Let’s get ready to Rumble. There are just four weeks to go before the annual outdoor bash at the Stadium of Light.
Sadly, the event on Sunday, July 14 has lost one mouth-watering derby following the cancelation of the A66 showdown between Redcar’s Tom Hill and Ellis Corrie, from Darlington, for the Northern Area title.
However, one derby is still very much on at the Summer Rumble with comeback man ‘Dynamite’ David Lake taking on Zaki Shirzad in a South Shields v Newcastle featherweight showdown.
Lake is back inside a ring for the first time in over six years while Shirzad is chasing his first win as a professional at the fourth attempt.
Mal Gates-trained Lake is no spring chicken, but with Davey it’s a case of 35-years-young rather than 35-years-old.
“I’ve never had to work on his fitness,” smiled Gates.
“He only packed in boxing because of his time with the Army – he’s still involved with the Army in the Reserves.
“Davey came back into the gym to do a bit of fitness, but got the bug back.
“He was enjoying it, was looking really good so decided to give it a go.
“Me and Matty Jobes spoke about Davey and Zaki fighting and said it was a good little 50/50 fight for the Rumble.”
Lake has a very fair record as a professional with three wins and a draw from nine contests.
“Davey boxed some decent kids, like Peter Cope and [former British title challenger] Sean Hughes,” said Gates. “Tommy Ward is the only man to stop him and that was 15 seconds from the end of their fight.”
Lake is being assisted in his preparations at the Harton & Westoe Miners Welfare by a talented young fella, Cameron Ormonde, who was still at junior school when ‘Dynamite’ made his pro debut at the 2011 Summer Rumble. The pair are pictured above in the gym, Lake on the right.
“Cameron has a big future,” added Gates. “He’s been doing some stuff in the gym.
“He’d had 25 amateur bouts but looked like drifting out of the sport so I invited him down here.”
To say Lake v Shirzad should be worth watching would be an understatement.
Zaki, trained in the Jobes Boxing Gym in Newcastle, is no stranger to a derby.
His debut was a very watchable bout at Dunston last September when he started off like a train against another fighter making a comeback, Adam Hutchinson, only to run out of steam and lose on points.
The 2019 Summer Rumble features, in alphabetical order, Adam Gair, Tom Hill, Joe Laws, Anth Ornsby, Lawrence Osueke, Darren Surtees, Simon Vallily, Michael Webster, and Terence Wilkinson.
Words: Roy Kelly
