Toughest test to date for Hurricane Danny
Fight bill for GBM’s Quartermaine-Bateson showdown
LEAMINGTON’S human hurricane Danny Quartermaine faces, I believe, the toughest fight of his unbeaten career when he clashes with Jack Bateson.
The pair meet on promotional outfit GBM’s show at Sheffield’s Park Community Arena on December 7, with Quartermaine’s IBF and WBO European super-featherweight titles on the line.
Bateson, a former outstanding amateur, has lost only one of 20 – to Shabaz Masoud who meets Liam Davies on the massive Resorts World show main event on Saturday.
But the Leeds 30-year-old has competed at super-bantam – two division’s below the December showdown. Quartermaine, a 27-year-old unbeaten in 12, appears to hold the physical advantages.
Danny, part of Edwin Cleary’s flourishing gym, last fought in June, securing a wide points win over James Chereji, but there were scares along the way. He was knocked down in the first, gashed and bruised.
Bateson provides something of an acid test for Quartermaine and the stakes are high. Win this and the Warwickshire warrior gatecrashes the WBO’s world top 10 ranking.
“This one is big because it’s two British fighters,” said Cleary. “He (Bateson) is a very good kid. It’s exactly what Danny needs right now, it’s the right fight at the right time and he’s really excited about it. It’s a great fight and, yes, it’s Danny’s toughest to date.
“But I think Jack will give Danny the chance to show his boxing skills.
“You won’t hear Danny slagging Jack Bateson off and Jack won’t slag Danny off.”
Cleary, who fought as a pro out of Sheffield’s famed Ingle gym, believes Quartermaine’s victory over Chereji has been undervalued. The Romanian has mixed in very good class in a higher weight category.
“You have to beat British boxers to get recognition,” Cleary said. “After the knockdown – it was a stumble but a knockdown, we’ve no problems with that – Danny didn’t lose a round.
“He had two cuts, he couldn’t see and he didn’t drop a round. That was the fight that made the rest realise, ‘I’m in for a tough night with Danny Quartermaine’. He’s a nightmare for anyone.
“That knockdown in the first ignited the fire in him to fight, which can be a problem, but I’d rather have that than a shrinking violet. Whoever they put in front of him, he will fight.”
Cleary’s gym – both pro and amateur – is enjoying a boomtime. Commonwealth Games heavyweight gold medallist Lewis Williams makes his professional debut on the Resorts World bill this Saturday.
Cleary added: “We’re on the crest of a wave and have been for the last 10 years. We’re putting that Turpin (former Leamington world middleweight champ Randolph Turpin) boxing stamp back on the town.”