Kash doesn’t get the credit he deserves
He’s the British bantamweight champion, he’s won all 13 of his professional bouts, and last weekend he stopped Duane Winters in the first round of their title fight to win the Lonsdale Belt outright.
Yet Kash Farooq’s manager still insists his boxer is under-rated.
Farooq thrilled the TV audience with his ferocious body shots as he broke Winters’ spirit. But Iain Wilson claims Glasgow-based Farooq doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
“The problem is that he makes a hard game look easy – and boxing is the toughest sport there is,” said Wilson, who is also the patron of the St Andrew’s Sporting Club. “Kash is maybe too good for his own good in that regard. But anyone who’s seen him – especially in the last year – can have no doubts about his quality.”
Farooq’s demolition job on Winters has set up the mouth-watering possibility of a winnertakes-all meeting with Edinburgh’s unbeaten Commonwealth belt holder, Lee Mcgregor, and negotiations are underway to make that happen before the year is out.
“We’re still in discussions about this bout and – while we have other options – this is the one everyone wants to see,” said Wilson.
“It would be the biggest fight between two Scots since Alex Arthur met Ricky Burns in 2006. This bout would be up there with that and then some. “The two of them know each other well, having travelled everywhere together with the Scotland amateur team. They’ve also fought each other in sparring and they get on well. But this would be different, of course. “We want to make this fight, but everything has to be right for both boxers. There should be an announcement in the next two to three weeks and, if it goes ahead, I’d expect it to take place in late November/early December.”
Wilson is convinced that Farooq will go all the way to the top, and he’s delighted that the 23-year-old is prepared to get there the oldfashioned way.
“Kash became Scottish champion before he fought for the British title,” he pointed out.
“If the Mcgregor fight comes off and he wins that, he’d then want to fight for the European belt before having a go at becoming a world champion.
“He’s a boxing historian – proper old school – but the sky’s the limit for him.
“Don’t forget that he’s only 23 and improving all the time. His ring craft is getting better and he’s also punching harder, stopping six of his last seven opponents.”