King Farooq aims to continue his British title reign
Glasgow’s Kash Farooq is desperate to add Bristol’s Duane Winters to his list of victims when he defends his British bantamweight title at the St Andrew’s Sporting Club on August 17 – even if it does mean that he’ll become one of the biggest names in the sport.
There’s nothing flash about the 23-yearold, who prefers to keep his head down and go about his business quietly.
However, he knows that, by continuing to push himself up the international rankings, more and more people will recognise him.
An indication of how successful he’s been in maintaining a low profile is that the couple who live next door only discovered he was a boxer when they saw him defend his crown against Kyle Williams live on TV in April.
“My neighbours watched me that night,” he grinned. “They didn’t know I boxed before – but they stayed up to watch me!
“Since then, they’ve asked to see the belt. They’re older but they’re boxing fans.
“They got their family over, they brought their children and said I needed to show them the belt as well.
“I’ve boxed for the past 10 years but they didn’t know about it until they saw me on TV. They’ve seen me go away early in the mornings to train, but they probably just thought I was going off to work. I was, of course, but it was actually roadwork.
“They’re my fans now, though, so they’ll be watching the next fight.”
Beating Winters will see Farooq win the Lonsdale Belt outright, and it will also tee up a tantalising all-tartan tear-up with unbeaten Edinburgh scrapper Lee Mcgregor, who has stopped six of his seven opponents.
“I need to get this fight out the way first – it’s my main focus,” said Kash. “I’d then like to fight at the end of the year and I think Lee wants it.
“The British Boxing Board of Control have made him the mandatory challenger if I win this so it’s going to happen at some time, one way or another.
“If it was down to me I’d want to fight him but it’s also down to my management and the plans. After this, if I win it outright, then it becomes a business and it needs to make sense before we can take it.
“He did a job on Scott Allan but I’m a different kettle of fish to Scott. It’s on the night, two styles clashing.”
■ Dillian Whyte last night secured a unanimous points victory over Colombian Oscar Rivas in their WBC heavyweight title eliminator at London’s O2 Arena.
Despite being floored in the ninth round, Whyte dominated the fight and the Briton is now the mandatory challenger for Deontay Wilder’s WBC belt.