Frankie Gavin
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Q & A with “Funtime” Frankie Gavin One of the fights dubbed the “The Magnificent Seven” will see one of Britain’s top prospects “Funtime” Frankie Gavin 7-0(6) bid for his first first title in the paid ranks when he fights Michael Kelly for the Irish Light Welterweight crown. In this fight Gavin will look to add another victory that he hopes will see him go one step closer to becoming the British Champion which he hopes to challenge for in the near future. The 24 year old achieved something no English fighter ever had in the amateur’s when he won the World Championships stunning two time Olympic Gold medallist Aleksei Tishchenko on route to the final. He then headed to Beijing with high hopes of completing the double, unfortunately he was unable to make the weight and couldn’t compete. He then opted to turn pro under the stewardship of Frank Warren and is currently trained by Anthony Farnell. Here’s what Gavin had to say. Hello Frankie, welcome back to 15rounds.com Anson Wainwright – Firstly it’s been awhile since we spoke you have started off your pro career very impressively going 7-0(6) what are your thoughts on how things have gone so far in your career? Frankie Gavin – Everything has gone to plan. I’ve stayed undefeated. I haven’t lost or drawn a round as a pro. So far everything has gone to plan. Anson Wainwright – You will be looking to win your first title when you fight for the Vacant Irish Title against Michael Kelly, what do you know about Kelly & what do you expect him to bring to the fight? Frankie Gavin – I think he’s a decent fighter. He was a really good amateur but it’s a completely different game now (In the pro’s). He’s very strong, he looks like he can fight a bit, but I’ve seen he makes quite a few mistakes so I’ll take advantage of that. Anson Wainwright – This fight will be scheduled for 10 rounds, so far you haven’t been beyond 6. What are your thoughts on that? Frankie Gavin – I do it in the gym fine. I spar Light Middle’s, I spar 8-10 with Mattie Hall (Hall is the former Commonwealth Light Middleweight champion who is 23-2(16) as a pro. So to do that with Mattie Hall I can easily do it with Michael Kelly. Anson Wainwright – What are your feelings on the September 18 show in general, it must be a tremendous honour to be from the host City of such a big event? Frankie Gavin – Yeah it’s brilliant. Obviously Macklin’s on, he’s going to knock Barker out. I don’t really like to comment on Brook & Jennings because I know them both. Then I think Maccarinelli & Cleverly are going to be fine. Degale is going to smash Dilks in four rounds. I think I’ll do Kelly easily enough. Chisora-Sexton is another one like Brook & Jennings. Such a good show. Don Broadhurst whoever he fights I think he’ll be fine. I think it’s such a good show. Ronnie Heffron & Joe Selkirk have just been added. Editors Note: This interview took place on the 31 August, since then Darren Barker has pulled out with a hip injury. Anson Wainwright – You were originally scheduled to fight Curtis Woodhouse. He played Football for your beloved Birmingham City F.C would that of been strange for you beating up a guy you had once cheered from the stands? Frankie Gavin – No not one bit. He gets carried away, he thinks he’s the next big think thing, in all honesty he’s nothing more than an area fighter in my opinion. Anson Wainwright – Without getting ahead of ourselves you obviously hope to achieve big things in Boxing, all being well after the 18 September what would you like to do next? What are your plans for say the next 6 months to a year? Frankie Gavin – I want to be British Champion at least. I want to be challenging. In my opinion I’m ready for Lenny Daws, I want Lenny Daws. I want Nigel Wright, Lenny Daws anybody ahead of me in the rankings. In some people’s eyes Woodhouse is ahead of me but he’s not, people who know Boxing know he’s not ahead of me in the rankings. I want people who are genuinely ahead of me there the people i really want to fight. Anson Wainwright – You have been cut a few times so far, you’ve dealt with the adversity well. Do you think this could be a problem for you? Have you looked into it? Frankie Gavin – It’s one of those things. They’ve been head clashes. It hasn’t really bothered me. Just really one of those things, I’m not bothered about it. If it really bothered me you’d of seen me fold and go on the back foot and get worried but if anything it spurs me on. So far nothings really bothered me. I’ve been hit a few times with 8 ounce gloves and I’ve taken it. I haven’t been shaken as yet obviously it’s going to happen one day but I’ll deal with that when it happens. Once I’ve been punched and cut I’ll thing something must be wrong, but it’s always been with the head really hard. Anyone who gets hit with the heads going to cut. Anson Wainwright – You were obviously part of the 2008 British Olympic team though you didn’t fight. With the exception of two who stayed in the amateur’s the rest have gone pro. How do you feel they have all done so far? Do you stay in contact with them all? Frankie Gavin – Yeah I still speak to them all Price, Jeffries, Degale, Billy Joe Saunders & Joe Murray. We’re all friends, the good thing is we’re all still undefeated, none of us have been beat. As long as none of us can not get beat we’ll all be champions. Anson Wainwright – From a British point of view the Light Welterweight division is stacked with talent. Amir Khan is a World Champion, Paul McCloskey is the European Champion plus British champ Lenny Daws, English holder Nigel Wright. What are your thoughts on those guys? Frankie Gavin – I’ll beat in my opinion Nigel Wright now. I’m a better southpaw than him, I’m a better boxer than him. He thinks he’s a big puncher, but he’s not one of those guys I’m going to have to go looking for. Same with Lenny Daws. When I first went pro it would of been over 4 rounds, now I’m doing 6 I know I’d beat him over 6. I’ve done 8 and if I get my 10 & 12’s sorted I’ll beat him of that then. As long as I can do 10 rounds they can’t beat me. I’m a better boxing, they haven’t got variation like me they haven’t got the elusiveness like me. Anson Wainwright – A fight with McCloskey would be huge in Ireland as would a fight with Khan in Britain. What are your thoughts on those guys? Frankie Gavin – They’re at the very back of my mind. I’ve got a lot of things to prove and achieve before I can look to those guys. There doing things I can only dream about at the moment. When the time comes we’ll see. At the moment those two are well ahead of me so I’m not even looking at them. Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for your fans and anyone who maybe thinking of coming to the “Magnificent Seven” show on the 18 September? Frankie Gavin – Just come, it’s going to be a great night. Your going to see some of Britain’s finest and it wont disappoint i’m sure of that. Thanks for your time Frankie, keep up the good work Anson Wainwright 15rounds.