Exclusive - Ian Lewison Q&A.

Exclusive - Ian Lewison Q&A.

Lewison Vs Ruzsinszky

Ian "Lay Em Out" Lewison is the 31 year old heavyweight boxer from Brixton, South London. He had a successful career as an amateur, beating both Helenius and Solis, finishing his AM career with a record of 67 wins and 5 losses.

Ian has had 10 pro fights, 7 wins (4 by KO), 2 losses and 1 draw. His last fight was in the semi final of Prizefighter and his next fight is a rematch with Colin Kenna on 13th July.

I was lucky enough to be able to ask Ian some questions lately and here are his answers...

1. With some time passed now since Prizefighter, how would you rate your performance? 

I feel in prize fighter I fought well but looking back I think in the second fight I was convinced I was well ahead on points so I went into the 3rd round and was saving myself for the final. 

2. What do you think you can learn from your next opponent,  Colin Kenna? Is he a stepping stone upwards or is it a case of righting a wrong from your 6th fight?

I don't think I can learn anything from Kenna, I just want to inflect pain on him.
 

3. What is the plan going forward? For example where do you expect to be career wise in 2 years time?

The plan moving forward is to get 10 rounds fights under my belt so I will be able to fight for major titles, in 2 years I would like to be world champion defending my titles.
 

4. You don't generate the same headlines as Price, Tyson Fury or Haye, whilst Hughie Fury has only had 5 fights yet is being hailed by some as the next big superstar. Does this generate any resentment for you? 

Hughie is  getting headlines right now on the back of Tyson. I think he's good but we will never know till his opposition is better, about him saying he wants to be youngest heavy weight champion I think it's to keep his name in the headlines, no resentment from me towards them they have a good P.R team behind them,they can only beat what's there and there doing that even though there being under matched. 

5. Who, in your opinion are the top 5 HWs in the world at the moment?

1 Wlad Klitchko

2 David Haye 

3 Vit Klitchko

4 Tomasz Adamek

5 not sure about  
 

6. You had a fairly successful amateur career beating both Helenius and Solis. Do you think you're pro career is falling short of the standard you set in the ams so far?

My pro career got off to a slow start it is starting to build up momentum now, in the start I had lots of injury's and was inactive I will reach the heights of the pro ranks within 2 years. 

7. Who wins Haye or Fury?

Haye wins by knockout within 5 rounds brutal knockout.

8. Who or what is your inspiration to keep going? Do you have any boxing "heroes"?

My inspiration is willing and being able to give my kids nice things.

9. If you weren't a boxer what would you be?

I would be a business man I love doing business.

10. Do you have any messages for your fans? Or for those that may not be so familiar with you?
To everyone that has watched me and enjoyed the excitement I bring, stay tuned to my facebook fan page and twitter for all the latest news  and developments.

Thanks for all your support in the past and continued support I put my body throw all the pain to give the fans excitement. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ian for his time and I would urge you to follow him and his career, I wish Ian well...

Audley Harrison – Inspirational or Delusional?

Audley Harrison – Inspirational or Delusional?

Harrison

Harrison is the fighter who never seems to know when to give up. After his defeat to David Price 99% of people said he should retire. The only person who said no was Audley himself. He believes in himself and in his ability, he believes it is his destiny to be world champion.

He saw the latest heavyweight prizefighter show as a stepping stone back onto the road he has tried to follow many times before. Whilst others laughed, sighed and pointed at him his single minded determination resulted in him actually winning the event for the second time. 

He is now lined up to fight Deontay Wilder on Amir Khan’s undercard on 27^th April in Sheffield. Wilder is the great hope from the USA with a record of 27 fight, 27 wins, 27 KOs!!

Wilder

During his pro career whenever it looked like he might have found some belief to go with his undoubted ability he would fall again and would then have to face a torrent of questioning whether he really was any good. For example beating Danny Williams in Sept 2006, but then being beaten by Michael Sprott in his next fight by TKO.

He tried to scale many hills and mountains but always slipped, stumbled and fell before he got to the summit, yet he keeps getting up and trying again…

23 KOs from 31 wins shows that Audley had the power and skill to beat any opponent in front of him on his day, BUT,  6 losses, 4 of which were to Sprott, Williams, Rogan and Guinn show that he lacked the mental ability to go with his boxing skill. At times it looked like he was a rabbit caught in headlights. The 3rd round against David Haye was a classic example of this.

 

Along with prizefighter the highlight of his pro career was winning the European heavyweight title at his second attempt against Michael Sprott.

But he never wrapped a belt around his waist again and may never again – Yet he still believes...

His defeat at the hands of the commonwealth heavyweight, David Price, after 82 seconds should be his last and should also make it clear to Audley himself that he does not have the tools any longer to succeed at the top of the game domestically, never mind European or world level.

Yet Audley still believes.

We should not forget the good that Audley did boxing and the abuse he received before and after the Price fight was, in my opinion scandalous. Had Audley not won Gold at the 2000 Olympics, boxing GB would have scaled back its programme even more and would also have received a lot less  funding, possibly meaning the end of Olympic boxing in the country. 

He always believed he'd win gold.

With no TeamGB there would have been no Khan, Degale, Joshua, Adams, Price, etc, etc learning their trades in the amateurs winning medals at Olympic games. I think people should remember that.

Harrison will go into the fight with Wilder as a big underdog with the bookies, however there are those who think he may beat Wilder. Wilder after all is yet to face anybody in the top 30 in the world even after 27 fights and although he has a great KO record is still not a “name” in America and isn’t showcased on US TV the way Fury and Price are in the UK.

A win for Harrison won’t get him a shot at one of the Klitschkos for a title, but it will put him back in the reckoning. Harrison is an enigma that sells tickets and makes money, whether if it’s from people supporting him or people wanting to see him knocked out his opponents won’t mind. His PR machine will go into overdrive calling for a fight with a genuine top 5 contender, nobody will give him a chance – yet he'll still believe.

I asked the question is Audley Inspirational or Delusional at the beginning. 


Whatever you, I or anybody else thinks, I know what Audley believes…


I wish him well…
 

Edit- Wilder stopped Harrison in 70 seconds of the first round.

 

Richard Towers - The Forgotten Man Of British Boxing?

Time for a reminder...

Richard Towers

Richard "The Inferno" Towers is the forgotten man of British boxing, who had some rare headlines this week, thanks to uncertainty surrounding the Price Vs Thompson fight. Towers claims he was offered the fight at a few days notice for peanuts and quite rightly turned it down. A fight against Price would need a couple of months preparation, to have taken it at a few days would have been just asking for a defeat to be added to your record. It turns out that Maloney was covering his bases in case Thompson's medical records didn't arrive in time.   

Frank Maloney

Richard Towers is the 33 year old current undefeated EU Heavyweight Champion based in Yorkshire with a record of 14 fights, 14 wins with 11 KOs. His last fight, in June 2012, was against the Former French champion Gregory Tony, who Towers stopped in the 9th round. Tony had previously been in with both Perez and Helenius and was a big step up for Towers, who although rocked slightly in the 5th did well to recover and win.

Towers is a very good cagey fighter with some tremendous power in his punches. This would be one of the reasons why he is a regular sparring partner for the Klitschkos and why he is currently ranked number 13 in the world by the WBA. He was also due to fight Lucas Browne in Dec 2012 in an eliminator for David Price's commonwealth title. A fight Towers was forced to pull out of due to an injury.

Towers & Browne

What lies ahead for Towers? Currently he is "between" fights. I would like to see him fight Browne in the rescheduled commonwealth eliminator. Price is likely to relinquish the title to pursue his quest for a shot at the title, so a fight between Browne and Towers could be for the actual title. There was some mentions of Francesco Pianeta as a possible opponent back in October, this could also be an option.

David Price Commonwealth Champion

Whatever his next fight is and wherever it leads him, after the personal problems Richard had in the past and has overcome, I think his boxing career will be a walk in the park in comparison.

I wish him well...

David Haye - Fighter or Celebrity?

The question Haye must answer...

David Haye - Boxer

David Haye the charismatic, brash, hugely talented boxer has in recent months/weeks/days been calling out Vitali Klitschko for a shot at Vitali's WBC belt, but the question that needs to be asked is Haye still a fighter or is he some C list celebrity that used to be a boxer? 

In the last 18 months Haye has had 2 fights in a ring, a brawl outside it, has spent some time in a jungle reality show but has continued to call out Vitali for a fight.

Let's go into more detail. In July 2011 Haye fought Wladimir Klitschko for his world title belts (WBA, WBO, IBF), but lost a unanimous points after an extremely poor performance (considering the grandstanding before the fight), which he blamed on his toe being broken. Some months later in Feb 2012 Haye turns up at a post fight press conference between Derek Chisora and Vitali Klitschko. He ends up brawling with Chisora (after the initial pre-planed stunt went wrong), and the 2 men start a build up to a domestic fight. In July 2012 a full year after his last fight Haye beats Chisora by TKO in the 5th after a great display of boxing power and precision. Nov 2012 he enters the reality show I'm a Celebrity get me out of here, eventually coming 3rd.

This week Haye has said Vitali has until the end of the summer to agree to fight him or it's all off. What makes him think 2 fights (1 win, 1 loss) in 18 months make him able to call the shots?

Vitali Klitschko

Granted Haye is big business and his stint in the jungle has shown a different side to him and made him known to a much bigger audience, in much the same way Audley Harrison did when appearing on Come Dancing. Haye is also able to put "bums on seats" and could probably sell the fight on PPV himself, however a fighter needs to be active in order to gain a shot doesn't he? Manuel Charr has been busy calling Haye out to fight him with the winner getting a shot at Vitali. Charr has fought Vitali before when he was outclassed and battered by him before being stopped in the 4th round. In order to get a rematch Charr has to fight a "contender" and Haye is currently classed as not only a contender but also big business.

Charr after his 4th rd loss to Vitali

A fight against Charr is the way to go for Haye in my opinion if he is seriuos about his own legacy. Vitali (45-2, 41 KOs), has never been floored and is the owner of the second-highest heavyweight knockout percentage in history (87.76%), so no matter how good he thinks he is, Haye will need a warm up fight, Charr presents such an opportunity. The only other option is to fight Tyson Fury, but I doubt if either fighter would risk a shot at the belt knowing they could quite easily get KO'd by the other.

David Haye - Celebrity

Haye the supremely self confident man that he is will probably keep on calling out Vitali whilst passing judgements on Price, Fury and the rest of the division and also ignoring Charr's challenge.

I asked at the beginning - Is Haye still a fighter or is he some C list celebrity that used to be a boxer? We will see in the coming weeks/months but at the time of writing he was appearing on lunchtime housewives show Loose Women.

Whatever he decides to do, I wish him well...

(EDIT:- David Haye has now signed to fight Tyson Fury on 28th Sept in Manchester - Edit:- he has pulled out of fighting Fury through injury twice)

(Haye's last fight was 12th July 2012.).

Audley Harrison - Please Retire Gracefully.

Tweets from Audley Harrison last night and this morning seem to suggest he is seriously considering "rolling the dice again". 

Harrison Tweets

During his pro career whenever it looked like he might have found some belief to go with his undoubted ability he would fall again and would then have to face a torrent of questioning whether he really was any good. For example beating Danny Williams in Sept 2006, but then being beaten by Michael Sprott in his next fight by TKO.

He tried to scale many hills and mountains but always slipped, stumbled and fell before he got to the summit.

21 KOs from 28 wins shows that Audley had the power and skill to beat any opponent in front of him on his day, BUT,  6 losses, 4 of which were to Sprott, Williams, Rogan and Guinn show that he lacked the mental ability to go with his boxing skill. At times it looked like he was a rabbit caught in headlights. The 3rd round against David Haye was a classic example of this.

Harrison Vs Sprott

The highlight of his career was winning the European heavyweight title at his second attempt against Michael Sprott.

But he never wrapped a belt around his waist again and certainly never will again.

His defeat at the hand of the future heavyweight champion of the world, David Price, after 82 seconds should be his last and should also make it clear to Audley himself that he does not have the tools any longer to succeed at the top of the game domestically, never mind European or world level.

Surely the end Vs Price

To carry on in the pro ranks would be to risk serious damage.

We should not forget the good that Audley did boxing and the abuse he received before and after the Price fight was, in my opinion scandalous. Had Audley not won Gold at the 2000 Olympics, boxing GB would have scaled back it's programme even more and would also have received a lot less  funding, possibly meaning the end of Olympic boxing in the country. 

With no TeamGB there would have been no Khan, Degale, Joshua, Adams, Price, etc, etc learning their trades in the amatuers winning medals at Olympic games. I think people should remember that.

Gold Medalist

So Audley thanks for all you did for boxing, but now it's time to waltz off into the sunset while you still can...

The Dancer.