{"id":950,"date":"2021-08-08T11:59:31","date_gmt":"2021-08-08T11:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/?p=950"},"modified":"2021-08-08T11:59:31","modified_gmt":"2021-08-08T11:59:31","slug":"galahad-stops-dickens-in-eleven-to-claim-ibf-featherweight-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/?p=950","title":{"rendered":"GALAHAD STOPS DICKENS IN ELEVEN TO CLAIM IBF FEATHERWEIGHT CROWN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
Kid Galahad vs Jazza Dickens, vacant IBF Featherweight World Title fight.\n7 August 2021\nPicture By Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing\nKid Galahad celebrates his win.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
12 x 3 mins vacant IBF Featherweight World Title
KID GALAHAD WRTD11 v JAZZA DICKENS              
(Sheffield, England)           (Liverpool, England)<\/strong>

Kid Galahad’s dream of becoming World Champion was finally realised as he produced a stunning effort to defeat Jazza Dickens and claim the IBF Featherweight crown at the top of the bill on Matchroom Fight Camp Week 2 in Brentwood, Essex, live worldwide on DAZN. 

The Sheffield man (28-1, 17 KOs) had been denied the IBF title in a split decision defeat to Josh Warrington in 2019, but he captured the vacant belt after gradually breaking down the stubborn resistance of Dickens, who was pulled out by his corner before the final session started. 

\u201cI\u2019ve been waiting 19 years for this and it\u2019s finally here, I\u2019ve finally got it \u2013 IBF Champion of the World,\u201d Galahad told DAZN<\/strong>. \u201cNot a little bit, the whole world. This doesn\u2019t say regular champion, this says World Champion. People can think what they want. I come to fight. I\u2019m a full time professional, I don\u2019t take no days off. Jazza Dickens will become a World Champion 100%. Without a doubt, he\u2019ll become a World Champion. I\u2019m just over the moon.
 
\u201cThank you Eddie Hearn. If it weren\u2019t for Eddie Hearn I wouldn\u2019t be in this position right now. Thank you to DAZN. I\u2019m just over the moon man. Brendan Ingle told me that I\u2019m going to win everything from Super-Bantamweight up to Lightweight. Nobody believed me and everyone doubted me when I said I\u2019d become Word Champion. Before I met Brendan, I would have probably been locked up in jail. He was the only person that gave me hope. If it wasn\u2019t for boxing, Eddie Hearn, DAZN, Brendan Ingle, my mum I\u2019d probably be locked up or dead. 
 
\u201cNaseem Hamed, I met him at the local mosque. I said to him, \u2018Naz, I want to be a World Champion like you\u2019. He told me if I wanted to become a World Champion I needed to go and find Brendan Ingle at the St Thomas\u2019 Boxing Club. The rest is history. I went and met Brendan and that\u2019s it. 
 
\u201cEvery single day two busses. 45 minutes. I used to get up at 5.45 to get in for 6.45. Every single day from the age of 12-years-old. When I was 15 I moved out of my area. Brendan told me I\u2019d end up locked up or dead if I stayed in that area. I lived in a crappy house at the bottom of the road with about five other boxers. There were rats and everything. I used to have a mattress on the floor. I lived there from the age of 15 until I was 20 and I got enough money to get my own house. 
 
\u201cMy mum is over there somewhere. She\u2019s over the moon. We\u2019ve come from nothing. Hopefully I make a few quid out of this and get her a nice house, and get out of the area. I\u2019m going to dominate the division. I always told Eddie I was going to dominate this division. I will make sure that I clean up this division. Nobody is going to beat me. I just beat the guy who beat Leigh Wood. This says IBF Champion of the whole World. This is not a regular title.\u201d

10 x 3 mins English Heavyweight Title
FABIO WARDLEY WTKO1 (2:30) v NICK WEBB
(Ipswich, England)                           (Surrey, England)<\/strong>

Fast-rising Ipswich prospect Fabio Wardley wasted no time as he blasted out Nick Webb inside the opening round to retain his English Heavyweight Title and improve his unblemished record to 12-0 (11 KOs).

Surrey fighter Webb made a decent start to the fight, catching Wardley with some punishing shots, but a brief moment of carelessness allowed Wardley to make his impact. The 26-year-old hurt Webb and once he realised that, he unloaded a barrage of hurtful shots forcing the referee to halt the fight.

\u201cIt was a big one for me because this was a good test,\u201d Wardley<\/strong> told Matchroom. \u201cHe was coming off a good win and we had to just make a bit of an impact, make a bit of a statement. Don\u2019t get me wrong, it wasn\u2019t the cleanest performance but sometimes you\u2019ve just got to grit these ones out and get it done. I proved the difference. I proved that I can take a shot and keep moving like I proved against Molina. You can hit me and I\u2019ll still come back at you with full force. He caught me a few times but it doesn\u2019t faze me, I keep moving and I\u2019ll move to take you out. 
 
\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to let him off the hook. That\u2019s something that we\u2019ve been building on, that killer instinct \u2013 to notice and pay attention to when you\u2019ve got someone going. I think in my last few fights I\u2019ve been getting that going. When I hit someone and I see that little chink in their armour, I\u2019m going in and I\u2019m getting the kill. 
 
\u201cI respect every fighter that\u2019s ever stepped in the ring because it\u2019s a dangerous sport and anything can happen. I had to do what I did to get Nick in the ring in the first place because I\u2019ve been chasing Nick for a year. I had to switch up my approach and go for the more aggressive stance and call him out and call him a few names. It\u2019s all for the love of the sport at the end of the day. I respect everyone that gets in there. 
 
\u201cI think I\u2019ve made the most out of every opportunity that\u2019s been put in front of me. I\u2019ve never said no to an opportunity that Ed has given me. I\u2019m becoming increasingly more difficult to match because me, Dill and the team, we don\u2019t say no. If you want to meet me in the ring I\u2019m happy to go there, let\u2019s go. It feels like a dream, it feels like a weird rollercoaster and I\u2019m just running with it. I\u2019m just loving what I\u2019m doing and I\u2019m staying focused. 
 
\u201cI\u2019ve won the English and I\u2019ve defended it; I think that\u2019s me done with it now. Moving forwards for the British, Commonwealth, European \u2013 those types of belts are what I\u2019ve got my eyes set on next and obviously Joe (Joyce) is holding onto them. He\u2019s going to be moving on, he\u2019s trying to move to that world level and he\u2019s going to want to drop them sooner or later. I\u2019ll be there ready and waiting.\u201d

8 x 3 mins International Heavyweight contest
ALEN BABIC WRTD5 v MARK BENNETT
(Zagreb, Croatia)           (Dunsville, England)<\/strong>

Alen Babic’s destructive form continued as he forced Mark Bennett to retire after the fifth round. 

‘The Savage’ had to endure a couple of rocky moments in the early rounds but his relentlessness saw him get on top after the second session. It was all one way traffic after that and after enduring a torrid fifth stanza, Bennett’s corner did the right thing and pulled their man out.

\u201cI feel great,\u201d Babic<\/strong> told DAZN. \u201cThank you for having me, it was a very very tough fight. I didn\u2019t expect that \u2013 I\u2019ve got to say that. All kudos to him. He\u2019s a very very tough warrior, a legit warrior. I threw maybe 100 power punches at his head, and I have knockout punches, so it was a very tough and competitive fight. I thank him for that. 
 
\u201cLeft, right and I was like, \u2018fall, it\u2019s your time to fall\u2019, but he just didn\u2019t want to fall. He really caught me with a few ones. He didn\u2019t catch me flush because I always bob and weave but he\u2019s a very tough man and I respect him. 
 
\u201cThis guy was 30kg heavier than me and you saw what happened, he wasn\u2019t stronger in that ring. I can do everything. I\u2019m here to represent the little people who can\u2019t do nothing. I am just little like them \u2013 the smallest Heavyweight alive! You can do it if I can do it, I\u2019m nothing special. I just put my mind to it. If you put your mind to it, there\u2019s nothing you can\u2019t do.\u201d

4 x 3 mins Heavyweight contest 
JOHNNY FISHER WTKO2 (1:08) v DANNY WHITAKER
(Romford, England)                        (Silsden, England)<\/strong>

Johnny Fisher was far too powerful for Danny Whitaker as he progressed to 3-0 in front of his father who was watching on from ringside. 

A dominant second round saw ‘The Romford Bull’ drop Whitaker twice before the fight was stopped before any more damage could be done. 

\u201cIt felt fantastic, especially in front of some of my supporters here,\u201d Fisher<\/strong> told Matchroom. \u201cIn the future we\u2019ll get a lot more in. It was great to have that little taste of what the future can hold. Respect to Danny Whitaker, a great man and a great opponent. I\u2019m ready for the next step. I feel like I prepared better for this fight than any of my previous fights \u2013 especially with Mark being back. I\u2019ve got a great assistant trainer in Steve Andrews. We\u2019ve got a long way to go but I\u2019m in a good place. 
 
\u201cMy mum and dad are here, and my brothers are here. It\u2019s brilliant. My little sister is at home. We\u2019re going to have a nice Chinese now and celebrate. I think it\u2019s the confidence that you can take from knowing that you have prepared well. Lennox Lewis sent me a message before my debut, \u2018the more I prepare, the less I worry\u2019, and that was testament to the work that we\u2019ve been doing in the gym. 
 
\u201cI\u2019ve definitely calmed down from the second fight. I think it\u2019s different when you\u2019ve got someone with a winning record in there. I\u2019ve got a long long way to go to calm myself down and box on the back foot, but I know I can box on the back foot because I\u2019ve showed it before in sparring. Doing it in the ring is another thing and that\u2019s why we have a process. I\u2019m only 22-years-old and I\u2019ve got to build. You\u2019ve got to stay humble and you\u2019ve got to stay ready. 

“We all know in our area about Mark Tibbs and his dad and how great they are. It’s not just that he’s my boxing trainer, we’re good friends and we get on really well. He said to me once that it’s like we’ve known each other forever and it is. It’s brilliant to be working with someone who is such a legend in the sport. Boxing is a very brutal sport and it can end at any time for anyone, especially at Heavyweight. You’ve got to have respect for all of your opponents. You’ve got to be ready for anything, and the best way to be is to be honest.” 

8 x 2 mins International Bantamweight contest
EBANIE BRIDGES WTKO3 (1:22) v BEC CONNOLLY
(New South Wales, Australia)          (Swindon, England)<\/strong>

Popular Australian Ebanie Bridges returned to winning ways by stopping Bec Connolly in three rounds.

Bridges found a superb right hand to floor the Swindon fighter and when a further attack followed once Connolly was back on her feet, the referee made a sensible intervention.

\u201cTo be back here in the UK, and to win and get my hand raised is amazing,\u201d Bridges<\/strong> told DAZN. \u201cLas time I was unlucky, although I still got a good reception. It was good to get in here and get my hand raised for my fans. I had a few people here supporting me so shout out to everyone that came. I saw you there with your Aussie flags and I appreciate you. It feels great.
 
\u201cWinning is what it\u2019s all about. It\u2019s all good having the fanbase and the social media presence but if you\u2019re not winning it can only go so far. Winning is important. It feels good. She was more difficult in the sense she was holding and a bit rough on the inside. That was new for me. I\u2019m not used to people holding. 
 
\u201cI thought I would finish it in the later rounds. I knew I would break her down. I was just aiming for her body for the first few rounds because I wanted to break her body down so I could open her up to the head, and that\u2019s exactly what we did. That\u2019s what our plan was. 
 
\u201cBy the third round I already had her hands dropping from going to the body and then that\u2019s why that right hand was landing. That\u2019s the one that stopped it. Obviously I want the rematch with \u2018Shanny\u2019. That\u2019s what everyone wants, not just me. I know I want it, the fans want it, I\u2019m pretty sure Eddie Hearn wants it. The only one that doesn\u2019t want it is her. 
 
\u201cHopefully she wants it, but then again she\u2019s on her journey and I\u2019ve got to focus on mine. I don\u2019t hold my breath. The ball is in her court, and if she doesn\u2019t take it, I suppose it looks a bit like she\u2019s running.
 
\u201cTo all my fans and everyone that supported me tonight \u2013 I hope you enjoyed it. I love being back in the UK and I love being on DAZN. It\u2019s a great platform as well with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom so a big thank you to them. This is just the comeback.\u201d

8 x 3 mins International Super-Featherweight contest
AQIB FIAZ WPTS8 (77-76) v KEVIN BALDOSPINO
(Oldham, England)                (Miranda de Ebro, Spain)<\/strong>

Oldham prospect Aqib Fiaz advanced his record to 7-0 as he defeated Spain’s Kevin Baldospino on points. The 21-year-old was made to work hard and that was reflected in the 77-76 scorecard.

\u201cI\u2019m just glad to be back after such a long layoff,\u201d Fiaz<\/strong> told Matchroom. \u201cIt\u2019s good to get back in there and get the win. It wasn\u2019t my best performance, but I got the win most importantly. It was emotional to get back in there, especially here as well. It meant a lot to me. I had to come in and do my job no matter what.

“It wasn\u2019t my best performance. We\u2019re going to go away and look at the mistakes I made, then we\u2019ll definitely work on them and be better next time. Even going into the last round, I felt I did enough to win. It was probably the right decision yeah. He was a tough man. I hurt him a couple of times and he stuck in there and dug in. Credit to him.

“I expected to be better than that, and I definitely am better than that. I need to be better than that. The fight didn\u2019t go the way I wanted to. It\u2019s about learning, and I feel like that\u2019s a good learning fight. I\u2019m definitely better than that, I just need activity. The more time I\u2019m in the ring, the better I\u2019ll be.

“I\u2019ve had a lot going on, and my team have had my back. They\u2019re like father figures to me. They\u2019ve been there for me when I\u2019ve been at my lowest. I\u2019m here today because of them. Ten months is probably the longest layoff that I\u2019ve ever had in my amateur career and pro. It\u2019s good to be back, but let\u2019s be back soon.”<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

12 x 3 mins vacant IBF Featherweight World TitleKID GALAHAD WRTD11 v JAZZA DICKENS              (Sheffield, England)  <\/p>\n

Continue readingGALAHAD STOPS DICKENS IN ELEVEN TO CLAIM IBF FEATHERWEIGHT CROWN<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[235],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950\/revisions\/952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}