In recent years the bully epidemic amongst school kids and beyond has grown exponentially. As this problem continues to escalate on an international level, former IBA World Cruiserweight Champion and current BKB World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Gunn has stepped forward to address the issue.

“Bullying has become a disease that is slowly killing innocent kids,” said Gunn. “Parents, teachers and authoritative figures need to be proactive in spreading awareness on how bullying can be dealt with the right way to ensure it does not progress to a deadly level. Although bullying is a disease, it can be cured.”

The international epidemic has continued to grow out of control, and no longer only occurs in schools; bullying affects all walks of life, regardless of age, sex, color or creed.

“Bullying is no longer about a bigger kid picking on a smaller, weaker kid in the schoolyard,” said Gunn. “Through the explosion of social media, bullies can now target their victims and abuse them mentally and emotionally. These bullying issues need to be dealt with immediately before it spirals out of control, and can lead to depression, hate and in the worst case scenario, suicide.”

Gunn is no stranger to bullying. As a former IBA World Cruiserweight Champion and current World Heavyweight BKB Champion, Gunn continues to face much adversity and hate through social media channels and online venues.

“Bullying isn’t about physically hurting someone,” said Gunn. “It’s about mentally and emotionally breaking them down, which in the long run is much worse than any physical damage. Today as I train to fight James Toney for the IBA Heavyweight Championship of the World, I still receive hate mail daily through Facebook. They constantly berate me and bring me down to their level. The best way I combat the online ‘bullying’ is to ignore the haters and not give them the satisfaction. Bullies thrive off of attention; if you take that away from them, they have nothing.”

Gunn continued, “If you are a victim of bullying, it doesn’t mean you are a weaker individual—physically, mentally or emotionally. It simply means that you are being targeted for one reason only—because the person who is bullying you usually has low self-esteem issues and is very simply jealous of you. And a bully wakes up in the morning wishing they can be you, and that’s why they attack you. They take the hate that they feel for themselves and translate it into hurting others to make themselves feel a sense of self-worth. People need to be proactive and take a stand against bullying. It isn’t how high you stand on the issue, as long as you take a stand, because if you don’t take a stand for one thing, you will fall for all things.”
Gunn is adamant about spreading ongoing awareness of this problem to help reach kids on an international level.

“If we all make an effort to combat this problem, together we can make a difference,” said Gunn. “It’s time to start working together to find a solution rather than turning our shoulder the other way and hope the issue goes away on its own.”

Gunn concluded, “I am dedicating my IBA Heavyweight Championship of the World fight against James Toney to all the victims of bullying out there. It’s time to take a stand, and that time is now.”

Tickets can be purchased at The Landers Center Box Office in Southhaven, Mississippi, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000, or by visiting Ticketmaster online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” Gunn makes his way to James “Lights Out” Toney During a heated moment in their press conference on Wednesday February 22 at the Landers Center in Southaven, MS. Photo By JD Meredith 

Things heated up Wednesday during a press conference for James Toney and Bobby Gunn’s upcoming April 7, 2012, IBA Heavyweight Title Fight at the Landers Center in Southaven, MS.

The tension began shortly after the first mention of Bobby Gunn as the Bare Knuckle Champion–at which Toney laughed loudly. (Gunn has been inactive from the squared circle since his title fight against Tomasz Adamek in September of 2009, a fight he lost due to a premature stoppage. Since, Gunn has stepped away from the gloved sport and has focused on the reemergence of bare knuckle boxing.)

Toney would continue to writhe in amusement.

Former IBA Cruiserweight Champion Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” Gunn (21-4, 18 KO) would take the podium and express his thanks concenring his upcoming IBA Heavy Title fight with James “Lights Out” Toney.

“I promise to God, whatever happens, you’ll never forget me James.”

“I want to thank God, first of all, for this opportunity. I want to thank Brian Young, his brother Russ, Nate Yoder. They are total class promotional guys.” (Something John Arther, Toney’s trainer would later echo.)

Gunn then talked passionately about his push to bring attention to Bully Awareness.

“There are kids killing themselves with suicide–its heartbreaking. You don’t see a lot of top athletes in the world talking about it. Its horrible. To me a bully is a coward. You don’t pick on someone bigger than you.”

Speaking to Toney, Gunn said, “I come from a fighting family. He knows my family. I look up to him. He is a great champion. He’s a hall of famer.”

Gunn also said, “Its really a cinderella story for me. I’ve worked hard. I’ve had a lot of tough fights. Nothing compares to this man and what he can bring to the table. I have the upmost respect for this man–but I promise you, honest to God, April the seventh–it will be a fight. I promise to God, whatever happens, you’ll never forget me James.”

“I want to support my family. All the Irish community here in Memphis. All come out. This fight is going to be a hell of a turnout. I’m really thankful to God to be a part of this”, said Gunn.

Gunn parted with this message, “Whatever you do in life. Whatever it be. You have to think you can do something that nobody possible dreamed that for you. Thats preserverence of life to overcome obstacles. You can get what you want.”

“On April seventh–your bill is do. We’re gonna get paid baby. Your lights are going out.”

James “Lights Out” Toney, whose trainer John Arther pointed out was the original Bad Boy of boxing before Mike Tyson, spent little time at the podium.

“Whats up M-Town!”, Toney said. “I’m happy to be here. I’m excited to be here. I love Memphis. I had some of my fights here early in my career. The fans are really generous here. I just can’t wait. I’m ready to come back here April seventh for the heavyweight championship of the world–the REAL heavyweight championship of the world.”

Toney Said, “The fight will be good. I don’t know who he is, I’ve never heard of him.” Before parting the podium Toney spoke directly to Gunn, saying, “On April seventh–your bill is do. We’re gonna get paid baby. Your lights are going out.”

Gunn, looking to get face to face, stood to address Toney’s earlier disrespects. Toney momentarily turned away, “trying to be nice”, but eventually turned back towards Gunn.

The banter, in short – Gunn: You’ve got a fight. Toney: Keep talking.

Brian Young would step in to separate the two. There would be no face off.

Photographer Bob Chastain captured these ringside photos. 

Former IBA Cruiserweight Champion Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” will be fighting current IBA World Heavyweight Champion James “Lights Out” Toney April 7 in a 12-round fight at the Landers Center in Southaven, MS.

Gunn (21-4, 18 KO) has been inactive from the squared circle since his title fight against Tomasz Adamek in September of 2009, a fight he lost due to a premature stoppage.  Since, Gunn has stepped away from the gloved sport and has focused on the reemergence of bare knuckle boxing.

Last summer Gunn claimed the World Heavyweight BKB Title when he defeated Richard Stewart by way of KO in the third round of the first sanctioned BKB fight in 123 years. In recent weeks there has been much buzz about a potential cruiserweight “super fight” between Gunn and Roy Jones Jr., though nothing materialized  When presented the opportunity to fight Toney for the heavyweight title, Gunn quickly accepted the offer.

“It is an honor for me to have the chance to fight for such a prestigious title,” said Gunn.  “I have worked my whole life to get a shot like this, and I know that James and I will put on a heavyweight fight that will bring the excitement back to a division that badly needs it.”

This fight is more than another title fight.  It is historic in that it is the first time a World Heavyweight BKB Champion will fight a World Heavyweight Boxing Champion; if Bobby wins, he will be the first fighter to hold both belts concurrently.

Also with a win Bobby Gunn will join the likes of fellow IBA World champions, including Arturo Gatti, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosely, Roy Jones Jr., amongst several others.

Toney (73-7, 44 KO) won the vacant IBA Heavyweight title in 2008, and is a multiple world champion, winning fights over Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman and John Ruiz, to name a few.

“James Toney is a great champion, and a very tough fighter,” said Gunn.  “I have waited for this chance my whole life.  This is my dream come true, to fight for the world heavyweight championship.  I am ready for war; to beat me, James Toney will have to kill me.”

The Main Event of the night will be a grudge match for the PrizeFight Lightweight Championship as Jake Underwood of Union City, TN puts his undefeated record on the line against Josh Shaffer of Russellville, KY. There is no love loss between Shaffer and Underwood as Shaffer is the only man to stop Underwood’s brother Zach in a bout two years ago. “Zach has been trying to get the rematch with Josh for two years now and the fight never gets put together. He agreed to fight me so I guess I will avenge my brother’s honor. Josh better realize he has two years of pinned up Underwood aggression coming for him on February 18th”, commented a ready Jake Underwood. Shaffer is training for this fight much in the same manner he trained for his fight with Zach Underwood two years ago. “I plan on putting Jake Underwood to sleep just like I did his brother. Don’t blink February 18th. I plan to finish him off”, said a very confident Shaffer. The Main Event is scheduled for five rounds.

A feature attraction on the card will be a battle of the heavyweights as Chris Miller of Union City, TN will rattle the cage with “Big” Don Bell of Naylor, MO. This heavyweight clash is scheduled for 3 rounds. “Everybody loves a heavyweight bout and we feel we have matched 2 of the areas best heavyweights on February 18th. As a fan I don’t want to miss Miller vs. Bell”, said promoter Russ Young of PrizeFight.

Another intriguing match on the card will be Memphis, TN’s Joe Pass meeting Danny Andrews of Poplar Bluff, MO in a 3 round welterweight fight. Pass and Andrews both had very successful and high profile amateur careers and now are embarking on a fast path to professional stardom. Their paths will cross on that journey February 18th as one will continue to go higher in the rankings and the other will undoubtedly experience his first career set back.

An electrifying title fight begins a stellar undercard as Cody Chessor from “Team Relentless” and Union City, TN will battle Jesse Parker of “Premier MMA” and Memphis, TN for the PrizeFight Bantamweight Championship. The power punching Chessor and the high flying Parker will make for a very intriguing match up of styles. This title bout is scheduled for five rounds.

The undercard is rounded out with great match ups as two of the top amateur fighters in the country today meet in a three round welterweight match-up. Tyler Hill who represents Team Bushido and fights out of Mayfield, KY will meet the toughest test of his young career as he squares off with Ben Brewer who represents Tennessee BJJ and fights out of Alcoa, TN. Justin McCollough of “Team Relentless” and Union City, TN will do battle with Chad Snider of “Team Ready” in a 3 round welterweight affair. Gary Johnson enters the cage against Anthony Livingston in a three round welterweight bout. T.C. Coleman will match wits with Jerome Thames in a three round featherweight match up plus at least 2 or 3 more action packed fights.

PrizeFight MMA V is scheduled for Saturday, February 18, 2012. Doors for this event will open at 7:00 PM. All the action can be seen live from the Lady Luck Casino Expo Center in Caruthersville, MO. Tickets are just $25 and $35 and can be purchased by calling (800) 679-4945 or by visiting the Lady Luck Caruthersville Box Office. For more information please follow PrizeFight MMA Championships on Facebook.

By Przemek Garczarczyk, From Fightnews.com – Prize Fight and Global Boxing return on January 28th with the latest installment of “Fights at the Fitz” from the Grand Ballroom at Fitzgerald’s Hotel & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. In the headliner, undefeated rising prospect Kamil Laszczyk (6-0, 5 KOs) from North Bergen, NJ meets Texas champion Samuel Sanchez (7-2, 5 KOs) for the vacant Mid-South Featherweight Championship.

WBA/IBF jr welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-1, 18 KOs) was dethroned by IBF #1 Lamont Peterson (29-1-1, 15 KOs) in a controversial split decision on Saturday night before a partisan crowd in Peterson’s hometown of Washington DC. Khan dropped Peterson in round one but Peterson got back into the fight with a good round three. Khan adjusted his tactics and had success moving and flurrying. Khan was deducted a point by referee Joe Cooper for pushing in round seven. Close rounds down the stretch. Another point deducted from Khan for pushing in round twelve. Scores were 113-112, 113-112 Peterson, 114-111 Khan.

Lamont Peterson’s brother Anthony (31-1, 20KO’s) scored a one-sided decision over faded former title challenger Daniel Attah (26-9-1, 9KO’s) over 8 rounds. All 3 judges scored the bout a shutout for Peterson at 80-72. Attah had no answer for the crisp combinations that Peterson unloaded on him over the duration of the fight, but showed a lot of heart as he was able to hang in for 8 rounds, but had no answer for anything Peterson threw at him.