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If you can keep a secret, you should. As virtually the entire English nation settled down to watch England play Portugal in the European Soccer Championships, Sheffield cruiserweight prospect Simon Francis was quietly preparing for his third professional outing in of all places, Gibraltar. Out of site, out of mind, but Francis’s threat to Britain’s cruiserweights is very real.
The show containing 2 professional and 6 amateur bouts and promoted by Matt Scriven in conjunction with John Ashton and Dave Coldwell’s Koncrete Promotions, brought live professional boxing to Gibraltar for the first time ever. A sell-out 1,000 strong crowd witnessed this inaugural event at the Victoria Centre. The Rock of Gibraltar is located at the entrance of the Mediterranean. Its strategic location and history have made it an international symbol of solidity and strength. Gibraltar is connected to the Spanish mainland by a sandy isthmus, and has been the subject of many conquests and sieges. Since 1704 Gibraltar has been a British Territory, and part of the EU since British accession in 1973.
Standing before Francis in the sweltering heat was dangerous journeyman Alvin 'Slick' Miller – a heavyweight with a punch and a 3 stone weight advantage. Francis’s rising promoter and former flyweight, Dave Coldwell, takes up the story.
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“Not many boxers get the chance to fight abroad. I was fortunate enough to do so and I know it changed me as a fighter. You can’t buy that kind of experience, so I wanted Simon to have that same chance. All the press and people in the game that I’d spoke to thought it was a risky fight for Simon’s limited experience, but I felt if he boxed to our gameplan he would be okay. Simon and myself watched Miller in his last fight against Tony Dowling (former English title challenger). He had Dowling in serious trouble 3 or 4 times so we knew we had to be smart, box clever but at the same time be the boss. That’s what Simon did.”
A wayward adolescence restricted Francis to just 7 amateur fights until the birth of his daughter convinced him to make better use of his talents. Rather than go back to the vest and headguard, the 22-year-old renewed his acquaintance with long-time mentor Coldwell, who was just embarking upon his own promotional journey after hanging up the gloves. But this isn’t the blind leading the blind. In conjunction with Frank Warren, Coldwell has already had one of his value-for-money shows televised on SKY Sports and on Showtime’s Shobox series back in May. Judging by Francis’s progress, it won’t be long before Coldwell’s Koncrete Kids are featuring on our screens again.
Despite fears that he may have been pitched in too deep, too soon, Simon Francis effortlessly dealt with Slick Miller to the delight of the local crowd who had turned out in force despite the England’s unfolding drama being played out at the same time. A crashing right hand dumped Miller on the seat of his pants in the opener, and a left hook floored the weary trialhorse in the fourth. Boxing to orders, Francis maintained his composure to the finishing line to romp to a 60-53 points success.
For one so inexperienced, Francis moves with impressive grace in the ring, and possesses a quietly composed manner outside of it. Well sculptured, the now the 6ft3 prospect is an intimidating figure, and works well behind the jab. Having deposited a man 3 stone heavier than him heavily on the canvas twice, it would appear the Sheffield man has the punch to complement his developing boxing skills. Boxing on away turf is an occasion he clearly enjoyed.
“It was a good experience. I went over there on the Wednesday, boxed on the Thursday and flew back late Friday. I’ve been discussing with my team about going back to Gibraltar to train and I hope to box over there again because I enjoyed it so much,” Francis told Doghouse Boxing. “The humidity didn’t seem too bad for the first couple of rounds but from the third to the sixth I started to feel it. After I put him down again in the 4th I started to really notice the heat so I decided to go for a little walkabout before picking it back up again in the 6th. There was certainly a lot of sweat coming off my body that’s for sure.”
Dave Coldwell backed up his young charge’s claims. “The heat in the arena was sweltering and the locals had turned out in numbers so the ringside temperature shot up. There was no air conditioning, just a few windows open. Everyone laughs at me for having the heating on in my gym all the time but I tell them it’s to prepare them for the heat from under the ring lights. Boy, was I vindicated!” he joked.
Despite oxygen being in short supply, Francis kept his mind focused on the task at hand. Not always easy when a seasoned heavyweight is attempting to take your head off with one wild haymaker. “I made sure I watched out for his big right hand. I know if I’d have let him hit me he could have hurt me with it but I wasn’t going to give him the chance to knock me out,” admitted Francis. “I kept him on the end of my jab and combined this with right hands with some body shots in there for good measure as well. The right hand that floored him in the first nailed him flush and lifted him off his feet. I thought the fight would have been a bit harder but I enjoyed boxing him the way I knew I could.”
Francis, who was given the superstar treatment by the Gibraltar fans after celebrating his career best victory in a local bar afterwards, plans to box again around September time. “So many people came up to me to shake my hand. They don’t get much boxing over there do they?” the youngster joked. Judging by the impression Francis was able to leave, he is likely to be the first person the Gibraltans call when Boxing returns to The Rock.
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© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2004
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By Ben Carey (July 7, 2004) 
