Undefeated Irish boxer Thomas “The Kid” O’Toole (9-0, 6 KOs) will take on dangerous Russell Kimber (2-1, 1 KO) in a six-round bout on May 4th for the vacant Massachusetts Light Heavyweight title as part of a stacked “Rumble At The Rink” regional card, presented by Granite Chin Promotions (GCP), at Quincy Youth Arena in Quincy, Massachusetts.
“What a compliment this fight is to our inaugural ‘Granite Chin Box Off’’,” GCP president Chris Traietti commented.
“The plan with this show from the start was to stack it from the opening fight to the final of the tournament with fighters people want to see in fights people want to see them in, and this fight is the epitome of that. Thomas has been a fixture the last few years in the local boxing scene, and he is taking on a guy in Kimber who is no slouch.
“Kimber is the type of guy that if you take him lightly you are in for a bad night. Thomas comes from a solid amateur background and a great gym, so I don’t think he is going to make that error, but everyone in the building would be foolish to sleep on Russell Kimber. This is going to be a great co-feature!”
Now fighting out of Boston suburb Braintree (MA), the 26-year-old native of Galway (IRE) has been fighting in his second home of Boston for the past year, capturing the USBF Atlantic light heavyweight title last August, also in Quincy on a GCP card, with an opening round stoppage of Scott Lampert.
A celebrated Irish amateur boxer, who was the 2019 Irish National, is coming off a homecoming victory this past March 16th in Galway, in which he won all eight rounds against Hussein Itaba (16-7-3, 11 KOs).
“I want to add this Massachusetts title and keep pushing,” the stylish southpaw said. “The plan is to have two big fights after this fight. He (Kimber) doesn’t have too many fights, but he has sparred with some of my mates. He’s pretty game and will fight coming forward, and that’s good for me.
“My fight in Galway was amazing, the best of my life, because it was my homecoming. But the Irish here have come out to support me and Boston is my second home. I had a great coach and good boxers in Galway, but I knew I needed to make a bit of a change. You can’t get good sparring there like I can here. So, I moved.”
O’Toole is grateful that he hooked up with his head trainer, Mark “Bazooka” DeLuca, who has a 30-4 (18 KOs) pro record as middleweight.
“I’m so happy I made the link with Mark DeLuca,” O’Toole noted. “I don’t think a lot of people know how good a coach he is. I have more of a pro style than I had before he started training me. He has shown me how to use range and stay composed. Mark has really developed me to control the ring and improve my ringmanship.”
Kimber (2-1, 1 KO), fighting out of Peabody (MA), has fighting in his blood. His father, Dick and uncle Tommy, respectively, were three and five-time world kickboxing champions. Russ owns Kimber Fitness, which was in Peabody and is relocating soon to nearby Salem (MA).
Kimber made his pro debut in 2017, taking a decision from Nathan Schulte, but he’s only fought twice since then, due to COVID-19 restrictions and several fights that failed to materialize.
“I’m always training but I couldn’t get any fights,” Kimber explained. “I kept my weight down and took a fight last April in Florida against an undefeated local fighter (3-0 Mike Misa). After the fight, my opponent even said that the fight shouldn’t have been stopped, because I was blocking his punches. I really shouldn’t have lost that fight, but it was in Florida against a local fighter.”
“Fighting for the Massachusetts title is great. I don’t think he (O’Toole) fully understands what’s coming. I think a win will open up doors for me because I’ll be 3-1 and have a title. I’ve seen a few Granite Chin fighters with only six or seven fights getting the opportunity to fight at places like Madison Square Garden. I took this fight, and we’ll see what happens.”
The headliner is an innovative one-night tournament, “Granite Chin Box Off,” featuring a quartet of New England super middleweight fighters – Lynn’s (MA) James “Pitbull” Perkins (13-1-1, 9 KOs), Swansea’s (MA) Anthony “The Gentle Savage” Andreozzi (5-3, 2 KOs), Dorchester’s (MA) Bernard Joseph (6-1, 4 KOs), and Barrington’s (ME) Ryan Clark (4-5, 2 KOs) – who will be matched (in a blind draw at the weigh in) in three-round bouts (4th round of sudden death if needed in case of a draw) early in the evening with the two winners advancing to the five-round main event (6th round of sudden death in the event of a draw) to determine the inaugural champion.
