Let’s get ready to Rumble.
The annual outdoor Stadium of Light spectacular is just four days away.
Phil Jeffries, the daddy of the Summer Rumble, has assembled an 11-fight card for Sunday afternoon.
None of the fights stand out and hit you, so to speak, but Jaffa and his promoting partner, Steve Wraith, have at least got into double figures.
After the debacle of Saturday night’s three-bout event at Dunston, all eyes will be on the home of Sunderland AFC to see if North-East boxing can enjoy a day of redemption.
With no top-of-the-bill affair following the cancellation of the Northern Area title derby between Tom Hill and Ellis Corrie, punch-lines will work its way down the schedule in boxers.com order.
There will be two debutants.
Former High Fell amateur Jeff Neesham, trained by former Northern Area title challenger, Danny Moir, will come up against Jake Pollard.
Light-middleweight Alex Farrell, a member of the burgeoning Dave Binns stable at East Durham College, will debut against Arvydas Trizno.
On the subject of that Peterlee stable, Darren Surtees has a change of opponent. The unbeaten Thornley title hopeful now meets Arturo Lopez.
Stablemate, Redcar’s Tom Hill, could have a tricky afternoon against Chris Jenkinson who can be a thorn in a home favourite’s side when he puts his mind to it.
Unbeaten Newcastle crowd favourite, Joe Laws (pictured), goes for his sixth straight win against one of the best Scrabble scores in boxing, Zygimantas Butkevicius.
Still with undefeated Tyneside talent, light-heavyweight, Lawrence Osueke, boxes for the ninth time as a pro, after being matched with Gianni Antoh.
Another Geordie with a 100 per cent record is light-welterweight Terence Wilkinson, whose record stands at 5-0. The Dave Ritson-trained light-welter faces Lee Connelly, a respected visitor to the Rumble.
Staying with Tyneside, Wallsend’s Anth Ornsby has an intriguing match with Danny Little, who was reportedly scheduled to box at Dunston on Saturday, only to box in Doncaster instead. Jaffa, send him a sat-nav!
Like Anth, Adam Gair has a 1-0 record and the Binns-trained cruiser has Dmitrij Kalinovskij for company.
The enigmatic Simon Vallily has a canny scrap on his hands against Dorian Darch, who has been in with the likes of Anthony Joshua and Hughie Fury, a few years back, and Daniel Dubois more recently.
And staying with Teessiders, there is a second paid appearance for cruiserweight, Michael Webster, who meets the fourth Lithuanian on the card, Remigijus Ziausys.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Jennifer Charlton
