Opponent Cesna confident he will cause a KO upset in Manchester
Cruiserweight prospect Sam ‘Nowhere2’ Hyde takes his first step into title fight action when he challenges for the vacant International challenge belt against Lithuanian Rolandas Cesna at the Middleton Arena on Saturday night, Live and exclusive on BBTV via www.britishboxers.co.uk
Hyde, 22, is trained by Ensley Bingham and Maurice Core at the Champs Camp in Manchester, a gym steeped in title history. During the 80’s and 90’s the famous Moss Side was synonymous with producing quality boxers and at one point the club had five current British champions, unprecedented at the time.
Hyde is well aware of the history of his coaches and his training domain that was set up in the early 80’s by the late Phil Martin. In recent years Jimmy Kelly had brought some silver wear to the gym and Hyde hopes Saturday night is the start of his own title winning journey.
“I am proud to train at and represent the Champs Camp gym, everybody knows the history of it and my coaches Ensley and Maurice were a big part of the success.” Hyde said.
“Fighting for my first title on Saturday is a special moment, Black Flash Promotions and my manager James Linderman have secured this chance for me and I will take it that’s for sure. I have big plans for my career and getting the Challenge belt around my waist this weekend will be the kick start my career needs. “This is what I needed, it is a perfect step in the right direction and a great start to 2016, I am confident of winning but I wont take anything for granted, I know Cesna is a tough nut. He is experienced and has had plenty of time to prepare for this and I don’t think he will come all the way from Lithuania to lose, so expect a good scrap.
“All my opponent have been tough lads, but when they start to feel my power they seem to give up so I’m looking forward to testing myself against Cesna and getting the rounds in. I heard he is tough, I’ve watched him, he’s full of tattoos and is a bit of a swinger but I will suss him out and do the job.
“I am really happy also that the weigh in will be the day before the fight.” added Hyde. Usually I weigh in on the day but I am a big guy for the cruiserweight limit so it will be good to have time to carb up and eat before the fight, that will help a lot.
This will be Hyde’s second fight on a Black Flash Promotions show, he scored a 1st round KO over ‘Dangerous’ Dave Vicena in October to secure this title fight and is looking forward to topping the bill at the atmospheric Middleton venue.
“I’m really excited to be fighting on a Black Flash show again, I get along very well with Pat and Chris who put the shows together and everything runs smoothly, it is very professional and you feel looked after and part of something special. I cant thank them enough for securing this fight for me and putting me top of the bill, it’s a good feeling.
“I will be bringing a massive crowd to Middleton, my fans are amazing and the support they are giving me is just great, I can only thank them by performing well and progressing up the ladder. I want to win this belt and dedicate it to them for believing in me and getting behind me, it means the world and hopefully there will be many more belts to come over the years. For now though I’m just concentrating on Cesna this Saturday and then I can start thinking about what comes next.
When we spoke to Hydes opponent Rolandas Cesna this week, we found a boxer up for the challenge, who is coming to Manchester determined to cause an upset and take the belt back to his village in Lithuania, where he would be welcomed home a hero.
“I am very confident of victory over Hyde.” said Cesna. “I have viewed his fights on YouTube and I am not impressed, he has got nothing I haven’t seen or been in the ring with before.
“Fighting for a belt is a very special moment in my career, this is an honour and something that I aim to take advantage of to turn my career around. After my last fight I knew if I won, I would receive this opportunity and I won the fight well. I have had many weeks to prepare for this fight, which usually I don’t have, so this will help me, I am confident of victory.
“In my village I am well known as a boxer and now everyone knows and more people are knowing my next fight. They know I am travelling to the UK for this fight, for a belt and they are behind me and will be watching it and helping me with support.
“I have been training hard in the woods where I live, chopping trees and running on hills, I expect to be in great shape and I am looking forward to making a good fight with Hyde, but I will win by KO I believe.” added a confident Cesna.
On the Undercard:
Unbeaten prospect Zelfa Barrett is in action against Hungary’s Aron Szilagyi in a six rounder. Barrett is a boxer on the way up fast. Tough nut Szilagyi always comes to fight will give it a good go but Barrett should have far too much for the Hungarian and could likely win by KO, as he did in his last fight against Ismail Anwar. But if he goes looking for it, Szilagyi could be dangerous, he has a solid left hook and Barrett can ill afford to get too involved as he fights again the week after on the Terry Flanagan vs Derry Mathews world title fight at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on Saturday March 12th.
Also on the bill is Middleton home town favourites, Matthew Ryan and Alex Rutter, two quality boxers from the Collyhurst and Moston conveyor belt, who have big ambitions for the future.
Ryan, 25, has a tough assignment this time out when he takes on Athertons William Warburton over 6 rounds. The Middleton super-welterweight has been out of the ring since July through injury and is raring to get in there again. In Warburton he is in for a hard nights work and will need to be on song to overcome hard man Warburton, is always the underdog in his fights, but he is renowned for causing upsets when least expected and this could be the fight of the night.
Rutter, unbeaten in 8-fights as recently hooked up with new trainer Pat Barrett and is looking to put on a top performance in-front of his home-town fans. Since joining the Collyhurst and Moston boxing club, Rutter has been given a new lease of life. He will face s stiff test though against Hereford’s Dean Evans a man who will be more than willing to give Rutter the test he needs, another good fight on paper.
In some interesting small hall matchmaking on the undercard, a derby fight made bespoke for the show, sees two local unbeaten lads take on each other in a risky meeting for both. Aaron Michael Jr and Darryl Sharp, who both live literally strides from the arena in Middleton town centre, agreed to meet each other and deserve credit for accepting. Neither wanted to fight a journeyman, so the promoters put it to them to fight each and other and what a fight this could be as both put their unbeaten records.
This looks like being a great show, don’t miss it!
You can watch all the fight action from Middleton Arena LIVE and FREE on BBTV via www.britishboxers.co.uk – Details…
Tickets: Sold Out.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
