_{@notdavemate, left and @nanzo-scoop, right, ringside at Joyce vs Lewison}

Star Makers

In January of this year, David Haye teamed up with Richard Schaefer to launch Hayemaker Ringstar. The newly formed promotion had as its raison d'etre the empowerment of the next generation of fighters.

_{Haye & Schaefer joint venture, Hayemaker-Ringstar}

In July Hayemaker Ringstar announced a three year (five fights a year) deal with terrestrial broadcaster Dave. They also unveiled the signing of four great prospects; Qais Ashfaq, Joe Joyce, Michael Venom Page and Willy Hutchinson.

_{First crop of Hayemaker-Ringstar signings alongside renowned coach, Ismael Salas}

Last night saw the first showcase from Hayemaker Ringstar. It took place at Indigo in the O2. Top of the bill were three of the four Hayemaker Ringstar fighters, all making their Professional boxing debuts. Willy Hutchinson, a highly touted 19 year old fighter from Scotland, unbeaten MMA standout Michael Venom Page and the 2016 Olympic Silver medallist, Joe Joyce.

_{Indigo o2 headliners, Hutchinson, Joyce and Page with promotor David Haye}

Going for MVP

For those that don't know Michael Venom Page aka 'MVP' is the lil' bro of @colossus39. I was supposed to go watch MVP fight on the undercard of Bellator 158: Daley vs. Lima at the o2 but couldn't make it. As a result I missed MVP executing one of the most devastating blows ever seen in an mma bout; the flying knee that fractured the skull of Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos.

_{MVP's vicious KO of 'Cyborg'}

I wasn't going to miss the boxing debut of Page, so myself and @notdavemate made the short trip to the o2 to watch the hostilities.

The main attractions kicked off with Page versus Jonathan Castano. Castano boasted a record of 2 wins 11 losses and 1 draw. When Myself and @notdavemate saw Castano's record flash up on the screen; we gave each other a look. We knew how this fight was going to go.

In mma, Page is like Marmite. You either love or hate his braggadocious unorthodox style. And he brought all the kind of antics that he's famed for in the cage into the boxing ring.

Page started the fight with his usual swagger, hands down. He then proceed to mimic basketball crossovers as he stalked Castano. It didn’t take long before everyone realised that Castano was severely overmatched.

_{First minute of Michael Venom Page’s boxing debut}

In the second round, Page landed a sweet uppercut on Castano, then proceeded to adopt a ‘drunken master’ style a la Emanuel Augustus. Page was having fun in the ring. However outside it there were a few desenting voices; ‘start boxing for fuckssake!’ I heard one man cry.

Page will definitely be marmite when it comes to the boxing hardcore!

However in the third round, Page closed the show in a manner no-one can argue with. He connected with a right cross that exploded on Castano’s chin. As Castano fell to the floor, Page allowed his momentum to continue and hung over the ropes to glare at the commentary team as his opponent lay flat on the floor.

_{Michael Venom Page KOs Castano}

Castano got to his feet but the referee waved the fight off (much to Castano’s disgust) for the picture book KO.

MVP verdict?

Page will have tougher boxing matches. This fight was clearly a fight to get the journey started. I’ve no problem with Page’s antics or his unorthodox style. However I’d have like to have seen him mix it up with more jabs and combinations. He actually has a good jab when he uses it. I think his undoing in a boxing ring could be searching for the highlight moments a little too much, when he could simply let it flow as part of a more varied boxing arsenal.

Page fought his debut at Light Heavyweight, however he has designs of campaigning at Super Middleweight. If he can burn down to 168 lb (bare in mind he campaigns at 170 lb in mma), Page may be a problem. He would be physically huge at Super Middleweight. Post fight, Page, Haye and Eubank Jr did some analysis for Dave. It’s not an exaggeration to say Page has the frame to compete at Cruiserweight if he allowed his body to fill out. He has a lot of natural advantages, height, reach, coupled with great speed and agility that could make him a contender at Super Middleweight. If anything his antics (that leave him very open) may ultimately end up counting against him.

Joyce on fast-track

Next up was Joe Joyce in a heavyweight boxing bout against seasoned pro Ian Lewison, in the Main Event. What can I say about this fight. First off props to Joyce. Not many fighters would pick a challenge as tough as Lewison for their boxing debut. On the flip side however, Joyce is 32 now. He’ll need to be fast-tracked if he is to achieve his ambition of mixing it with the Heavyweight elite.

_{Joyce and Lewison face-off}

The fight can be summed up by two things, Joyce’s lack of power and Lewison’s lack of stamina. Both factors were painfully obvious ringside. Joyce was slick on his feet. Constantly moving and switching angles. His combinations were organised. However I do have two fundamental criticisms based on what I saw. Bear in mind, Joyce has been touted as no ordinary prospect. For those that are not in the UK but are into boxing, you may be familiar with the likes of Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte, David Haye and Dereck Chisora. However there are two other British heavyweight prospects you need to take note of the first is Daniel Dubois. The second is Joe Joyce. So when I critique Joyce, it is with the mindset of whether this 32 year old can, in a couple of years take on a beat the World’s best heavyweights. Time isn’t on his side and the competition is stiff, so the assessment will be frank.

My first concern for his prospects is he appears to ‘punch by numbers’. By this I mean you can see him thinking about his combinations as he throws them. This makes him predictable and relatively slow. There were many occasions when Lewison who isn’t the fast was able to make Joyce miss badly. A slicker opponent would have made Joyce pay.

My second concern is he lacked ‘pop’ in is punches. It was evident from the first round. Joyce would put together some neat combinations, move and pivot. Everything under control. Then all of a sudden Lewison would launch a haymaker that would whizz past Joyce’s chin that would remind everyone that they were watching a ten round heavyweight pro fight, not a three round amateur bout.

As he progresses, Joyce is going to need to set his feet and deliver hard punishing blows if he is to gain the respect from opponents that will enable him to implement his boxing style. Right now, Joyce lacks power.

To give some context, Lewison was flagging from the third round. His left eye was closing, his gas tank was emptying. Halfway through the fourth round, I could see from where I was seated Don Charles, Lewison’s trainer was ready to throw in the towel.

_{Lewison trainer, Don Charles ready with the towel}

Yet, despite all the distress signals Joyce lacked the killer instinct and power to finish off his game opponent. Lewison lasted until the eighth round. Joyce is going to need to find some serious power from somewhere however at 32, I’m not sure where that will come from.

Missing the Special Event

So at the end of the Joyce-Lewison ‘main event’, @notdavemate and I, like many others left, thinking the show was over. I was a little confused as I was expecting Willy Hutchinson to feature in the televised portion of the card. I figured it must have happened earlier and I’d missed it.

We went for a drink, then met up with @colossus39 outside of the venue. It was then @colossus39 told us that the Willy Hutchinson fight was up last! We went back inside just in time to see Hutchinson declared as the winner. He had despatched of his opponent in less than two minutes.

_{Willy Hutchinson's pro debut}

At only 19, Hutchinson could turn out to be one hell of a prospect. In years to come I may be able to say, I was there to miss Willy Hutchinson’s debut fight at the Indigo in o2.

Oh well, them’s the breaks!

_{MVP waiting to go into action}