Our fighters have the guts in and out of ring
IF ever there was a time to have a night out at the boxing in the North East then it’s now. This region is currently enjoying a thriving small hall scene with three top promoters and plenty of talented and passionate young boxers. Fight fans throughout the region are likely to echo my desire for more big shows too. We had a taste of it two years ago when Eddie Hearn brought his Matchroom show to Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena, with Olympic gold medallist - and now world heavyweight champion - Anthony Joshua the star attraction. But Joshua wasn’t the only boxer on show that night, with a number of North East fighters benefitting from exposure on the undercard too - including South Shields’ Anthony Nelson who took his chance under the big spotlight to capture the Commonwealth title in a brilliant moment for the region. Desiring these big shows is not disrespect to the small hall promoters though. Without the tireless work of Steve Wraith, Phil Jeffries and Fighting Chance, the bigger shows would not be possible because the region’s boxers would have no stage in which to develop their skills, show them off and also build a fanbase that would get a top promoter like a Hearn or a Frank Warren interested.
And while the promoters must take a lot of credit for risking a lot in putting on these shows, there’s a recent trend among many boxers which needs praising - a willingness to take difficult fights.
It might sound trivial, but there became a worrying trend in boxing wordwide in the last ten years or so which saw boxers protect their records fighting journeyman who usually arrive with little ambition of winning a fight.
At this point it’s important to make clear my respect for boxing’s journeyman and the work that they do. Young prospects can learn a lot from contesting these type of opponents in their early career fights. Their fantastic defences and durability force young boxers to slow down, think about their work and pick their shots. It’s valuable learning.
The problem arises when boxers take these type of fights for too long. Nobody wants to see a 15 to 20 and 0 prospect fighting someone with next to no ambition of winning. At that stage they should have done their learning and they should be looking to step it up.
That is why many boxers from this great fighting region deserve a lot of respect from breaking that mould.
Three in particular spring to mind after recent bravado shown to be willing to step into fights with one-another.
It started with Dan Cope and Tom Whitfield, who twice stepped into the ring with one-another. Gateshead’s Whitfield won the first, while Hartlepool’s Cope avenged that defeat last year in the rematch when he captured the Northern Area title.
Then add Billy Snaith into the mix who, despite having just three fights, agreed to fight both in succession.
Sadly, a bout with Whitfield, due to take place in Walker last month, fell through when Whitfield was cruelly injured in training but Snaith boxed on the show anyway taking his record to 4-0 unbeaten.
That served as a tune-up ahead of next month’s bout against Cope for the Northern Area title which is proving to be mouth-watering to say the least.
Snaith is now training with Jeff Saunders in Sedgefield, while Cope now trains with Neil Fannon in Durham and to say the pair aren’t too fond of each other seems an understatement.
There’s nothing wrong with a bit of niggle in the build-up to a fight as long as it’s not contrived and WWE-esque like the recent farce in the build-up to the big David Haye-Tony Bellew bout.
This region’s people work hard for their money and when considering whether to spend around £30-40 of it on one of the region’s shows, a headline bout like this proves a lot more appetising than six or seven bouts with home fighters almost guarenteed to win.