Fighter looks to build on winning start to pro career
STACEY Copeland is set to make a speedy return to the ring after an impressive start to her professional career.
The 35-year-old former amateur star won on her professional debut after defeating Borislava Goranova on points after four rounds during a PBE show at Bowlers Exhibition Centre.
Copeland was in control throughout the bout and outclassed her opponent during the four two-minute rounds.
She is now pencilled in to return to Bowlers for her second professional fight on July 29.
It was a packed PBE show that Copeland made her debut on, which also featured rising prospect Sam Hyde extending his unbeaten record with a fifthround stoppage win against Michael Pareo.
Hyde has now won nine and drawn just one of his 10 fights, and is on course for a title fight later this year.
Adam Hague returned to winning ways on the bill too after he stopped Gyula Tallosi in the third round of their bout.
It was Hague’s first fight since losing to Lee Appleyard in March, and he made sure he came back with a bang by getting the stoppage to make it 11 wins and one defeat in his career.
Stephen Danyo and Mark Jeffers were also victorious with points wins on the show at Bowlers.
There was a big crowd in attendance for the event, with PBE donating £5 from every ticket sold to the ‘We Love Manchester’ emergency fund set up for those affected by the Manchester Arena bomb attack. LEROY Sane has had a chat with a Manchester City fan that could just help him become a true club legend.
The 21-year-old Germany international, along with teammate Ilkay Gundogan, visited committed Blues fan Sean Riley as part of the club’s big end-of-season thank you to their supporters. And the message that Sean gave him about what it means to be a part of City might just have given Sane the kind of insight that helped turn Pablo Zabaleta into such a City legend.
Chadderton man Riley has missed just one City game in 28 years – and that was because Uefa banned fans from the Champions League game at CSKA Moscow.
He was picked out as one of several fans deserving of a visit, and Sane and Gundogan were chosen to surprise him on his own doorstep.
Sane was like any young footballer on the way to the visit, fiddling with his phone and not sure what it was all about.
But when the City TV crew took Gundogan into the kitchen for an interview, leaving Sane on the sofa with Riley, something happened that will have Pep Guardiola’s stamp of approval.
Riley talked to the youngster about his passion for the club, and for Seventies hero Dennis Tueart in particular.
And before long, the kitchen interview was being interrupted by the sound of Sane and Sean getting on like a house on fire.
On the way back to the CFA, Sane was clearly energised by the visit, and that link with the support.
“It was really nice to meet a proper City fan – it was the first time I had met a real, proper fan,” said the flying winger.
“He has missed only one game in 28 years and that’s really impressive. He was a very good guy, a funny guy, and it was a pleasure to meet him.” City’s purpose in staging the visits was to try to bring the fans and the players closer together – that is something central to Guardiola’s plan of taking the club forward. Said Sean: “When I had the chance to talk to Leroy I was interested to know his reasons for joining the club, as he would clearly have had the chance to sign for lots of top clubs around Europe. “He made it clear it was all about Pep. “For me last season wasn’t a disaster – I think Pep got things wrong but I could see a bigger picture. “And we won 17 away games, which might struggle to see again in my lifetime. “We talked about that, and I made the point to him I was glad he hadn’t signed for United, because of the way Jose Mourinho behaves towards his players, persecuting them in public. “For me it is more about promot- Leroy Sane I