Founder of BOXXER and promoter Ben Shalom sits down with MailSport’s Charlotte Daly to talk through the issues he faced making some huge fights between Liam Smith and Chris Eubank Jnr with the potential of a trilogy. He delves into the biggest fights of 2023, rising star Caroline Dubois, Chris Billam-Smith’s journey and more…
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I was surprised when Chris took the fight when they committed to it I thought you make it you you’ve made a mistake here that night showed that women’s boxing attracts fans regardless of men’s boxing British boxing creates those moments there’s no other country in the world I believe in boxing that
That creates moments like what Chris B and Smith had M sport boxing here and I’m joined by Ben Shalom how are you Ben I’m very well I’m very well how are you yeah not bad not bad now it’s been another huge year for Boxer so we want
To go through it talk a little bit about it before we preview what’s coming up in 2024 you kicked off the year with Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith that was a huge fight lot of bad blood between them how did you actually get that over the line in the first
Place I don’t know to be honest because there was a lot of talk at the time about Chris fighting other other Fighters I think Felix cash was being mentioned obviously came off the back of the Conor Ben situation and there were probably other options for Chris at the time um fair
Play he took it and a lot of people felt he made a mistake by taking Liam Smith and uh it was a great fight to make it was a great fight of the Manchester Arena I still remember that night Liam Smith was uh considered the underdog by
Many many people in the sport and uh for him to do what he did in that fourth round and take him out which was something that no one had ever done to Eubank Junior I still remember being sat there and uh just just hearing and feeling the atmosphere that night was it
It was a special special night and uh I think Richard Rapa knocked out Kaki that night as well and Joseph Parker was Massi put up a big performance against Joseph Parker so it was a great night and obviously it led to the rematch but
How we got it on it was a lot of hard work we felt like we had it in the bag a lot earlier than it was it was meant to happen the year before and and as with boxing things take longer than you’d expect and so yeah that was a it was a
Great way to start off the year and uh yeah special night made it happen now you said there about the fact that people kind of wrote off Lim Smith heading into that fight nobody thought that he would drop Chris Eubank Jr let alone hurt him and stop him what did you
Make of his performance and because he was so confident beforehand he could do that did you have the same sort of feeling that he was as much of a threat as he made out I didn’t think he’ knock him out I did believe that he was a
Slight favorite I think Prime Liam Smith on the in the form that he’d been in with the the boxing education that he’s had with everything that he’s achieved in his career I felt that he would have a little bit more than Chris Eubank Jr
If Chris had won that night as he did in the rematch I think it would have been the best name on his resume so for me it was always going to be a tough fight for euan J I was surprised when Chris took the fight I really was I remember
Pushing it I remember going for it I remember spending months and months trying to negotiate with Carland when they committed to it I thought you make you you’ve made a mistake here because we’re going to do at the Manchester arena with a fighter that has been there
And done it that’s been over to fight Canelo that won’t be over rawed by the occasion and is there to prove that he that he’s a World level fighter so yeah I I always had a feeling Liam Smith was going to do it did I think he’d knock
Him out now and obviously it took a lot of negotiating to get that first fight over the line but the second one I’m pretty sure Chris was adamant he was doing nothing else until he Avenged that I’m sure that must have been easier to sort out it was but then Liam had his
Own injuries and you’ll remember it was scheduled for June and July and it got puted back to September the 2nd and so again difficulties with that fight I don’t think Liam Smith was ever right for that rematch um I think we saw that on the ring that night but what I will
Say is I saw a Chris huban Junior that I’d never seen before which was one that was dedicated to his craft that had a great team around him that that left no stone un turn and uh and performed a career had a career pest performance against Liam Smith so yes Liam was
Injured yes he didn’t perform yes it took longer than it should but yman Jr did did a lot and I know those months and people will forget after the Liam Smith fight the criticism that Chris was going through calls for the end of his career call for retirement call for him
Being a a washed up fighter and uh and he proved them all wrong and that’s what boxing’s about so um another special night at the Manchester Arena now both of them felt like they lost those fights each for various reasons so you know Eubank was saying that he felt like he
Could have continued that it wasn’t it shouldn’t have been waved off in the first fight Liam Smith obviously saying that going in he had dropped a lot of weight from that injury they’re obviously going to want to fight each other again right is the trilogy going
To happen is that something on the cards something maybe 2024 could provide us I think leam wants it and he said that does Chris want it I’m not sure Chris wants to win World titles he wants to fight Kell Brook he wants to fight Connor Ben for obvious reasons and
I would like to see the trilogy I think the same people that felt like Chris Eubank Jr would walk the first fight felt like Liam Smith would walk the second fight neither of those things happen that’s what boxing is about anything can happen it’s one all Liam
Smith clearly wasn’t fit I know Liam wants it do I think Chris wants it probably not another fight that um kind of caught the attention was uh franchon and Savannah that was a great fight as well um obviously Savannah had lost her title to Clarissa shields in 2022 on
That all female card now I know that was 2022 so we shouldn’t dwell on it too much but that was really exciting for female boxing as a whole and do you think that that kind of created the opportunities for 2023 for these women to headline major events I think so I
Remember when we put first headline with Savannah and I still remember today that the the reactions from fans and broadcasting and sponsors was like really headlining with with it wasn’t the done thing maybe Katy Taylor had done it once or twice it wasn’t the done thing now looking back it’s almost
Incredible to see where it’s come from the women’s night was such a high performing night for us one of the best performing nights of the year and it just proved to US Women’s boxing is not just here to state but is a sport in its own right you used to have women’s
Boxing or women’s headline events that used to be supported by men’s British Towers men’s heavyweight Towers something that will comp ment what was going on that night showed that women’s boxing attracts fans regardless of men’s boxing that sold out the O2 regardless of any men’s fight it was one of the
Highest viewing it was the highest viewed event that Sky Sports have ever had across female sport shows the power of women’s boxing it was a massive Benchmark for us a massive um a massive you know night to sort of grow from and as you said Savannah had a unification
Night off the back of a loss and that was a special night Tasha Jonas has won four World titles we’ve signed Caroline dear and Lauren price and Caris artisa who we we believe are the future of the sport and so to see where it is from
Even where it was two years ago is incredible but I can still see it rising and obviously we kick off next year with a huge women’s fight as well in in Jonas and mayor so yeah it’s it is incredible where the sports gone now before we talk about that fight and whilst we’re
Talking about females in general Caroline de is this emerging Golden Girl of British boxing um do you think she has the ability to influence female boxing as much as the likes of ktie Taylor going forward now that has to be the M aim she’s 21 years old I think Katy Taylor Maybe was
30 odd 30 when she turned over and that was normal this isn’t normal what Carolina bar is doing she’s 21 she’s she’s moving through the levels very very quickly already collected the IBO World Tower but the most interesting thing with Caroline is she’s not in people out we don’t see that in women’s
Boxing a lot that was why we were able to get Savannah Marshall from middle of the cards to headlining cars to doing the greatest female night potentially of all time cuz she could knock people out that’s what boxing fans have loved since since beginning of man you know and now
We’re seeing it with women’s boxing and now we’re seeing Caroline de bringing that and that’s I think why she’s capturing the attention so much not to mention her age and the fact she her ambition and the fact that she can become a multi weight world champion so
She’s had a fantastic year but I think next year where where people are going to really realize well she’s something we haven’t seen before and in terms of next year for her what can we kind of picture because she’s so hungry and so thirsty and so like driven for these big
Fights but you obviously have to manage her and protect her because at her age if you’re throwing her into all sorts of contests it might not be the best thing for her but how do you make that decision between what to put her into and what not to it’s true with some
Fighters but with Caroline the reason for her restlessness is because she knows she knows deep down that she she’s levels above what’s going on what’s out there right now that’s no disre respect to any other fighter but she’s in the gym she’s sparring girls she she knows
Her level she knows what she doing she believes in herself and she’s 21 years old if you’re good enough you’re old enough and so yes we can look at her and say right well let’s take this fight and then build her this way and and make sure we become a
Star that’s not because of boxing ability maybe we want her to have we want the mainstream fans to know we want the Casual fans to engage with her but in terms of boxing ability she’s there all thereabouts now she she she’s a fighter that no one will want to get in
The ring with and yeah I think next year she’ll fight on February the 3rd and and we’ll see you winning world titles next year and and that will be the launch of hopefully a new star especially when Tasha Jonas and Savannah Marshall and Katy Taylor are actually coming towards
The end of their career um and have achiev so much but we want to look at who is the next one who is the star that’s going to take it to another level and there’s no one better position than Caroline and she knows that and that’s
What she why she’s so hungry and you’ve got a lot of other female um boxers obviously British boxes as well Lauren has broken records of her own recently you know first um British champion for females what’s what’s kind of coming up for her now because she’s another person
Who’s hungry who’s driven who wants to keep breaking records fight on the bigger stages what can we expect from her in 2024 only big things I think when she turned over it was a slower start than Caroline in terms of she wasn’t back boxing as regularly you know and and as
Quickly but the talent and the drive that we’ve seen from her recently and and and the we all knew when she turned over her pedig we all knew her Talent she was the most decorated amateur we’ve ever seen in this country gold medalist not just at the Olympics at the world’s
At every every tournament that she entered so we knew we had something special on our hands it’s then our job to make sure she gets the opportunities what she showed so far is that she’s so far beyond this level and and and talent wise she’s not even lost a round yet in
A professional career she needs the world titles and she’ll get them next year she’s another one that again that hopefully when we look at Katy Taylor and the absolute enormous effect that she’s had in Ireland you have to look at Lauren price and say you can do that for
Wales we know the fan base is there we know how much they’re behind there we know how popular she is there it’s now about getting her the right fights and luckily she’s in the welterweight division where you’ve got Tasha Jonas Micha mayor Sandy Ryan Jessica Mill some
Massive massive fights for her to really springboard and I don’t think the fans are ever going are going to see how good Lauren is until she’s in those fights because she’s that good that she’s going to make any other any other fighter look ordinary well talking of world titles
One of the fights that sticks out is obviously the Lawrence AI Chris bam Smith fight that we saw down in Bournemouth um that was a really good one obviously getting it in Bournemouth for Chris bam Smith was a huge um thing for him he said that that’s he actually
Said that he doesn’t think it can ever be beaten that no matter what he does winning his first world title at Bournemouth was huge now how hard is it to get like football stadiums and stuff like that to agree to have a ring in the
Middle of their pitch and put on a fight not difficult than when you Chris bam Smith and when you’ve got the fan base and the support that he’s got I mean for Bournemouth this was like Christmas come early they’ve never had a world champion or a sports star or of that magnitude
Being able to sell out the stadium so it wasn’t difficult what was cival was getting the world title opportunity for him in Bournemouth and uh we got that Lawrence a aoli credit to him came in with seven weeks notice and and and came in as the best cruiserweight in the
World and Chris B Smith you know defied the odds in front of his home fans it was a special night for British boxing it really was and he deserved it and he did absolutely everything and the game plan was incredible but the atmosphere that night and the story and from where
He’d been from and the loss to Rich or re pooring they’re never giving up and never even being considered Fringe World level to go and win a world title in front of your fan base and and in the stadium it’s what dreams are made of that’s what every boxer even here today
Or that we have sign that’s what they dream of you don’t get better than winning a world TI in front of your home fans and he got to do it and uh I can see well never be topped he obviously defending his world title on Sunday and
The story goes on but yeah that was a seriously special night and one of those pinch yourself moments really where you’re seeing an ordinary guy a guy that’s not always been tipped to be the best creating this humongous fan base and and delivering in front of them and
Winning a world title it was a special night and for me that’s the British boxing creates those moments there’s no other country in in I in the world I believe in boxing that that creates moments like what Chris B and Smith had it reminds me of the Ricky Hatton days
The Josh Warrington days in fness and uh and we now have a new home home Hometown hero in Chris B Smith you said that that you loved the game plan from him on the night did you ever think for a split second that he’d bottled it because when
He obviously in the buildup to the fight he wasn’t well and when he got in the ring he was a bit slow to start a lot of people were thinking oh God he’s let the occasion get to him and then he obviously came out I didn’t I didn’t
Think he bottled it I just never thought that this that that I I had Lawrence as a favorite I thought it was going to be difficult night I’ve never seen Lawrence in trouble so to do what he did and and the knockdown in the fourth or the
Fifth was out the out of this world and and and and they’d obviously been preparing for that and and fair play against a Shane who who knew Lawrence’s game inside out but no I didn’t think it bothered it I thought this was how it
Was meant to go and I was like here we are we’re going to see Cy cruised to a win in front of uh Chris bam Smith’s home fans and then it just came alive and then we saw an ugly fight we saw a fight that a lot of people complained
About but what we saw was drama we saw one of the greatest cruiserweights this country’s ever seen being beaten by a guy in front of his home fans it was a special night Lawrence will come again he’s still an elite fighter but that night will forever be etched in British
Boxing history Abol abolutely and he just defended his title against masterack that was an interesting fight um he obviously won via stoppage we saw a photo of Master neck’s rib after the fight what was it like kind of being there and kind of seeing it up close and personal him getting that stoppage
Um confused at the time because I knew that Chris was down I knew the first rounds were going to be tricky and and I think you know one thing the team had always talked about was we’ll get mastak in the later rounds he slows down um and so I did
Expect Chris to come in it and I still believe he would have won that fight but yeah heart in your mouth moment when you’re going in possibly three rounds down until the eighth round that’s a that’s a that’s a mountain to climb you’ve got to really win three out or
Four rounds and so for master not to come out was was he was a shock um but when I got close and saw what had happened he his his Rib was sticking out and it would have been nasty for him to go on and so yeah heart
Goes out to him cuz he obviously wonderful career worked so hard first time he challenged for a world TI will achieve so much but it was Chris’s night again and he always seems to find a way and that’s what great Champions do there was also L and Chamberlain at York Hall
That was another great night of boxing um how important are those kind of small venues for um boxing at the moment and almost giving not not necessarily saying them but um other an opportunity to shine and kind of put their best foot forward it’s it’s massive just in terms
Of to be able to build stars and to be able to do that’s where British boxing lies Adam maim had a great night early on in the year we went to wolver Hampton we went to wolver Hampton and that was a special night the York Hall nights were always special Bournemouth the stadium
Never happens without those first nights at the Bournemouth International Center where it’s 2 3,000 so you have to have those nights obviously that came off the back of a aiz batti can ation but we kept it on and and it went ahead and yeah for me those are the best nights
That the compact F you know the compact Arenas the compact venues where you have a an atmosphere like that and you get local guys fighting for their lives fighting for their dreams fighting for their opportunities again that’s what British boxing is a like about we’ve had
A few of them this year with the York Hall events and uh the wolver Hampton events and Adam as and the bourma stuff before the stadium so it’s um it’s definitely the Bedrock of British boxing and uh yeah delighted to be there we we that that night in itself the the
Gilly uh Lewis green fight as well a special special fight and you only get those moments in that sort of environment from yor cool to Saudi Arabia we had boli and TM fighting out there I saw you out in Saudi Arabia um what is it like being able to have those
Boxers on stages like that being able to I mean that was probably one of the most amazing events in terms of the the setup they had um yeah what was it like and also can we see boxer host a show over there anytime soon I believe so I think
I think the only thing I worry is just if sometimes the fighters think that there’s a pot of gold always coming at the end of the rainbow and yet these fight these these events happen very few and far between um that’s why we’ve seen the heavyweight so stagnant but yeah
Special experience for Martin I hope that they keep investing I hope that they put keep putting on events I hope that Fighters keep getting opportun ities that’s all you can you can want but ultimately we want to see British fights in Britain we want to see the big
Fights we had the two biggest on British saw this year with Eubank Smith waty as ease for me would have been the third I want that’s what the Bedrock of this sport is that’s why we have the stars that we have because of the big nights and because of the big fights
Happening over here so I think it’s great I hope it continues I believe we’re going to get more opportunities for Fighters we’ve having offers already around that but do I want to see the big knights in the UK of course I do and and that’s our Focus what a big UK fight
That we could see and somebody that was out there in Saudi Arabia Fraser Clark was watching Fabio wardley in action is that something we could get in 2024 look both Fighters want it we’re in touch with both teams they both want it usually when that is the case the fight
Happens I think it’s just a question of when February March or April look Fraser in my opinion because he’d only had six rounds up until up until the pers bit situation it felt as a promoter wouldn’t have been right you know it wasn’t his decision we wanted to make sure that he
Knew what it was like to go time rounds we knew what it was like to to have high-profile fights he’s ticked those boxes he’s ready for it he was always ready for it in terms of ability it’s just about making in terms of in terms
Of being able to win the fight it’s just about developing in the right way it’s okay winning the fight where do you go next you want to you want to built up your resume you want to experienced things he’s done it now and the fight will happen Feb March April I’m sure of
It because uh both Fighters won it it’s a fight I definitely want to see um one last person I want to ask you about is Adam aim he’s obviously European Champion now he broke Spencer Oliver’s record um and he’s just constantly busy that man like I even spoke to him today
And I was saying to him okay what’s your plans for like the next 12 months and he’s just reeling off names and he’s saying like BTO back dates is he gonna be as busy as he’s hoping he is look he loves it and him and Carolina are so
Similar in the fact that they live breathe boxing all they want to do is fight and all they want is the big names they’re at the age where they’re so excited they’re so excited about what’s going on in and around them their generational talents so to see Adam aim
Break records get to his 10th fight win a Europe inel the head of the queue of so many other great fighters in that division he’s moving fast he wants the big fight he’ll be out on February the 3rd against pson which is another actually toughest fight today and yeah
He knows the names that he wants he’s ready he’s never he’s never out of Camp you know you can’t ask for anything more he’s uh he’s a phenomenon and he’s still so young and so sometimes you worry in terms of how is he coping with the attention the pressure everything but
We’ll see him develop outside of the Ring as much as inside of the ring in the next 12 months that’s what I’m equally excited about and uh yeah definitely a superstar that British boxing needs to get behind
1 Comment
This lady is pulling the views with the big names in boxing. Not bad on the eye either 😉