Steve Goodwin lays the gauntlet down to Idris Virgo
London promoter Steve Goodwin sent controversial boxer Idris Virgo (7-0-1, 1KO) an offer of £100,000 if he accepts the challenge to fight Brad Pauls (14-0, 9KOs) in November or December over at least six rounds and is able to beat him.
Goodwin commented, "I have met Idris and I really like him as a person, but he is saying no one offers him anything and he is choosing his own path. He says he wants his next fight at middleweight.
"So, I am helping him, along with 100,000 reasons. We are offering to do this fight on a Channel 5 show. I will deposit £100,000 as a bond into either Escrow or a solicitor of mutual choice. Should Idris be triumphant, the £100,000 will be transferred to him the following morning.
Undefeated Pauls, who now resides in Essex, is more than up for the challenge, “Idris is disrespecting boxers, so with my manager's financial backing he can now prove to the world what a great fighter he is and can walk away with a large sum of money."
Goodwin added, "We are only a phone call away and all we need is six weeks notice!"
Known as 'The Newquay Bomb', Brad Pauls is the current Southern Area middleweight champion, having won the belt in June 2019 with a third-round TKO over Guildford's Darren Codona (7-5-1, 1KO). He defended it in his last fight against London challenger Robbie Chapman (6-4) via a seventh-round stoppage in Plymouth. The 27-year-old is ranked in the top 25 in the UK according to BoxRec's rankings.
'The Bodybreaker' Idris Virgo was a Love Island contestant in 2018, which helped to propel his name into the limelight as he was beginning his professional boxing career.
27 from Birmingham, he attempted to goad his last opponent, Scott Williams (0-8), in his last fight on September 5 on Channel 5. Super-middleweight, Virgo, threw his bottle of water over his Manchester opponent during their pre-fight press conference in an attempt to provoke him, but he refused to take the bait and remained calm, earning him lots of respect and new fans, which was the direct opposite for disrespectful Virgo, who Ohara Davies ironically identified as 'one of the most hated boxers'.
There was more interaction on Twitter, as Virgo joked, "Can we start a gofund me page for Stephen Goodwin fighters please."
To which Goodwin replied, "As I say, concentrate on yourself. £100,000 and you try to worm out of a fight you call easy work. Many of my fighters are either champions or will be champions. Something you will never be."
UPDATE
Steve Goodwin then dangled another carrot on a stick in front of Virgo's nose, with a £25k bonus if he scores a knockout in the proposed fight.
Virgo, seemingly, isn't taking any of the offers seriously and hasn't agreed to any fight.
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