I keep trying to get him to go the distance so we can look at his boxing skills and see where he might be lacking, but he keeps knocking them out! Normally, people wouldn’t see that as a bad thing, but I do because somewhere down the line he’s going to face someone who doesn’t go over when he hits them. People only see his punching prowess, but he was a Senior Elite ABA champion, so the kid can box. At this stage, it’s about finding out what he can’t do. I know he can hit, as does Stu Greener! I was expecting more of a fight from Greener as he’d just taken a decent scalp [Tyler Davies] in his previous fight, but if someone comes in to fight against Mark, I think they are just going to get knocked out. If you have a journeymen who is just looking to get through to the next week, I’m not saying Mark won’t stop them, but it would be harder because they have no intention of taking one flush on the chin. From what I see at the moment, Mark is definitely good enough to be a British champion. In a few fights’ time, he’ll be ready to fight for a British title. He trains hard, he lives the life, he’s got a good support network around him; his whole family always travels with him. He’s a good kid and I think winning British title level is the minimum level for him and we’ll take it from there.

Sam Noakes, 23, lightweight (3-0, 3 KOs).

We were undersold Sam Noakes. We were told, ‘He can hit, he’s a big puncher,’ but you know what, he’s a talented boxer. No one had stopped Des Newton before and Sam didn’t just walk through him, he fucking ran through him! I turned to Francis Warren afterwards and said, ‘We might have something here’. I don’t know if he’s going to be a lightweight or a super-lightweight, but wherever he lands, he’s going to be a handful. We are getting into normal man size territory now at around 10st, so there’s a few more of them about. So, we have a few options for matching him going forward and he’s in with Jordan Ellison next. Sam is definitely good enough to end up fighting for a British title. Who knows, maybe it’ll end up being against one of the other young fighters we have in the stable. Ten fights down the line, Sam and Mark Chamberlain could both be in position to fight for a vacant British title. If they fought, I’d certainly buy a ticket for that, if I was a fan, it’s not as if you aren’t going to have an action-packed night. We are all pleasantly surprised by what Sam brings to the table and what he can do, even at this early stage.

Eithan James, 19, lightweight (3-0, 0 KOs).

He had some amateur success, now he’s down at the iBox Gym with Noakes and McCann under Alan Smith. He brings a lot of people with him, he’s got good support and from what I’ve seen when he’s been boxing, he’s certainly got skills. He’s at a similar stage to Ali and Noakes and, over the next 12 months, they are going to get the right fights in front of them at the right time. They might not always want to fight that particular boxer, but as their careers go forward they are going to have to fight southpaws, someone who’s a bit tricky, someone who won’t make you look good or someone who won’t go over as soon as you hit ‘em, but every young fighter has to face a blend of styles to prepare them for the next level. You never know who is going to be British champion at the time a fighter is ready to challenge for the belt; they could be a southpaw, a messer or a banger. Now is the point where they all have to learn their trade. We know they can fight. It’s like driving a car, you learn to pass your test, you don’t start to learn how to drive until you’ve passed, and you are on your own. My wife might tell you I’ve never learnt how to drive properly! Eighteen months ago, we didn’t have any lightweights, we’ve now got Sam Bowen, Mohammad Bilal Ali, Mark Chamberlain, Sam Noakes, Eithan James, Masood Abdullah, Amaar Akbar and Connor Parker. In 18 months, all of them could be high in the British rankings. They could be the future of the division.

Henry Turner, 19, super-lightweight (3-0, 0 KOs).

Our ‘Enry is a slick, talented young man, and a nice kid as well. He’s got balls. He took that fight with Chris Adaway at three days’ notice. Credit to both of them for taking the fight at such short notice. Henry is just pure class – everything he does is perfect. I can’t think of the superlatives to give Henry the credit he deserves. He’s what you want to see from a young man in this sport. He makes it look effortless – obviously, it’s taken years of hard work – but he makes it look effortless. Not many people just ping Chris Adaway around, and Henry did. He’s another one who’s part of that iBox set-up in Bromley with Alan Smith. There’s a good group of lads there who are able to spar with each other. Henry is without a doubt a future British champion and he’ll certainly be in the mix for world honours.

Micky Burke Jr, 19, welterweight (3-0, 0 KOs).

I remember seeing this kid when I managed Shaquille Day, because he’s the son of Micky Burke Sr, Shaquille’s trainer. They told me he was a good amateur and that he’d won this, and he’d won that. It was no great surprise when he joined Frank’s stable. He’s a good fighter, but like Henry Turner and the others of a similar age, they’ve got to find their man-strength yet. They are babies! Micky can box, he’s very similar to Henry Turner, he’s got lots of skills and a good work ethic. He’s got Alan Smith in his corner, but he’s also got his dad. He’s got a great team around him. He’s another kid that should make it to British title level, easy.

Danny Ball, 24, welterweight (9-0-1, 4 KOs).

The surprise package. He beat one of the fighters I used to manage, Mason Cartwright, in a fight he wasn’t really fancied in. I know Mason Cartwright would have had hundreds of fans there, so he’s capable of walking into a hostile environment and coming out on top. Errol Johnson, who knows his boxing, he thinks a lot of this kid. He’s only had 10 fights, drawn one of them, but he’s already the WBC International Silver welterweight champion. This kid can go somewhere. He’s got a decent test in his next fight, he’s fighting Samuel Antwi. Given that he’s dealt with a hostility last time out, I don’t think an empty studio will faze him. He’s part of the new crop coming through. We’ve got Chris Jenkins and Ekow Essuman who are contesting English and British titles, Danny Ball doesn’t need to rush. The fighters who are fighting for the British title just now will be moving on soon so, so it will be the likes of Danny Ball and Micky Burke Jr. who are contesting these titles in the future.

Hamzah Sheeraz, 21, super-welterweight (11-0, 7 KOs).

Out of our young prospects, Hamzah Sheeraz is probably the best of the bunch. I think he’s the real deal. He is going to be a world champion, as long as he keeps up the work ethic and keeps his feet on the ground; which he will. He’s got absolutely everything. Just like Dennis McCann; he can box, he can punch, he can fight, and they are both spiteful fuckers in the ring! They’ve got the world at their feet. We’ve just got to make sure they keep focused and don’t let it go to their head. He’s a good kid. After the fight with Paul Kean, he went back to the hotel where they had all been staying and he sat and talked with Kean and his team and said, ‘I don’t drink because I’m a Muslim, but can I buy you a pint?’ He’s such a class kid. Hamzah is 11st, we are really getting to the average sized bloke now, so there’s different directions to take him. He’s WBO European champion, we could look to have him fight a few more Europeans, I could bring over some opponents we’ve used before, just to move him up the rankings. He’s still only 21. We are in no rush with him. We have the luxury of being able to take our time with him, so that’s what we are going to do.

Caoimhin Agyarko, 23, middleweight (7-0, 4 KOs) and Denzel Bentley, 25, middleweight (13-0, 11 KOs).

I’ve seen an interview where Agyarko said he’d like to face Denzel. I can see them fighting for a British title, it’s a good match. It makes no sense just now, but further down the road that’s something that could come off, but just now we need to get Agyarko experience. He’s just taken part in his first 10-rounder, at weight, which is what Denzel did last time out against Mick Hall. When I first started managing and matching Tommy Langford that’s what we did for Tommy. First, he fought Wayne Reed in a 10-rounder, at weight, so going forward we could match him up in title fights. It’s that little box that needs ticking, they need to have done that before they can go to the next level. I think Caoimhin’s power is underrated. He hits a lot harder than his record suggests. Further down the line, they might start to fight opponents the other one has previously faced. It’s going to be interesting to see who comes out on top. It’s our two main hubs colliding: you’ve got Denzel in the Peacock Gym and you’ve got Caoimhin in the iBox Gym. They are the two gyms that we work with the most in London colliding. It will be an interesting fight all round. Denzel is a few more fights ahead, so I think he might get an opportunity very soon for the British title.

I’d also like to give an honourable mention to the guys who are turning over who are yet to have a fight that are signed with us like: Joshua Frankham, Edward Donovan, Jason Harty and Mitchell Barton that we’ve got high hopes for.

I’ve got a plan in my head for everyone I’ve mentioned for the next 12 months, but as they say, best laid plans and all that…

Jason McClory was talking to John A. MacDonald.

Main image: Hamzah Sheeraz, Queensberry Promotions.