JACKAL RETURNS BEST OF ENEMIES The driving force behind Frampton When promoters come together AUGUST 13 2020 THE WORLD’S BEST FIGHT MAGAZINE EST. 1909 WWW.BOXINGNEWSONLINE.NET WWW.BOXINGNEWSONLINE.NET MICKEY WALKER Madcap heavyweight adventures 33 NO. 76 VOL. £3.99 WORLD CLASS Jonas and Harper showcase their quality but did the judges get it right? HARRY SIMON / FIGHT CAMP III / DAVID BENAVIDEZ / XANDER ZAYAS Available in newsagents, or order at www.boxingnewsshop.com ContentsAugust 13, 2020 CARL FRAMPTON 20 On his quest to become a three-weight world champion Photos: GETTY IMAGES & MARK ROBINSON/MATCHROOM UNMISSABLE HIGHLIGHTS >> 14 HARPER vs JONAS >> 4 EDITOR’S LETTER Another cracking Fight Camp headliner It’s time to stop the emphasis on gender at Matchroom’s Brentwood bubble >> 5 GUEST COLUMN >> 24 DAVID BENAVIDEZ Give Carlos Ortiz the respect he deserves How a chubby teenager went on to become an unbeaten world champion >> 16 CASH vs WELBORN Can this tasty-looking main event live >> 28 HARRY SIMON up to the recent Fight Camp thrillers? The Namibian relives a harrowing and tragic event that changed everything >> 18 FRAMPTON vs TRAYNOR Carl must deal with a late, late change >> 34 MICKEY WALKER of opponent at the BT Sport studios Recalling the all-time great’s heady 14 days in the heavyweight division >> 40 AMATEURS Emeralds Boxing Club needs help SAVE £££ WITH A SUBSCRIPTION >> 42 THIS WEEK IN HISTORY Joe Frazier’s professional debut, For more details visit Nigel Benn vs Iran Barkley and more WWW.BOXINGNEWSONLINE.NET/SUBSCRIPTIONS >> 46 60-SECOND INTERVIEW ‘I CHOPPED MY FINGER OFF WHEN I WAS 14. I BOXED EIGHT WEEKS LATER AND WON THE ABAs’ Dalton Smith www.boxingnewsonline.net AUGUST 13, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 3 EDITOR’S LETTER Photo: MARK ROBINSON/MATCHROOM HIGH QUALITY: Time to Jonas and Harper subscribe fight to a draw l THERE are numerous ways to subscribe, including special offers. l YOU can save 60 per cent Cover photography MARK ROBINSON/MATCHROOM on the cover price with a print and online subscription, or a huge 81 per cent if you opt for digital only. l FOR more information on all the subscription options, plus THE QUEST FOR EQUALITY our special bookazines, Jonas and Harper should be championed for their ability, not their gender please visit www.shop. kelsey.co.uk OME Boxing News sustain regular competitive action. between Seniesa Estrada and Miranda or call 01959- readers don’t like “The woman’s body is not designed Adkins on a Golden Boy Promotions 543-747. women’s boxing. to take punches,” another regular reader show last month as evidence of the That’s fair enough. wrote to tell me a few years ago. That problems that remain. It is spectacles l THE next S Just last week we is true. But if they can also tell me like that which repulse and make the issue will be in received a letter that the male body is designed to take criticism difficult to brush off as mere shops on August from a long-time punishment then the point they’re trying sexism. As in men’s boxing, promoters 20 and available subscriber who to make is worthwhile. Fact is, however, and matchmakers have a duty of care. to download on has decided not no human being is built to withstand All efforts must be made to remove the August 18. to renew their punishment. The fate of countless blatant mismatches from our sport. As subscription male boxers – badly damaged or in a general rule, if a suitable opponent The because of some cases killed as a consequence of cannot be found, then a fight should Podcast increased coverage taking too many blows to the head – is not be taking place. Returns! of ladies fighting in testament to that. This sport is barbaric Further arguments have arisen about Matt l THE OPENING Christie the magazine. and brutal whichever way you look at female boxing. The two-minute rounds, It’s more it and that, as diehard fans of boxing, is the maximum 10-round distance for BELL, the Boxing @MattCBoxingNews important than something we were forced to come to world title fights, the discrepancy in pay. News podcast, Editor ever before that terms with a long time ago. The length of fights is open to debate is back and we retain as many In recent years, after significant strides but if boxers have been trained to fight completely free subscribers as possible, therefore it’s my were taken at amateur level, the quality in two-minute rounds for most of their to listen to. duty as editor of Boxing News to listen of women’s boxing has improved. On careers, upping that to three is a bigger l Alex to the views of any readers who don’t Saturday night in Brentwood, Natasha step than one may presume. And the Steedman hosts like what we’re doing. Important too, as Jonas and Terri Harper produced a debate over pay should come down alongside Matt we move forward in a changing world, terrific scrap over 10 rounds while only to this: The financial reward must Christie and to ensure that the BN brand is fair, headlining Matchroom’s latest show on be governed by the level of interest every week balanced and promotes equality in all Sky Sports. It was exciting and laced with that the fight is generating, be that there will be aspects of the sport. courage and skill. Yet the overwhelming via televsion audiences or ticket sales, important For many fans, the first time they narrative – before, during and afterwards whatever sex the fighters generating interviews as regularly saw women box was in the – was the gender of the two fighters. that interest might be. we tackle the Christy Martin-Jane Couch-Lucia Rijker It’s of course important to separate the For women to be that star attraction biggest subjects era. There were plenty of good fights men’s game from the women’s, and to regularly and to gain the respect their in the sport. back then. But there were more woeful champion progress, but time, I believe, efforts deserve, the contests have to be mismatches. Contests made where one to stop referencing the sex of the boxers well-matched and those of us compiling l Listen via could box at a high standard and the every two minutes when ladies collide. the storyline should highlight they’re Apple, Spotify other could not box at all. Unfair fights Highlighting what is blatantly obvious, topping the bill simply because it’s a and all major are ugly at any level, they’re dangerous that it is two women boxing ‘and by good fight. After all, a good fight is a podcast and distasteful and there were too many golly, aren’t they doing well’, only makes good fight, irrespective of gender. platforms. of them cropping up in the female code the quest for acceptance harder to attain. Follow us and keep up to date l New episode simply because there was not enough There is a long way to go. One only every Thursday. skilled women boxers out there to has to look at the horrific mismatch @BoxingNewsED BoxingNewsOnline 4 l BOXING NEWS l AUGUST 13, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net GUEST COLUMN DON’T FORGET ABOUT CARLOS Photo: ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES TRUE GREAT: Ortiz has been in the Hall of Fame since 1991 Ortiz is living proof that legends of the sport are too often discarded as yesterday’s news HIS summer swarmed Klitschko. One of the great But there remained speculation the 140lbs title as well. I was on a boxers of his era and one of the that if Ortiz were to lose his rubber “People don’t remember or WBC podcast. greatest lightweight champions in match against Ismael Laguna at care about what I did in the ring,” The panel was history went unnoticed, completely Shea Stadium later that summer the Ortiz told me a couple of decades T asked if there ignored in fact. As the stream of fans repercussions would reverberate ago. Unfortunately the scene with was one dream frantically rushed past Ortiz trying to beyond the ring. However, a Klitschko bore that out to a degree fight they could get Klitschko’s autograph the hurt on supremely confident Ortiz assured even though to some of us Ortiz make which his face was evident. For a legend everyone there was nothing to will always be revered. In the years one would it of the sport to be relegated to worry about. He then delivered by since, Ortiz has mostly disappeared be? No pun complete obscurity easily outpointing from public view. His phone intended, was an unpleasant Laguna over 15 number remained unchanged but when sight. ‘PEOPLE rounds. enabling me to touch base with him Gleason’s Gym If you want an DON’T Had Duran not recently. Jack owner Bruce idea of the pull that REMEMBER OR suffered an injury When he came to the phone Hirsch Silverglade said Ortiz once had you and been forced Ortiz was initially vibrant. At 83, he his would be have to go back 53 CARE WHAT to pull out of a has not lost any of his charm. But it Senior US Roberto Duran years to the summer September 20, 1972 soon became apparent that he was Correspondent against Carlos of 1967, when then I DID IN THE date with Ortiz at not recalling his past fights with the Ortiz, a bell Mayor John Lindsey Madison Square speed he once could.