Published during weekdays on Boxing Social, the incomparable Terry Dooley delivers his unique look at the boxing news.
Michael and Jamie Conlan have told Robert Jones of the Belfast Telegraph that they intend to not only bring big fights to Belfast, but they also want to use their combined star power to continue to do some good in the city.
Michael is the WBA’s interim featherweight world titlist, Jamie is retired and now manages fighters, and they have both set out what they want to achieve with the launch of Conlan Boxing. The company will allow them to cast a wider net in their managerial and promotional roles, with Jamie particularly excited about what it means for Belfast boxing.
“Belfast is an amazing boxing city with a rich history, tremendous home-grown talent and an unbeatable atmosphere at fights,” he said. “However, the one thing that has been lacking over the years is consistency and we aim to change this with Conlan Boxing.”
“Michael is at the top of his game and having retired from professional boxing in 2017, I’ve spent the last four years managing and developing some of the world’s best boxing talent so we know the sport inside out, what it takes for boxers to succeed and how to put on a good show,” he added.
“In the months and years ahead, Jamie and I are looking forward to finding and developing the best local talent from all backgrounds and communities across Northern Ireland,” stated Michael. “As well as fighting on home turf, there will be opportunities to travel the world to challenge for titles and we’re looking forward to announcing our first signing in the next couple of weeks.
“We’re also going to have Conlan Boxing Workshops throughout the year to encourage children to get involved in the sport from a young age, teach them some of the skills and inspire the next generation of local boxing talent.”
The love-in between Mike Tyson and Tyson Fury has continued unabated, with the former two-time heavyweight world Champion telling his namesake to keep on fighting to secure both his boxing and financial legacies.
“Keep on winning, brother, keep on winning,” said Tyson when talking to Reuters. “He’s the lineal champion. He’s the man who beat the man. He is heavyweight boxing, period. He is, nobody else. Ask anybody except for Usyk: Who is the heavyweight champion? Usyk might even say it’s Fury. Keep fighting, make money, stack your money up, and call it a day.”
As for Fury himself, the WBC heavyweight titlist is now looking ahead to watching his brother, Tommy, fight Jake Paul next month in a money-spinning encounter in Las Vegas. Both men are undefeated and Tyson Tweeted his delight when news of the fight came through.
‘Massive congratulations to @tommytntfury on his big big fight news. Living the dream daily. See you soon bro #VegasBabyVegas.’
John Fury, Tommy’s father, had some words of warning for his son should he lose, telling GiveMeSport that: “Will Tommy beat Jake Paul? Absolutely. He’s a silly man because believe me, like Jake Paul is saying, if Tommy lost to Jake Paul, he would have to change his name to ‘Tommy Fumbles’.”
“Plus Tyson would batter him, Hughie would batter him, Shane would batter him, and we would retire him from boxing there and then, so there’s no pressure really,” he concluded.
Fury, though, has also told BT Sport that Paul’s decision to include a bunch of strange clauses in the contract for the fight has only added to their ire going into it. “They are being awkward,” he said.
“The contract has been bizarre. If I was going to go through what they’ve put in the contract, we’d be here all day. I’ve said yes to everything; yes, yes, yes, yes, do what you’ve got to do because I know Jake Paul can’t beat Tommy no matter what he does.”
Fury was referring to Paul’s clause that should Tommy lose he must legally change his name to “Tommy Fumbles”. He doubled down by stating that Fury would be given 24 hours to also change all his social media handles and must constantly refer to himself as “Tommy Fumbles” in all future correspondence. If it wasn’t for something similar happening in Anchorman 2, you would say that you couldn’t make it up.
Speaking of making things up, there is growing pressure on the BBBoC to acknowledge the damage that was done to many careers by the colour ban that used to operate in British boxing and to retrospectively acknowledge that too many fighters were prevented from reaching their true potential due to this.
Bronwen Weatherby of the South Wales Argus has reported that the family of Cuthbert Taylor have asked the Board to issue a formal apology and acknowledgment of the colour bar that prevented talented, deserving fighters from reaching the top, or even being given the chance to.
Taylor fought for Great Britain at the 1928 Olympic Games but was unable to contest the British title as a professional due to the colour bar that was in place from 1911 until 1948. Gerald Jones MP has used his position in the House of Commons to call for the Board to recognise that this was a shameful period in British boxing history when bringing it up again last Thursday on behalf of the family.
“This blatantly racist, discriminatory and shameful policy prevented many people from achieving their potential and, unbelievably, the British Boxing Board of Control has yet to apologise,” he said.
“I find myself in complete agreement with the honourable gentleman,” added House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg. “It is not something that I was aware of. I was not aware of Cuthbert Taylor, but that he should have been banned for his colour at any point in our history is simply monstrous, and any organisation that was involved with that ought to try to right a wrong.”
The plaque takes pride of place on a site where the former fighter used to train and reads: ‘British amateur flyweight champion Cuthbert Taylor trained on this site. He was prohibited from competing for professional titles under the British Boxing Board of Control’s colour bar rule, which was in place between 1911 and 1948. Denied the chance to succeed because the colour of his skin.’
The South Wales Argus stated they have approached the BBBoC about this period of their history but have yet to receive a response.