Home News Undefeated Dangerous Denton Daley back on Feb 15 in Ontario

Undefeated Dangerous Denton Daley back on Feb 15 in Ontario

Credit: Team Daley

Undefeated cruiserweight “Dangerous” Denton Daley (11-0, 6 KOs) is set to return Saturday night, February 15 against veteran Andres Taylor (21-5-2, 8 KOs) at Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Denton is a 31-year-old Brampton native, who trains in Kitchener, Ontario, and is rated No. 7 by the World Boxing Association (WBA) and No. 14 by the World Boxing Council (WBC). Taylor is a former World Boxing Foundation (WBF) All-Americas cruiserweight champion from Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Denton vs. Taylor is the 12-round main event on “Doomsday,” promoted by United Boxing Promotions (UBP) in association with Title Fight Promotions. Denton’s promoter, Don MacDonald, believes this is a crossroads fight for both boxers.

“Denton has to beat a tough veteran like Taylor to prove that he’s a legitimate world class cruiserweight and future world title challenger,” UBP president Don MacDonald said. “Taylor needs to pull off an upset to get back into the cruiserweight picture and beating Denton will likely position him in the world ratings.”

Daley’s most significant victory to date is a win by 10-round decision over former world champion Richard Hall last March for the vacant North American Boxing Federation (NABF) cruiserweight championship. In his last fight, Daley won a unanimous 10-round decision this past September versus Jean Marc Monrose (26-6).

A gatekeeper of the cruiserweight division, Taylor has been stopped only once in 28 professional fights. He was supposed to challenge WBA World Cruiserweight Champion Guillermo Jones in the fall of 2012, but Jones’ hand injury postponed the fight and Taylor never got his world title shot. Jones has since fought only once and has been designated as the WBA Cruiserweight Champion in Recess.

Denton was a standout basketball player for Canadian hoop powerhouse Sheridan College, from where he graduated in 2004 with a degree in business administration. Three years later, he took a friend up on his offer to go to a boxing gym and he hasn’t looked back.

His athleticism helped him make a smooth transition from basketball to boxing in a relative short time. “I was told by my amateur coach, Dwight Frazier, I was lucky to have played basketball because, in the ring, I had natural foot movement and good hand-and-eye coordination,” Denton said. “The transition from one sport to another was easy. I’ve never really thought about getting hurt in boxing. I understand you can get hurt but I have concentrated on minimizing the possibility by training hard and being in top condition. I’ve always been fearless.”

Denton is fortunate to have two-time world title challenger Syd “The Jewel” Vanderpool (35-4, 23 KOs) as his head trainer. “Syd has been a blessing in disguise,” Denton explained. “He is a very technical coach, explaining why every move is made. He immediately got my attention and I’ve fully trusted him since we met.”

“Denton came to me with lots of athletic ability and uncanny ring awareness,” Vanderpool noted. “He studies a lot and is a real student of the game. He’s working on basic fundamentals and balance that he’ll need once we get to the highest level of competition. He’s learning how to systemically break down opponents instead of just launching punches. I told him he has 12 rounds to breakdown an opponent; take away their jab and movement, and then go for the kill.”

“Doomsday” tickets, starting at $35.00, are on sale at all Ticketmaster outlets and the Hershey Centre Box Office. Doors open at 7 p.m. ET with the first fight scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET.