Undefeated Junior Welterweight prospect LaVonte Earley (10-0, 5 KOs) is fighting for more then a place on the elite list of fighters.

In fact, any accolade he shall receive maybe just a cherry on top of his real motivation.

The 25 year-old who has been a professional for four-years, is motivated by his promoter, who actually happens to be his mother, Lavonda.

Lavonda was diagnosed with stage-four Liver Cancer in 2011.  That precipitated Lavonda to be more involved in her children's endeavors, which included LaVonte's boxing career, which began at the age of 15.

Lavonda started Vegas Grand Promotions, and LaVonte has been a staple on those shows.

"I am just promoting him for now, as we have interest from several well known and more established Promoters.  Because of my diagnosis I know l won't be able to continue to finance his career so my goal is to get him ready to move on to the bigger stage," said LaVonda

 "My mother literary gave up everything to help support me in my career, which is something I can never ever truly repay her back for. It's super, super important to me that I not only do what I'm supposed to do, but I can make her proud and give her something to brag about at church," Earley recently told Fox 46 News in Charlotte.

LaVonte will be back in action on March 28th at Rocky River High School.

Promoter Dennis Hobson believes Sheffield will be served up a very ‘special night’ of fight action on March 27th, when local favourite Tommy Frank headlines at the Ponds Forge Arena against International Boxing Organisation (IBO) World Flyweight Champion, Maximino Flores.

Mexico’s Flores will make the first defence of his ‘world’ crown against Frank, and Hobson says this is the perfect opportunity for his fighter to announce himself on the world stage.

Unbeaten Tommy, 13-0 (3), hasn’t put a foot wrong since turning pro.  The 26-year-old already holds the Commonwealth and World Boxing Council (WBC) International Silver straps at super flyweight, along with the IBO Inter-Continental crown at the weight below.  If he can wrench away Flores’ ‘world’ belt then he puts himself in contention for more major fights at world level and maybe moves a step closer to his dream of fighting in Las Vegas, one day.

If he is to remain unbeaten, the huge Sheffield United fan is going to have to put in a career best performance against Flores.  The South American, 28, is vastly more experienced, with just four defeats from 33 bouts and, having just won the belt in August last year with an ‘away’ win in the Philippines, will be determined not to return home without his title.

“Me and Steve [Crump] are determined to get our fighters onto the world stage, and obviously Tommy is the one that’s developed the quickest,” explained Hobson, who has previously guided a number of fighters to boxing’s highest honours.  “He’s a great kid to work with and this is a platform for him to win a version of the world title.  He’s going to be in with a tough Mexican though, because there aren’t too many soft ones!

“We’ve done everything we can do, we’ve secured the fight, he’ll be in his home town and hopefully he can get hold of this title.  He’ll then be another world champion to come out of Sheffield and it’ll push him on, and boost everyone else in our stable.  It’s in Tommy’s make up to leave nothing to chance in his preparation and hopefully he can put on a big performance on what will be a special night for the city.”

Dennis Hobson Promotions presents an evening of boxing on March 27 at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge Arena.  Headlining will be Sheffield’s Tommy Frank challenging Mexico’s Maximino Flores for his International Boxing Organisation (IBO) World Flyweight Title.

Appearing on the undercard will be Rotherham’s Kash Ali and Nav Mansouri; Sheffield’s Keanen Wainwright, Perry Howe, Kane Salvin, Shakiel Thomson and Levi Smith; Castleford’s Nathan Owen; Manchester’s Adam Sircar, and Buxton’s Irvin Magno.

There are few people on this earth who would contact undefeated Icelandic heavyweight boxer Kolbeinn “The Ice Bear” Kristinsson to tell him he’s too small and weak… but countryman Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, aka The World’s Strongest Man and Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane on Game of Thrones, is one of them.

After his last fight, a second-round demolition of American Dell Long in January, Kristinsson (11-0, 5 KOs) says he was contacted by a mutual acquaintance of he and Björnsson’s and invited to the actor and strongman’s Thor’s Power Gym in Kópavogur, near Reykjavík, Iceland. In addition to playing one of the most feared and memorable characters on the HBO blockbuster series Game of Thrones for five seasons, Björnsson was five times named Europe's Strongest Man and is the first person to have won the Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe's Strongest Man and World's Strongest Man in the same calendar year.

“I was embarrassed when I got there,” laughed the 6’ 5” 240-lb Kristinsson. “They said I was skinny and looked weak.”

Björnsson put Kristinsson on a strict diet and weightlifting program to improve his power. “He gave me access to the gym whenever I want. The weight program is different every day,” said Kristinsson, “but I’m surprised that the most important part of it is to be consistent with diet.”

Kristinsson, who recently signed with Salita Promotions, power manager Mark Taffet and has begun working with Detroit-based super trainer SugarHill Steward at Kronk Gym, says the gains in two months have been significant.

“I’ve been doing my strength and power work four times a week and training boxing six times a week since my last fight and I’ve already put on seven pounds of muscle,” said Kristinsson. “I can feel I’m a lot stronger and more solid with a noticeable difference in punching power.”

Kristinsson, currently on his way back to Kronk, says he’ll be looking to put his newfound power to good use in his next ring appearance, scheduled for March 20 in Detroit against an opponent TBA.

High levels of anticipation continue to grow amongst the boxing community as the American debut of Rashid Kodzoev (7-0, 4 KOs) quickly approaches. After recently signing with Uprising Promotions, the undefeated Russian cruiserweight expects to have his next bout announced in the coming weeks.

“We truly feel that Rashid Kodzoev is championship material,” said Ronson Frank, President of Uprising Promotions. “He has exactly the type of mindset that we want in our fighters, and we expect him to have some kind of hardware by the end of the year. Rashid let us know from the beginning that he is ready to move as quickly as possible, and we are excited to showcase him as a lead to our promotion.”

Over the course of his professional career, Kodzoev has fought just one opponent who did not have a winning record. He has victories over the likes of 21-bout winner Tamas Polster, then-unbeaten Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko and 16-fight victor Andrei Kniazev. In just his fifth professional contest, he also became the first man to finish Ukrainian Vitaliy Nevesiliy, needing less than two rounds to earn the stoppage. Most recently, he fought 14-bout veteran Juan Ezequiel Basualdo in Estosadok, disposing of the Argentinian in the first frame.

Known as a boxer-puncher who has power in both hands, Kodzoev had an accomplished amateur campaign in his native Russia before turning to the professional ranks in 2016. Currently, negotiations are underway for Kodzoev to make multiple starts under the Uprising Promotions banner in the coming months.