British boxing camp USA

By Guest writer Oli Haslam

As a huge boxing fan i have always been interested in all aspects of boxing from all corners of the earth. My main joy however is paying close attention to the British boxing scene, and over the years have witnessed a lot of fighters from this shore, coming up the ranks then eventually going over to America to gain experience and to challenge the best in the breeding ground of the sports elite.

HERE ID RESEARCH AND NAME SOME OF THE HIGH PROFILE NAMES WHO HAVE GONE OVER TO SET UP CAMP IN THE STATES?? ie: example NIGEL BENN, CHRIS EUBANK ALSO HAD HIS FIRST 10 OR SO PROFESSIONAL FIGHTS IN AMERICA, RESEARCH A FEW MORE, THIS IS ALL PART OF IT RESEARCH TOO.

The reason British boxers want to travel and fight in the States is due to the fact that they have the biggest boxing venues and have a lot of boxers from all over the world based there, because we all know that eventually a boxer wants to fight in venues such as the MGM Grand, Boardwalk Hall, Cesar’s Palace, Madison Square Gardens, Thomas and Mack Center and The Yankees Stadium, venues with so much history in the Mecca land of boxing highs.

Having watched numerous Brits cross over the pond and establish a name for themselves I’ve also seen many not do as they would have wished, in the hard knock school of pugilism.

I have been wondering if it would be an advantage if British boxers had a camp based in America to train from the start of their professional career? I am not taking anything away from the numerous amounts of boxers that there is to choose from over here or the talent in Britain but there is a lot more opponents to choose from in America and a lot more chance of gaining more experience due to the fact that America is a lot bigger that Great Britain and the fact that is where any fighter wants to go and at least give it a go, Its like being a movie star, You would want to go over to Hollywood and make it as an actor as the greater opportunities are there to be took.

A great example of my point is Amir Khan, after taking the silver medal at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, Khan signed a professional contract with Promoter Frank Warren in 2005 as the Olympic medallist.

He then automatically had a good reputation in England and after just 12 fights he fought Willie Limond for the Commonwealth Title. Then just six fights later he faced hard hitting Colombian Breidis Prescott in which Khan was knocked out in just 54 seconds of the 1st round.

After that fight alot of people questioned Khans defence but mainly his chin. Khan changed trainers shortly after that first defeat, leaving Jorge Rubio to make the pilgrimage to the states joining world class coach Freddie Roach at the Wildcard Gym in Las Vegas and the home of possibly the best pound for pound fighter in the world in Manny Pacquaio.

Having the opportunity to spar with Pacquaio and numerous amounts of highly skilled fighters, I have come to the conclusion that swapping the UK for America has benefited Khan as an all round fighter.

Since being under Freddie Roach’s wing, Khan came back from devastating loss to defeat Oisin Fagan, Marco Antonio Barrera, Andreas Kotelnik, Dmitriy Salita and recently Paulie Malignaggi in is last fight.

So has his training over in America improved Khans all around ability as a boxer? would he be the fighter he is today if he stayed in England? My personal opinion is that Khan has done the right thing in leaving the UK.

WHY DO YOU THINK HE IS A BETTER FIGHTER NOW, WHAT AS HE GAINED FROM TRAINING AND FIGHTING THERE?

Khan though has stated that he has not left the British fans behind and would love to have a fight back on home soil n the near future.

Ricky Hatton one of Britain’s best boxers over the past 10 years travelled over to American soil to have his first fight in May 2006 against Luis Collazo. He then faced Juan Urango and Jose Luis Castillo, before facing his hardest test against Floyd Mayweather Jr in which he was handed his first career defeat by a 10 round TKO.

Hatton went on to defeat Juan Lazcano and Paul Malignaggi before coming unstuck again against Manny Pacquaio resulting in a devastating second round knockout to the Pac-Man.

HERE ELABORATE ON IF YOU THINK THEN HATTON GOING TO AMERICA WAS PRODUCTIVE IN HENANCING HIS CAREER ETC… IT JUST FINISHES AND DOESN’T GET TO ANY POINT OF WHY YOU BROUGHT HATTON INTO THE STORY?

British prospects Jamie Kavanagh and Dean Byrne amongst others have recently set up camp with trainer Freddie Roach and with current clean records of 2-0-0 (1KO) and 13-0-0 (6KO) respectively, I believe that these two in particular will have every opportunity to make the best of their careers treading in the footsteps of their peres before them.

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