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kenyan_cheena · 03-21-2005, 04:27 AM

BECKETT RETURNS HOME TO HERO'S WELCOME

Thursday 31 January 2002

Jack Johnson's conqueror Joe Beckett flew into London's Heathrow Airport this morning, three days after he had originally planned to.

Following his victory against Johnson last Saturday night, Beckett was in high demand amongst the American media. This delayed his returning home to England. Ironically, his stay in the United States finished with a guest spot on The Late Show with David Letterman, the very show that Jack Johnson had appeared on two weeks ago when he stated that his goal was to go through the World Championship tournament undefeated.

Back in England, Beckett was greeted by a frenzy of media and boxing fans at the airport, the 20 year-old simply overwhelmed by the gathering.

"This is unbelievable," he said. "I'm just amazed and humbled."

The 126th seed in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament did not have much time to recuperate from his flight. By the end of the day, he had been interviewed by seven different radio and television stations, bombarded by a number of questions both relevant and inane. Some were a little bit carried away with Beckett's win, asking him if he felt he could make it all the way to the Championship bout.

Beckett simply laughed good naturedly. "That would be something," he said. "But I'm not going to look any further ahead than March the 2nd. I'm going up against Cleveland Williams, and it's going to take a big performance for me to do to him what I did to Jack Johnson. I'll have to push myself in training even harder than I did for the Johnson fight."

Contrary to statements made last Sunday by sports writer Larry Brewer, Group Three's second card will not be taking place in England. No, on March 2 the HBF will be back in Japan. In Tokyo, to be exact, at the Saitama Super Arena. It will be the third occasion where the HBF's WC and 1D tournaments will visit the Land of the Rising Sun, following the controversy of Elmer Ray in Yokohama on 11 January and the upcoming Osaka Dome card on February the 11th. Japan has been the federation's biggest international supporter, and it goes without saying that, once tickets are available, the March 2 card will be a sellout in no time...

03-21-2005, 04:27 AM	#109 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,312	BECKETT RETURNS HOME TO HERO'S WELCOME Thursday 31 January 2002 Jack Johnson's conqueror Joe Beckett flew into London's Heathrow Airport this morning, three days after he had originally planned to. Following his victory against Johnson last Saturday night, Beckett was in high demand amongst the American media. This delayed his returning home to England. Ironically, his stay in the United States finished with a guest spot on The Late Show with David Letterman, the very show that Jack Johnson had appeared on two weeks ago when he stated that his goal was to go through the World Championship tournament undefeated. Back in England, Beckett was greeted by a frenzy of media and boxing fans at the airport, the 20 year-old simply overwhelmed by the gathering. "This is unbelievable," he said. "I'm just amazed and humbled." The 126th seed in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament did not have much time to recuperate from his flight. By the end of the day, he had been interviewed by seven different radio and television stations, bombarded by a number of questions both relevant and inane. Some were a little bit carried away with Beckett's win, asking him if he felt he could make it all the way to the Championship bout. Beckett simply laughed good naturedly. "That would be something," he said. "But I'm not going to look any further ahead than March the 2nd. I'm going up against Cleveland Williams, and it's going to take a big performance for me to do to him what I did to Jack Johnson. I'll have to push myself in training even harder than I did for the Johnson fight." Contrary to statements made last Sunday by sports writer Larry Brewer, Group Three's second card will not be taking place in England. No, on March 2 the HBF will be back in Japan. In Tokyo, to be exact, at the Saitama Super Arena. It will be the third occasion where the HBF's WC and 1D tournaments will visit the Land of the Rising Sun, following the controversy of Elmer Ray in Yokohama on 11 January and the upcoming Osaka Dome card on February the 11th. Japan has been the federation's biggest international supporter, and it goes without saying that, once tickets are available, the March 2 card will be a sellout in no time... Last edited by kenyan_cheena : 04-29-2005 at 06:36 PM.