DC ExtraTime: Idris in the Ring

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

For fans of the sweet science, 2020 in boxing has largely been devoid of the big-name competitive fights featuring those in their prime that they've come to expect. But in a sport that HBO's Larry Merchant refers to as "the theatre of the unexpected," there have been a couple notable headlines this year from the weird file: the emergence of the Paul brothers - Logan and Jake as legit boxers in addition to being YouTube's most notorious siblings, and the big fight between legends Mike Tyson and Roy Jones.

To salvage whatever was left of this lost year, this pre-Christmas weekend has some weekend for boxing fans: last night saw Kazakhstan's Gennady "GGG" Golovkin score a TKO win over Poland's Kamil Szeremeta to retain his IBF middleweight belt, and his 36th victory by knockout. And tonight, the man who beat him two years ago in a rematch of their disputed drawn first fight, Mexico's Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, will takes to the ring to face Britain's Callum Smith in defense of his two 168 lbs. titles.

Those in Challenge Nation who have been following this franchise over the past two decades know that Darrell Taylor was an amateur boxer prior to going onto Road Rules Campus Crawl and then winning his first Challenges. And another fighter who has made his way from the ring into the fifth major pro sport is one who comes from the current epicenter of the heavyweight division: Idris Virgo was part of last year's War of the Worlds 2 rookie class two years after he was a latecomer on the 2018 season of Love Island UK, and made it to the halfway point in what became a weekly British elimination festival until the very end.

When we profiled Idris in the WOTW2 edition of our Who Are These Newbies? series in fall 2019, some notable tidbits about the man from Birmingham in the West Midlands of England included choosing over eventual Winter Ex On The Beach single Georgia Steel for his first date after arriving midway through the season, winning a challenge while wearing a fireman's outfit, and a Twitter user sharing some of his cringy pick-up lines. But outside of reality TV, Idris is a boxer having begun fighting professionally just months before going the Love Island casa. He won his first three bouts, drew the fourth just before going onto The Challenge, and after our post went to press on fight #5 he beat a journeyman club fighter with 100+ losses, followed by another unanimous decision.

In Britain, the pandemic forced matches in the Premier League and other action across the English football pyramid to being played behind closed doors without fans in the grounds. But like its UFC counterparts, boxing was one of the first sports to pick back up following the sports shutdown, and once he was able to compete again Virgo signed with independent promoter Hennessey Sports - who helped launch the career of world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. And since the promoter has a deal with ViacomCBS sibling Channel 5, it has meant that his bouts are shown free-to-air in all of the UK instead of on pay-per-view or a streaming platform along the lines of DAZN.

Competing at middleweight and with all of these bouts being short 4-rounders on the undercard of high-profile televised cards, his first fight under the Hennessey banner saw Idris score his first win by stoppage: a devastating body-shot on new fighter Josh Hodgins in the first round.

Then, two more fights, two more wins: two weeks later against Scott Williams and just over a week ago against Kevin McCauley. Having these matches take place on short turnarounds never happens at the top level in boxing and in MMA with respect to the fighters' welfare and health.

And last night in the last of his busy autumn, Virgo faced off against Kearon Thomas and won a points decision against a tough opponent. And after he left the ring he spoke to Seconds Out, as he prepares for a busy 2021 boxing schedule. And who knows? You may be looking at a future world champion... keep an eye out.

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