Johanneson wants his shot at Arthur by Paul Concannon Mar 15th 2006

I caught up with hard-working Leeds promoter Rick Manners recently following his man Carl Johanneson's brutal second round stoppage of Andrew Ferrans in a British super-featherweight title eliminator. The impressive victory earned Carl a British title shot against Edinburgh Golden Boy Alex Arthur. We discussed this, amongst other things. Here's what Rick, fresh from ringside of Joe Calzaghe's domination of Jeff Lacy, had to say. On Johanneson's mandated title shot: “The bout's going out to purse bids and there are a few big promoters in the frame. Ideally we want the fight in Leeds, as soon as we possibly can. Alex Arthur is a great fighter, and a great champion and I believe he will do the right thing and not keep us waiting for our opportunity.” On the possibility of fighting for three titles: “Right now we are simply looking for our mandated and God-given right to fight for that British title and we will vigorously pursue that right.” On the improvement in Carl's performance (Carl had previously stopped Ferrans in six): “Carl has no outside distractions now, no money worries. He lives just two doors down from me in a quiet part of Leeds, at my expense, and he doesn't need to worry about anything other than training or fighting. Carl is a consummate pro and a great kid and he is made to feel that way. "Carl is not just a commodity and we have a father-son relationship. He eats well, it's all shakes and supplements nowadays, he lives well and above all, Carl does what he is told because he knows we have his best interests at heart. Right now Carl has put a few old demons to rest and is getting more and more used to the big occasion. He improves every time out and is getting quicker out of the blocks. We have addressed the issue that people used to say Carl was a slow-starter because at this level people will go right after him. Bottom line, Carl has total self belief and has that trust in the people around him.” On Carl's training: “Carl has never been fitter, he's so physically fit it's unbelievable – at the start of his training we were having two sessions of 15 rounds.” On Ferrans: “Andrew had been saying in the Scottish press that Carl wasn't a puncher and the loss in the first fight was down to a lucky shot, and I think those statements came back to haunt him. But I take my hat off to him, coming to Fortress Leeds, when others have pulled out (from fighting Carl) at late notice. There had been a dispute with the size of the ring beforehand, but frankly we could have had the fight in Roundhay Park and Carl would still have got to him.” On Alex Arthur: “Alex is a great fighter, despite the Gomez loss. Carl can punch with either hand, and while he's not a one-punch type, he's also a pretty good boxer and he's rarely had anyone that would have a boxing match with him, he loves to do that, and that's what Alex will do.” On the aftermath of Carl's victory: “The phone has not stopped ringing, reaching title level changes everything. We have huge interest in Carl's fight (with Arthur). Several major promoters have expressed an interest in going for the purse bids, including Dennis Hobson, Mick Hennessey and Tommy Gilmour. I need the level of experience they can provide and with my advisors around me I will make the right choice.” On new signing Danny Wright: “I have just signed Danny Wright, who is 1-0 and made his debut on the last show. I look at this guy as the new Henry Wharton. He's a middleweight from York and is strong, aggressive and picks his punches beautifully. I think he will do really, really well.” On new signing Gary Sykes: “He's last years ABA champion and is the Oscar De La Hoya of Yorkshire. He has a great style but there's substance there as well. He can do it all, and when he adapts to the pro game he will be a banger too. I'm so confident in him I put him in with a guy a stone heavier (David Hinds) on his debut and he looked outstanding (winning over 6 x 2). He's a good-looking kid from Dewsbury, he looks the part, is a great talker but he can fight. His hero is Floyd Mayweather and you can see that in the way he fights.” On new signing Manocha Salari: “I'm co-managing Manocha with John Ingle. I'm really excited about him. He's 3-0-2 (2) and a real contender – all the guys he has fought have winning records. He's already stopped Martin Concepcion in two rounds and in his last fight he got a draw with Gokhan Kazaz, a Turkish Olympian who is a real handful. His nickname is the Iranian assassin, he's had 20 ABA fights here and 90 in his own country – listen, this guys is the most formidable boxer I have seen in years, he's a real throwback. Hans Blick is looking for Weapons of Mass Destruction, well he doesn't have to look any further!” On Salari's future: “I want him to fight (Leeds boxer) Lee Murtagh for the Central Area light-middleweight title – Lee is a great fighter and this will be an opportunity for him to come back from a recent stoppage loss. Then we want Danny Reynolds, who's a fantastic boxer that came from the same Army team as Carl Johanneson. We can get Danny to come down on the Murtagh card on March 28th and then have a head-to-head to build the fight. I have been in touch with Danny's promoter Mark Bateson, but the reply has so far been a long time coming! I can put a winner-take-all grand down for the winner to add to his purse.” On brother Nick Manners: “Nick is doing a great job assisting on promotions and is in the process of applying for his manager's licence. He did a brilliant job on the Ferrans bill and looks to have a big future with us.” On his promotional ethos: “Too often, promoters are looking to protect ticket-sellers, but this is boxing and someone has to win and someone has to lose. It's all to easy to know if your fighter can knock people out, and not so easy to find out if they can fight. My motto is real men, real fighters.”

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