Why Ellis Zorro Signed With Queensberry And Not Boxxer

Ellis Zorro, despite winning the latest Boxxer series tournament, cruiserweight Ellis Zorro 14-0 has signed a promotional deal with Frank Warren and BT sport.

In May Sky Sports and Ben Shalom\’s Boxxer brought us the latest instalment of Boxxer series in Manchester and the victor on the evening Lewisham\’s Ellis Zorro was set to sign a multi-fight deal with the outfit as well as securing his immediate future with the significant prize money of £40,000 from 9 rounds boxed BUT has bow signed a deal with hall of fame promoter Frank warren and promotional outfit Queensberry.

Why Ellis Zorro Signed With Queensberry

Boxxer has a current crop of Cruiserweights including Richard Riakphore at the forefront and centre and with Chris Billam Smith fighting domestic foe Isaac Chamberlain, Zorro feels his path lies in a different route in the division and is not yet to be involved in a stacked domestic scene where everyone seemingly has intentions of crossings paths and all willing to fight each other at some point.

I recently wrote about Zorro\’s next options after his triumph in the prizefighter style tournament and one that still peaks my interest is the winner of Luke Watkins vs Ian Martell for the English title.

However, it now seems to be the WBC route for the 29-year-old and is scheduled to box for their silver version at some point soon which can give him a good ranking position going forward.

Being 11-0 before his 27-minute outing in Manchester in May I feel Zorro has to manoeuvre his route carefully before being thrown in with the wolves(CBS, Chamberlain etc.) Who are, with respect a whole different level to the boxers he has previously faced.

Quotes from Queensberry promotions press release:

The 29-year-old is trained and managed by Martin Bowers from the Peacock Gym in Epping alongside now promotional teammates Denzel Bentley, Chris Bourke and Louie Lynn.

A jeweller by trade, Zorro entered the tournament staged in May up in Manchester and cruised to success, beating James Farrell, Jamie Smith and Ricky Reeves via unanimous decisions.

He now becomes the most experienced member of the Queensberry cruiserweights, which includes Arnold Obodai, Aloys Junior and Natty Ngwenya.

Zorro believes his tournament triumph paved the way for a union with the Hall of Fame promoter.

\”That is the benefit of these tournaments,\” Zorro considered. \”Sky were hosting it but, going forward, Frank is going to be taking care of my career anyway. It is all good.

\”I went in to see Frank and he congratulated me on my performance in the tournament and offered me a contract going forward. Frank will be handling my career and I am over the moon with that.

\”When I came here to the Peacock at 9-0 it was what I wanted to happen kind of straight away but obviously you\’ve got to, not so much prove yourself to Frank, but now I have got something he can sell. I will always be the Boxxer tournament winner, I am now 14-0, No.10 on Boxrec and I will be fighting for international titles moving forward.

\”I believe I have got a WBC Silver title shot in September, so it is all good.\”

The punching jeweller Zorro was fittingly fitted out in a golden robe after winning the final and it was a competition he was convinced all along he would emerge victorious.

\”I was super, super confident. I knew that with the sparring I had been getting with the likes of Dan Azeez who, even though he is a light heavyweight, is really, really strong. I had Craig Richards, I had Denzel for his experience, even though he is a bit lighter. Then I had sparring against heavyweights, so I just feel I ticked every box.

\”At the time I was 11-0 and I didn\’t have a contract with anybody. I wasn\’t stagnant, but I\’d just had two fights with Martin since being at the Peacock and one of them was a rematch against Ossie Jervier.

\”I was kind of struggling with some direction but now, in the space of one weekend, it accelerated everything for me.

\”It feels like it was meant to be and, as Martin is always saying, everybody gets a chance in boxing, you just have to be patient and be ready. When the call came, we were ready.\”

Frank Warren added on his cruiserweight recruit: \”I am delighted to sign Ellis and he was clearly the class act of the tournament. We have known about him for some time now through our strong relationship with Martin and this is perfect timing, with Ellis having increased his stock with three strong performances.

\”There won\’t be any delays now, we will put Ellis straight into title contention and really get his career firing on all cylinders.\”

By Dan Kelly

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