Sport

Meli and Cummings are coming close to melee

James Fryers takes on Nottinghamshire’s Barrington Brown at the Europa Hotel on October 17
James Fryers takes on Nottinghamshire’s Barrington Brown at the Europa Hotel on October 17 James Fryers takes on Nottinghamshire’s Barrington Brown at the Europa Hotel on October 17

ALFREDO Meli and Conrad Cummings are set for title rumble in Belfast on November 20.

Immaculata fighter Meli (11-0) has been offered the chance to take on Cyclone Promotions prospect Cummings (7-0) and it is understood that the Celtic middleweight strap is up for grabs.

The clash of the two unbeaten local fighters could headline the November show – the venue has yet to be confirmed – but there is speculation that it will part of the undercard on a bill topped by IBF super-bantam champ Carl Frampton.

Meli’s ‘Mac’ stablemate Martin Lindsay predicts a good scrap.

“’Fredo’s willing to accept the fight,” he said.

“He has no problem in fighting him, ’Fredo would go in and fight anyone.”

Lindsay says the pressure would be on Coalisland’s big-hitting ‘Dynamite’, whose last fight was an impressive second round stoppage win against Mexican Oscar Riojas on the undercard of Frampton’s US-debut at the Don Haskins Convention Centre in El Paso, Texas in July.

“They rate Conrad very highly and it’s his team in Cyclone Promotions that’s picking ’Fredo so they must see weaknesses there that they feel they can exploit,” he said.

“I’m sure they’re picking Conrad to go out and win but that also means a lot of pressure. When you’re picking your opponent Conrad will have all the pressure in the world on his shoulders to go out and win and do a job on ’Fredo.

“They’re not picking him to go out and have a tight fight, they’re picking him to win and look good in doing so.”

Meli and Cummings met in the Ulster senior final during their amateur days and Cummings came out on top that night. Lindsay doesn’t feel that meeting will be a factor on November 20.

“’Fredo is just a throw-back fighter, he likes to put pressure on and he’ll go out and fight his own fight,” he said.

“He won’t be intimidated at all, Conrad beat him in the Ulster seniors but ’Fredo was only back after a couple of years out of the game. When he came back he was carrying weight, so I wouldn’t read too much into that.

“If it does happen he’ll definitely go out and fight his own fight – he’ll fight fire with fire and he won’t be intimidated at all.

“I hope it does come off because it’s the type of fight that both of them need. Conrad is a big puncher and he’s a huge talent who big things are expected off. ’Fredo is coming in under the radar, he has built an 11-0 profile up and he’s just going about his business.

“This type of opportunity can propel him on to the next level and he’s happy enough to go in and test himself. If he’s in the gym sparring with five people, or in an arena with 5,000 he’ll fight his own fight – he has a certain style that is easy on the eye and he’ll go and have a war.

“He’ll ask a few questions of Conrad, he definitely will.”

UNDEFEATED super-featherweight James Fryers will tick another box in his career if he can successfully overcome Nottinghamshire’s Barrington Brown at the Europa Hotel on October 17.

‘The Future’ will take his impressive record to 10-0 with a win and the 22-year-old Belfast fighter, who works as a personal trainer at GymCo, has been moving up the British rankings.

He sits at number 10 and knows an impressive win over Brown on the ‘Champions of the Europa’ bill will open the door to the British title mix.

Fryers has locked horns with his three impressive stable mates in James Tennyson, Joe Fitzpatrick and Paul Hyland jnr in training with all four featuring at the city centre venue.

“Fryers is a world champion in the making,” said promoter Mark Dunlop.

“He has everything, he just needs a wee bit of luck because people would pay to watch the spars between him Tennyson, Fitzpatrick and Paul Hyland jnr.”

Hyland jnr tops the bill when he faces Bence Molnar for the BPA International Masters Challenge Belt over 8x3 Rounds. Irish Light Middleweight Champion Dee Walsh has withdrawn from the show due to a hand injury sustained in training on Sunday.

With the VIP Dinner Boxing option now sold out there still are £40 (ringside) and £30 (unreserved) tickets available from the boxers or contact 07712473905.

LEFT HOOKS

WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee says James Tennyson should be the number one challenger to British featherweight Ryan Walsh.

Walsh beat Samir Mouneimne on Saturday night to win the vacant belt on a split decision and Lee – at ringside as a pundit for BoxNation – feels Tennyson should get a crack at his title.

“James Tennyson from Belfast is maybe number one contender for him so that could be a fight,” said the Limerick man at Wembley Arena.

Tennyson fights out of the Kronk Gym in Belfast while Lee was based in the original Kronk Gym, in Detroit, USA under the watchful eye of Emanuel Steward for the first half of his professional career.

TYSON Fury doesn’t believe that Wladimir Klitschko had a genuine injury that forced him to pull out of their world heavyweight title fight.

Klitschko claimed he had a calf problem, but former Irish heavyweight champ Fury isn’t convinced.

“Whatever Klitschko's reasons are, I can tell you all now there's no injury,” said Fury.

“He either needs more time to prepare, more time to get his mind set straight, or more time to talk over what he’s going to do.

“There’s definitely no injury. Definitely, definitely not.”

In the past Fury had two bouts against David Haye postponed in 2013, and a domestic meeting with Dereck Chisora was also delayed last year.

“Am I that intimidating? Am I that scary?” he asked.

“Batman worked a treat, and cost me a big fight again. Let’s hope he wants to do the fight again.

“He can’t go anywhere else. The only option is to retire like the other man, with no name (Haye). Am I going to be the man who retires people rather than fights (them)? We will find out.”

FRANK Buglioni showed tremendous heart but was ultimately outclassed as Fedor Chudinov retained his WBA World super-middleweight crown with a wide points victory.

Buglioni, now 17-2-1 with 13 KO wins, was the big underdog at London's Wembley Arena and the bout went to form as the unbeaten Chudinov was awarded the decision by scores of 120-106, 118-108 and 117-109.

The Londoner was a game challenger, however, and refused to take a backward step despite being overmatched against his Russian foe, who improved his record to 14-0 with 10KO wins.

While Buglioni kept the champion honest with attacks to the body Chudinov was able to build an early lead, first through his much vaunted right hand then establishing a decent jab.

Buglioni's flurry in the fourth brought the crowd to their feet, but he was then deducted two points for flooring Chudinov after the end of the fifth.

The home fighter was well behind on the scorecards but engaged in some fantastic exchanges with Chudinov, who landed the more eye-catching, powerful blows down the stretch.

While Buglioni earned plenty of applause for his bravery in hearing the final bell, there was no doubt as to the result.

Earlier in the evening, British heavyweight Dereck Chisora claimed his second win since losing to Tyson Fury in their re-match last year, outpointing lightly-regarded Brazilian Marcelo Luiz Nascimento.