Russell returning to ring after years away
VINCE Russell is back in the ring at Athena next month – after nine years away.
Russell was a good amateur, having 39 bouts for Belgrave, Old Robin Hood, Charnwood and Shepshed ABCs before drifting away from the gym.
Now 29 years old, he’s preparing to fight in front of his home crowd on a big show Saturday, March 26.
Russell said: “I’ve been going to all the shows and after the last one, I said to my dad: ‘I’m coming back.’
“He said: ‘You won’t come back.’
“I went to the gym and fell back in love with boxing again.
“This isn’t a one off. I want to have four or five and then go for a title.”
If his life had turned out differently, Russell may well have won belts by now.
He said: “I probably would have turned professional if I had stuck at boxing, but I became a dad and had to work away as well.
“I couldn’t get to the gym anymore.” Russell says daughter Tailey-Mai looks to be a chip off the old block.
“She’s a real bruiser,” he laughed. “I can see her becoming a boxer one day.”
ALTHOUGH the Leicester Tennis Festival, incorporating the Leicestershire County Championships, is more than five months away, work is in progress for the 2022 event.
Tennis Festival and County Championships Committee Chairman Alison Ison said: “It may seem some way off, as the events runs from July 24 to July 31, but you simply cannot leave things to the last minute.
“We are not the largest county in the country, but we do have a massive support of our championships and festival. We were concerned that there may be a drop off in competitors since the 2019 event, as we did not run in 2020 due to covid.
“However, this was far from the case as we had a total of 283 competitors participate in 37 events in 2021, and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) recently recognised us as the largest county closed and tennis festival event in 2021.
“We are introducing new events for our 2022 tournament. We held a wheelchair exhibition event on the Saturday of the finals weekend last year. This year wheelchair tennis will move into the festival as a main event. Also, in line with the LTA policy of encouraging people of all ages to play tennis, we will be introducing novice championships.
“So, if you play on park tennis courts but fancy to play in a tournament such as our Tennis Leicestershire Festival, then please enter, the more people playing tennis the better.”