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Makijs
26-11-2005, 13:18
Joval vreest rechterhand uitdager
Door KRIJN SNUIF
http://www.ad.nl/sport/article70082.ece
http://www.ad.nl/multimedia/archive/00023/joval_23581h.jpg

MELBOURNE - In de lobby van het duurste hotel in Melbourne zit een donkere man met een cowboyhoed.

Raymond 'Hallelujah' Joval. Foto ANPPas wanneer het hoofddeksel afgaat, wordt zijn karakteristieke kapsel zichtbaar. Bijna kale schedel, met wat blond haar in de vorm van een kroon er bovenop. Hier zit bokser Raymond ‘Hallelujah’ Joval, klaar voor zijn wereldtitelgevecht van morgen.

De Amsterdammer pluist de Australische kranten na voor de Champions League-uitslag van Ajax. Hij vindt alleen die van PSV.

Even zijn zijn gedachten in Nederland. Daarna schakelt hij over naar ‘Down Under’, naar het nu. Morgen wacht in de Vodafone Arena van Melbourne de lokale held Shannan Taylor. Inzet van de partij: de IBO-titel in het middengewicht.

,,Taylor heeft een goede rechterhand’’, zegt Joval na het zien van videobeelden. ,,Daarbij moet ik uit de buurt blijven.’’ De Nederlander veroverde dit jaar de vacante wereldtitel in Brussel en is niet van plan die af te staan. ,,Ik ben een kampioen en wil mijn titel houden. Daarvoor moet je alle gevechten winnen.’’

De partij wordt afgewerkt in de op één na grootste hal van het tenniscomplex waar jaarlijks de Australian Open plaatsheeft. Het grootste stadion, de Rod Laver Arena, is deze week het decor voor de WK turnen. Op zo’n 500 meter afstand daarvan verdedigt Joval zijn wereldtitel.

Het gevecht is belangrijk voor de 37-jarige bokser. Mocht hij verliezen, dan zal het hem veel moeite kosten de titel ooit terug te winnen. ,,Het gaat ergens om’’, aldus de in New York woonachtige Joval. ,,Ik heb mijn huis in Amsterdam verlaten voor het boksen. Mijn familie heb ik al maanden niet gezien. Als ik verlies, kan ik beter weer in Nederland gaan wonen.’’

Wanneer Joval de hotellift naar boven heeft genomen, verschijnt zijn uitdager in de lobby. Gemillimeterde kop, met een immense zonnebril op de neus. Taylor (32) begint direct te vertellen over een van zijn coaches, die hij op de training een paar flinke leverstoten heeft gegeven. Taylor: ,,Die trainer had een dik beschermingsvest aan, maar er moest een dokter aan te pas komen om hem op te lappen.’’

Jovals zaakwaarnemer Fred Cohen is niet onder de indruk. ,,Dat verhaal vertelt hij elke dag. En elke keer is het weer mooier.’’

MZN
26-11-2005, 14:53
Nu maar hopen dat in Melbourne twee Nederlanders kampioen worden: the lord of the rings en the lord of the ring :)....

Makijs
26-11-2005, 17:09
Rejuvenated Taylor plans to KO Joval
INTERVIEW By Anthony Cocks (November 14, 2005)
http://www.doghouseboxing.com/cocks/cocks112505.htm
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http://www.doghouseboxing.com/Media/ShannanTaylor.jpg
For Shannan Taylor, 2001 was a bad year. An unsuccessful world title challenge to a then red-hot Shane Mosley for the WBC welterweight crown that resulted in a sixth round stoppage loss was followed by shock back-to-back TKO losses to Australian Julian Holland and Englishman Richard Williams. A well publicized drug problem and a bad relationship compounded Taylor’s woes and it looked for all money like his prizefighting career was on an irreversible slide into obscurity.

In the space of twelve months Taylor had gone from one of Australia’s brightest prospects to another ‘what if’ story.

Fast forward four years and Taylor is on the verge of his biggest fight since the Mosley loss when he faces Dutch technician Raymond Joval, 34-4 (15), for the IBO world middleweight title on Sunday afternoon at Vodafone Arena in Melbourne, Australia as the headline fight of an action-packed Blaster Promotions card. A win will once again make Taylor a player on the world scene while a loss will virtually consign his career to the scrapheap.

But Joval will be no walk in the park. Trained by former world champion Tracy Patterson, the crafty 37-year-old is a fundamentally sound boxer who has never tasted the canvas in his 38 pro fight career. But this statistic doesn’t faze Taylor.

“If I land on the mark he’ll be going to sleep,� a confident Taylor, 42-3-2 (28), told Doghouse Boxing three days before the fight.

“If I had to rate him I’d give him a B. He’s very good at everything – not super fast, not super strong, but he’s just reasonable at everything he does. He’s an all round fighter, a two-time IBO champion of the world, and he knows what he’s doing.�

Both Taylor and Joval enjoy lofty rankings in the IBF – Taylor is at number three at junior middleweight, while Joval sits at number eight at middleweight. But Taylor says he is committed to campaigning at 160 pounds for the foreseeable future.

“One of my fights has been the scales,� admitted Taylor, who started his career as a lean 140-pounder back in 1992. “I walk around at 77, 78 kilos and today I’m 75 kilos. Actually I’m 74.8 and I’ve got to get back to 72.5, but that’s nothing, I’ll just dry out overnight. When I started training with Jeff Fenech I went from 78 kilos back to 66.86, the welterweight limit. It’s incredible, that’s twelve kilos. I’ve been fighting the scales for the last sixteen months.�

After waiting six years for a shot at the welterweight world title under promoter Bill Mordey, Taylor jumped ship to join Team Fenech and finally got his chance to faced then-undefeated ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley for his WBC strap.

Taylor entered the Mosley fight as a rank outsider but surprised many pundits by holding his own in the first round before a right hand bomb detonated on his chin as the ten-second warning was sounded. Clearly hurt, Taylor fought on instinct alone for the next five rounds before retiring on his stool at the end of the sixth.

The loss still bothers Taylor, who feels the result would’ve been different if he didn’t have so many distractions in his personal life going in to the fight.

“I’m 33 years of age and I waited for Bill Mordey to lead my career, but I got a shot at Shane Mosley at the wrong time,� explained Taylor. “I had to go to Jeff Fenech to get the shot at Mosley. Bill Mordey couldn’t deliver it and he had me under contract for six years. Now I got five to ten times more money than most Australians, but fighting for money is only a part of it. I fight for glory and this fight against Joval is about glory. It’s about showing the world that Shannan Taylor’s talent was wasted when he was younger.�

Since 2001 Taylor has managed to rebuild his career with the help of Australia’s premier promoter Tony Caradonna, logging a 13-0-1 (9) record since the Williams loss. The opportunity to rejuvenate his career with a win over Joval is not lost on the 33-year-old Bulli Blaster.

“What’s the word champion mean?� asks Taylor rhetorically. “It doesn’t mean undefeated, it means coming back from being down, you know what I mean? The word champion means that when you’re down you can drag yourself off the floor and come back.�

With the fight just days away, Taylor is chomping at the bit to get in the ring and show fight fans what he is still capable of.

“I’m absolutely flying,� said Taylor, who has sparred over 160 rounds for this preparation against the likes of Maselino Masoe, Les Sherrington and talented amateur Johnny Krishna. “I’m starting to kick in now. As I was doing my interviews today I’ve started to be more direct. I know I’m not a Mundine saying ‘I’m the greatest’, ‘I’m the best looking’ or ‘I’m the fastest’, but I know what I can do and I’m going to do it on Sunday. But I’m starting to get direct in my way of thinking. I snapped a couple of times at my trainer and my mate but they all know that that’s going to be me until Sunday.

“It’s coming in now. It started last night because Raymond Joval came past me and started shadowboxing next to me, trying to intimidate me. I just cracked up laughing. Then he walked over to my trainer and started shadowboxing in front of him. Now he’s disrespected my trainer and he’s going to pay the price.�

Taylor gives credit to his partner Rebecca, who is about to give birth to his first son, for his new found focus.

“My boy is due on the 8th of December,� said a proud Taylor. “Hopefully he can hang on until I get back and hopefully I can win him a world title.

“I’ve got a good woman who has let me train for three months in peace. She’s carrying my baby and she’s about to pop. I thought she was going to give birth the day I was leaving the airport because she was getting cramps. She’s keeping my house in order, looking keeping my daughter’s nappies changed and in the best clothes, and mate that’s why I’m a happy camper. I’m off doing a mission and I’m able to do that because I’ve got a good woman in Rebecca.�

On an action packed undercard, Newcastle’s Chad Bennett will defend his IBO Intercontinental welterweight title against Argentinean Ariel Gerardo Aparici, Melbournian Dale Westerman will put his OPBF light heavyweight title on the line against rugged Sydneysider Brett Culey, local hardman Tim Bell will go to war with Kiwi Timo Masua, Daniel Geale rematches with Gary Comer at junior middleweight, Eddie Delic from Melbourne fights Danny Boy Pierce also at junior middleweight, unbeaten middleweight Adam Vella squares off against Matt Shaw and Kim Heta gets it on with Clay Auimatagi at heavyweight.

The card is being televised live on Sky Sports Pubs & Clubs around Australia from 1pm.

MZN
26-11-2005, 17:15
op de sherdog boxing prediction contest is Joval favoriet las ik vanmiddag...

Makijs
26-11-2005, 18:52
Another chance for Taylor!
November 26, 2005
By Matt Clark
http://www.fightnews.com/fightnews_2/headlines//EEFFpkkklyQHYvXPvO.html

The rags-to-riches story is one that is all too familiar in the sport of boxing. The legend of a fighter rising above the odds and on to a better way of life, is as old as the sport itself. Just as frequently, the same pugilist gets caught up in the pizzazz of living, spending and partying big, and the fall is as hard to take as a left hook to the jaw. But when Australian Middleweight Shannan Taylor (42-3-2, 28 KO’s) faces off against IBO champion Ray Joval on Sunday in Melbourne, a new chapter may well be added.

Taylor, 33, has seen it all before. He climbed as high as number two contender for the welterweight championship in early 2001. Then faced the legendary title holder “Sugar� Shane Mosley and was defeated in six rounds. But what many at the time didn’t know was that the fall had already begun. The “Bulli Blaster� was already a user of cocaine, a drug whose clutches he wouldn’t be able to escape until he was defeated two further occasions.

Like so many before him, Taylor found a saviour in the form of religion. He gradually climbed his way out of the abyss that threatened to consume not only his talent, but his life.

“I was flying once, I was waiting to fight the likes of Oscar De La Hoya and Mosley, but I got off track. But I came clean, admitted my mistakes, and found strength through going to church and from the man upstairs. I managed to overcome my personal demons.�

If this was the typical fight-game film, the movie would end here. The credits would roll and Shannan Taylor would be just like so many tough boxers before him. But Taylor has defied the odds for a second time.

Instead of being yet another “what could have been story,� Taylor began to get his life in order. Through the help of good friend and businessman Tony Carradona, he began to climb back up the rankings. The bout at the Vodafone Arena is an indication to Taylor’s ambition to climb back towards the highest peaks in the sport.

“My partner Bec and my daughter Nathalia are an inspiration. So is my son Rush, who will be born a week and a half after the fight. But most of all, this fight is for me. I’ve been boxing along for great money. I’m the one who has moved up in weight. I’m the one who, along with the help of Phil Austin (IBO official), has put the fight together. I want this more than anything.�

Taylor said he hasn’t trained this well since his early years in the punch-for-pay ranks. “I’m absolutely flying in the gym. I feel like I’m eight years younger than what I am! I want to be the first to knock out Ray Joval. I want to finish 2005 with a world title and a new son!

Taylor describes Joval (34-4, 15 KO’s) as a worthy opponent. “He’s a top fighter and he has a great work rate. I’ve got a few of his fights on tape. In fact, I’m flying down to Melbourne on Tuesday and I’m going to team up with Barry Michael (former world champion) and he’ll identify some things I can work on. I’ll leave no stone unturned.�

After such a thorough preparation, confidence is not something that is lacking in Taylor’s persona. “I see myself busting Ray Joval up round by round. Using my jab and punishing him. Whether he falls in round one, halfway during the fight, or hears the final bell, he will be getting a good hiding.

He will be punished everywhere but the soles of his feel and the roof of his mouth! I can’t wait for the fight. I’d like to thank my fans for sticking by me after all these years. I’ve been truly blessed. I’ve come full circle and it’s time to make a statement.�

The orthodox fighter believes he can finally accomplish what so many predicted him to do at the outset of his professional career, and march towards to the top of the boxing world. Maybe, just maybe, Shannan Taylor can add another chapter to what has already been an intriguing story.