In this series Ally McKenzie interviews boxers on the most important fights in their careers. There may have been other nights with larger pay days and titles on the line but these were the fork in the road fights that made the difference between achieving the dream they had chased since they first laced up a pair of gloves and falling short. Joined by the featured fighter and other key guests, Ally breaks down the fights round by round gaining an insight to the emotions and memories of the fights that defined them.
At just 24 years old, James Tennyson had already travelled a hardened road within the world of professional boxing and had sampled the highs and lows that were par for this most testing of courses. Having turned over at just 18, the young boy had shown his ferocious power with 7 KOs in his first 8 fights, and despite suffering a shock defeat early in his career to a journeyman, it wouldn’t affect his ascent as ‘The Assassin’ continued to leave opponents lying in his wake
Fighting on the undercards of Ryan Burnett’s world title shows in Belfast, Tennyson would impress Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn with destructive performances over Ryan Doyle and Darren Traynor and would work his way into contention for the Commonwealth and EBU European Super-Featherweight titles as the away fighter against one of Matchroom’s hottest young prospects - Martin Jospeh Ward.
Featuring insight from Sky Sports Commentator Andy Clarke.
Archive courtesy of Matchroom Sports.
27 Feb 2021
Wayne McCullough vs Yaseui Yakushiji
Arguably one of the biggest and most important away wins in the history of Irish boxing; Wayne McCullough’s victory over Yakushji in Japan helped The Pocket Rocket cement his legacy in the sport.
He had only been a professional boxer for two and a half years, but Wayne McCullough had already positioned himself as challenger for the WBC bantamweight title. In search of his dream, he would travel to Nagoya, Japan the hometown of the champion, Yaeui Yakushiji.
Yakushiji was the number one bantamweight in the division and was making the fifth defense of his title against McCullough who, even though boasted a record of 16-0 with 13 knock outs, many thought wasn’t ready for the step up – he was favoured so little that no print based media travelled from Ireland to cover the fight.
Featuring an interview with Wayne McCullough and Irish News journalist, Neil Loughran.
12 Feb 2021
Carl Frampton vs Kiko Martinez 1
A fight that is often forgotten considering Frampton would win his first world title against Martinez; his challenge for the EBU title would be the toughest test of the Belfast man's young career - and a night when his star would rise.
Several years before winning world titles, unifying divisions, selling out nights in Las Vegas and winning Ring Magazine’s fighter of the year award; a young Carl Frampton, like all prospects, reached the stage of his career where he had to answer questions and prove that his was a talent that justified the buzz surrounding his ascent in the professional ranks.
On the 9th of February 2013 he took on hard-hitting Kiko Martinez in the Odyssey Arena, Belfast for the EBU and IBF inter-continental super-bantamweight titles. Frampton was 15-0 heading into this contest while Kiko, only one year older, had twice as many fights and boasted a record of 27-3. Nowadays, Kiko is well known to Irish boxing fans as one of the most popular away fighters seen in the opposite corner down through the years, but in 2013 he was a hard-hitting danger man who had previously knocked out Bernard Dunne and posed a serious threat to the young hopeful from Tiger’s Bay.
31 Jan 2021
Andy Lee vs John Jackson
Andy Lee relives this classic from 2014 that saw him produce one of the most stunning one punch knock outs after trailing on all scorecards going into the 5th round against John Jackson. The fight was make or break for Lee who had recently fallen short in a world title tilt against Chavez Jr and he would be facing the heavy handed Jackson at 154, making the light-middleweight limit for the first time having campaigned all his career thus far at 160.
Ally is also joined by sports journalist, Gavan Casey who share some insight as someone who watched the fight in both a professional capacity and as a fan.
15 Jan 2021
Jamie Conlan vs Anthony Nelson
Jamie Conlan relives this recent classic that saw him challenge Anthony Nelson for his Super-Flyweight Commonwealth title. Both fighters were undefeated coming into the fight and had a lot on the line. For Jamie, winning the title would springboard him onto bigger fights that would lead him to his dream of challenging for a world title, while Anthony on the other hand, felt a win would gain him a much coveted contract and secure a career in the sport.
Ally is also joined by commentator at ringside, Alex Steedman, and Jamie's brother, Michael as they do a deep dive on a fight that would become BBBoC's fight of the year for 2016.
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