If there is one boxing division synonymous with the North-East it surely has to cruiserweight.
And the region has another to follow in the shape of Durham’s Adam Gair, who makes his professional debut in Newcastle on May 3.
One of the growing band of MTK signings, the former East Durham boxer will dispense with the vest at the Newcastle Eagles Community Arena, where Mac the Nice promote their first North-East event of 2019.
It’s some stage for Gair, who is being trained by Dave Binns at the East Durham gym he spent much of his amateur days.
The 26-year-old is looking the part, according to Binns who has Darren Surtees and the Hill brothers, Joe and Tom,making fine strides from their Peterlee base.
Binns has been impressed with the entire package as much as the ability of the former Heaton Town fighter who is a former England Amateur Championship bronze medalist.
“Adam is looking well.” Binns told punch-lines. “He has really picked up his training.
“He is a lot more determined in his approach, he is doing his work with no grumbling and no corner-cutting.
“All the work in those sessions have been evident in his sparring.
“When he sparred with Lawrence Osueke it is the best I’ve seen him look.
“I’m now looking to see if that transfers into the ring on fight night.”
Gair should certainly be worth watching.
As stated at the top of the piece, cruiserweight have been part of this region’s boxing fabric.
Annfield Plain’s Glenn McCrory was the North-East’s first world champion when he won the IBF cruiserweight title.
His success came after Hartlepool’s Stewart Lithgo made history by being the Commonwealth’s first champion at cruiser.
Another Hartlepool heavy-turned-cruiser, Dave Garside, was a British and Commonwealth title challenger, as was the Sunderland fighter he managed, David Dolan.
Simon Vallily should have become English cruiserweight champion last June, only for the Middlesbrough boxer to footer away a winning position against Arfan Iqbal.
But the ‘daddy’ of North-East cruisers was Jon Lewis Dickinson.
Managed by Frank Maloney and part of that incredible production line of Birtley fighters, Dickinson won four British cruiserweight championship fights.
Words: Roy Kelly
