Rainton Arena is fast establishing itself as the home of North-East boxing and some of our area’s best talent are starring on the bill.
Not just at the top, where Terence Wilkinson and Jordan Ellison are going for glory in the vacant Northern Area light-welterweight championship showdown and Joe Maphosa has an international tussle with Tanzania’s Adam Yahaya.
No, the Houghton venue, which stages its third event in a matter of months – with two more to come before Christmas – is more than just about the big bouts.
Adam Cope, Joe Laws, Sam Menzies and Jordan Barker-Porter all have compelling contests at Rainton.
But what of the Bomber, the Pocket Rocket and JBP?
Say what you like about Laws – and a lot of people do – but you can’t deny there is never a dull moment when the Benwell Bomber is about.
Laws v Ewbank looks a stand-out confrontation tonight – that’s E W B A N K with a W, not the ’Simply the Best’ lot.
The Geordie is up against Jack Dempsey Ewbank, from Ashford, with the Kent boxer arriving in the North-East with a winning record of 4-2.
Laws, of course, already boasts a strong fight log of his own, reading 10-1.
The start of his career was as explosive as his moniker, blowing away his first few opponents and having a live telly appearance in his third bout.
But it was on his last TV date 13 months ago that things went wrong. Chasing his 10th victory, he was knocked out by ‘Pint-sized Powerhouse’ Rylan Charlton in Peterborough.
Laws bounced back in June with a points win over Chris Adaway and this is his next step on the way back up the ladder.
He looks fit and focused, so it could be good.
So too does Menzies, who burst onto the scene in 2018 with wins over Ricky Leach and Anwar Alfadli.
However, this evening’s four-rounder against Kieran McAfee, who is having only his second fight himself, is his first bout since the win over the Sheffield journeyman.
Menzies originates from the same Mal Gates’ Harton & Westoe Miners Welfare gym as South Shields hero Anthony Nelson and there are plenty of similarities with the ex-Commonwealth champion.
Like the ‘Baby Faced Assassin’, the ‘Pocket Rocket’ is a product of Horsley Hill and is bright, busy and aggressive like Nella.
But Sam is also his own man and while he’s been out for some time, that spell in the gym with Gates, allied his coach’s great influence, means Shields has another great prospect in its midst.
Watch out too for JBP tonight as she takes her second professional step into the square ring against Rebecca Ferguson.
An exciting amateur with Lambton Street, Jordan got off to a winning start in September when she defeated Vaida Masiokaite in the same Rainton ring.
It has been a tumultuous time for Jordan who recently became a parent after her other half, Amy, gave birth to daughter, Jersey. Congratulations to all.
But it’s back to business this evening when she takes on the Stoke girl, who has lost both of her pro fights, including a defeat to Kirstie Bavington, who ended April Hunter’s winning run last month.
Jordan, who trains out of Nik Gittus’s Wallsend Boxing Academy, looked good on her debut and will want to carry on from where she left off tonight.
There is a debut tonight for Newcastle’s Nathan Cummiskey.
A crowd-pleaser as an amateur, the 25-year-old light-welter, who boxes out of the flourishing Jobes gym, tackles Sheffield’s Qasim Hussain over four rounds.
After tonight, there is a quick turnaround for Nathan, who will fight on the Jobes event, in association with Phil Jeffries, at the Gateshead Hilton on Thursday, December 9.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Mark Robinson/ Matchroom
