 The Worldwide Boxing Magazine Site |
Got your free t-shirt yet? |
| articles from the magazine ... |
|
July 1998
Each month we bring you a selection of articles from the current and past issues of BOXING MONTHLY. To buy the magazine, see our subscription or back issues pages, or use our world distribution map to find a news-stand copy. Why not use our Interactive Forum to express your own boxing comments and opinions!
|
 |
S.A.T.
European super middle champ Dean Francis is ideally placed to challenge for a world title this year. Here he tells his story to MICHAEL GILL |
|
SUSPECT DURABILITY?: Francis came off the floor to halt Munro and feels
Baker win showed his stamina is underrated
- Get Big Pic The coursework has been completed, the mock exams passed, and the next term should
reveal whether Basingstoke super middleweight Dean Francis has the necessary acumen to
graduate on the world championship roster. Back-to-back British and European title victories last year suggested that the
shaven-skulled 24-year-old from Chris Sanigar's upwardly-mobile Bristol Boys stable can
convert potential into something more concrete. While not every critic is entirely convinced that Francis has the stamina and
durability to flourish at world level, few would contest that the 5ft 101/2ins Hampshire
fighter is one of the biggest talents in British boxing. A classical stylist with perhaps the best jab in the domestic game, Francis's last 18
wins, out of a record reading 20-1, have come inside the distance. Five of those KOs came
in a brief campaign at light-heavyweight. But the former amateur international is eager
that his punching prowess should not diminish his more aesthetic qualities. "Power's really not important to me," he said. "I certainly wouldn't say
I've got the hardest punch in the division. I've just got my S.A.T. - speed, accuracy and
timing. That's my thing. That's what makes for a knockout punch. "My jab is strong, but my biggest asset is my versatility. Unlike the majority of
British fighters, who have no gameplan, no back-up strategies, I can adapt to all styles.
My own style depends entirely on who I'm fighting. "In the first couple of rounds I'll usually have a blast to get rid of any nervous
energy, but if they're still around I know they're long-termers so I slow it down, use my
head and pick my shots. I'm not even close to my peak yet. Ask me when I'm 27." Former pro Chris Sanigar, Francis's animated manager, added: "He's the most
naturally talented fighter I've ever been involved with. Oh yes! Poetry in motion. He
throws every punch in the book so effortlessly and hits those left hooks and uppercuts
with such venom. And his mental strength is very good. He believes he's destined to be a
world champion." The drawbacks? "Unfortunately, because he's had long breaks between fights and lives away in
Basingstoke without all the camp around him, his personal fitness is not all I'd like it
to be," said Sanigar. "But technically, he's already about as polished as he'll
get. And there's a lot more to come. He's still to develop a real man's strength and when
he gets the hunger of the 'Big Money', his career will get a second wind. We see him
winning the world title and defending it on numerous occasions, just like Chris Eubank
did. Please God he makes me a rich man!" One of seven children fathered by Trevor Francis, the Rastafarian 1972 ABA champion,
ex-British welter title challenger and now a senior ABA coach, the boxing gym served as
Dean's kindergarten. Even today, the bulk of his training is conducted under his father's
watchful eye at the Basingstoke ABC gym. The polish is added at Sanigar's boot camp, four
weeks before fight times. "I've got my dad tattooed on my arm," said Francis. "He's the driving
force, the inspiration in every single way; from boxing skills and mental attitude to
morals and survival. It's him who settles my mind.' But despite the paternal attention, Francis's amateur career was characterised by
under-achievement. While he did become an England international, his three attempts to win
ABA championships ended well before the final stages. "Amateur boxing is about throwing loads of leather," he said. "All
rush-rush, and that's never been my way. I've always liked to step off and have a look at
my opponents. I never cared much about losing as an amateur. When it got tough, I couldn't
be arsed to put the extra effort in." Having spurned an offer from the Matchroom stable, who have their own trainers, a
20-year-old Francis signed on with Sanigar's purple-clad battalion in May 1994, starting
with a couple of wins on points that he believes, coming as they did at such an early
stage in his career, were character-building. "Those fights developed my mental strength," he claims. "Other fighters
aren't mentally tough enough and they fold." Seven stoppage wins on the spin, plus promising reports from sparring engagements with
Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank, persuaded Sanigar to pitch his rookie into what proved to be
a premature title fight against Togo's Jaffa Ballogou for the WBC International title in
October 1995. Lacking in experience, Francis struggled to make the weight and failed to
capitalise on a bright start by punching himself out; he was stopped in the 10th round by
the future WBA title challenger. Sanigar recalls: "Dean had performed so well in the gym, it was hard to hold him
back. Yet even though he troubled himself with the weight, inexperience rather than lack
of discipline meant he didn't perform nearly as well as he could. But he still gave a
world-rated boxer a very close fight at the age of 21." "That fight was important 'cos it taught me respect, humbled me at a time when I
could have got arrogant and complacent," said Francis. "In hindsight, the fight
definitely came too soon and, being weight-drained, my energy was sapped and I wasn't able
to crack as hard as normal. "For three rounds I boxed beautifully, but I was knackered by the fourth. I'd been
hitting him so clean, I decided to go all out. And I'm sure if I had my normal power I'd
have stopped him. Even weight-drained, I'd beat him now because I'd pace myself
better." The physical damage was minimal. "But knowing how it feels to lose a pro fight, a
title fight, I never want that pain again," said Francis. He was back in the ring inside two months to start a nine-month campaign at
light-heavyweight, swiftly bolstering his confidence with four stoppage wins over capable
opposition. However, simply by amending his eating habits, Francis began to lose weight
naturally and in October '96 he had no hesitation in accepting a WBO Intercontinental
super middleweight title fight against roly-poly Mexican Rolando Torres. It was no
contest. But Francis went on to record championship wins over quality opposition in Cornelius
Carr, David Starie (for the British title) and Frederic Seillier (for the EBU belt). All
three were ranked in world Top 10s, none lasted beyond the ninth with Francis. "The confidence is there, so those are the type of fights I need," he said.
"I've proved I can rise to the occasion. I've always had faith in my ability, but the
win over Starie shut a lot of critics up and showed other people that his amateur win over
me [a split decision in the 1994 ABA quarter finals] was meaningless. Mentally, he simply
wasn't strong enough. "Technically, that has to be my best performance because I used my brain. When I
look back on that fight, I feel good about myself. "Seillier was a good experience, too, but while I always felt in control, somehow
I didn't feel too good. There were moments when I got lazy and switched off." For one who prides himself on his mental attitude, such spells of lax concentration
have been a disturbingly regular feature of Francis's recent starts. Canada's Kit Munro
left-hooked him to the canvas in the opening round of a mark-time 10-rounder in May '97
before crumbling himself in the following round. And in March, Francis's last outing,
Kent's Mark Baker left Francis battered and bruised before capitulating in the 12th and
final round of Francis's only British title defence to date. He reasons: "It's like a top football team. Against crap opposition, they play
crap. You can't be brilliant all the time and sometimes you don't need to be." And at least he proved that his stamina is improved against Baker. "People have doubted my stamina for so long it had even began to play on my
mind," said Francis. "Physically, Baker's very tough and I've every respect for
him. But I could, and should, have finished him earlier. Even at the start of the 12th I
knew I'd definitely stop him. It was just a case of gritting my teeth and keeping
firing." And now his day f reckoning approaches. Despite being ranked fifth in Boxing Monthly's
British ratings, Francis has Top 10 positions with the WBC, WBA and WBO (for whom he is
the mandatory challenger). Providing he successfully negotiates a summer defence of one of
his titles, Francis is virtually guaranteed a world title fight as he is promoted by Frank
Warren, who also controls WBC champ Richie Woodhall and WBO counterpart Joe Calzaghe, who
this magazine rates as the world No. 1. "If an opportunity came against the right opponent [the suspect IBF boss Charles
Brewer or WBA's increasingly vulnerable Frankie Liles?], Dean Francis would be ready to
challenge for a world title right now," insists Sanigar. "We'd gladly oblige Brewer, Woodhall or Liles immediately. And provided it was on
a Frank Warren-promoted show, we'd be quite prepared to travel to accommodate them. "Ideally, we'd like Brewer first. Bomber Graham hurt him and Dean hits an awful
lot harder than Herol, so I'd like to think he'd stop Brewer. "Woodhall and Liles are around the same level, but I think Liles being a southpaw
makes him a little more awkward. Richie's a bit upright and personally I don't think he
hits hard enough to keep Dean away. Woodhall's chief asset is his speed, but I see Dean as
being just as fast. But even if he got beat by Woodhall or Liles, they wouldn't be brutal
fights - and they'd be terrific learning experiences. "At the moment, I'd say Calzaghe is definitely 'top jolly', but I don't see Dean
learning as much in a fight with him as he would against either Woodhall or Liles.
Calzaghe-Francis is a toss of the coin. Again, Calzaghe's a southpaw, which always causes
problems, and it's a fight that can't go the distance; if Calzaghe beats you, he's going
to hurt you. Why go to him first/ The time to have that fight is when everyone demands it.
We see a fight with Calzaghe building into something like Benn-Eubank. We want it, but we
want to wait and get the right money for it." |
|
Also available to read from issue:
|
|
On sale on the last Thursday of every month Ensure you never miss a copy . . . buy your subscription or back issues here. |