You only live once, give it a go and see how far you can get. That is mantra of Matt McCallum or Matt Stark McCallum if you prefer the full title.
Newcastle super-middleweight McCallum is looking forward to resuming a career, which began just weeks before Covid sent the world into turmoil, when he boxes in Gateshead on Thursday, December 9.
The 30-year-old will take on Horden’s Greg O’Neil in a North-East derby at the first Jobes Boxing show at the Hilton Hotel.
McCallum, an unlicensed fighter turned professional, impressed on his debut at the MTK show in February 2020 when he outpointed Vaidas Balciauskas at the Eagles Community Arena.
“I had 14 unlicensed fights and won them all, 12 by knock-out,” Matt told-punch-lines ahead of his second appearance.
“I feel like I’ve always trained as a professional so I thought ‘you only live once, give it a go and see how far you can get’.
“I’d love to become British champion, that is my dream, a Northern Area title would be fantastic, but we’ll see what next year brings.
“First I need to get this fight out the way, I’m looking to win convincingly and then take the next step.”
McCallum could easily have stayed on the unlicensed scene and enjoyed the adulation you get for early finish after early finish.
But it says a lot about his ambition that he was willing to give the professional game a proper go.
And it speaks just as much for his attitude too that he’s taking on a dangerous customer in ‘Real Deal’ O’Neil in his first fight back – there has been no thought of taking the easy option.
While there is still a fair bit left in the tank, he is keen to make quick and decisive advances, not to mention entertain his large army of followers.
“I sold 160 tickets for my debut, I’ve a lot of family and friends who came out to support me and I want to continue to perform well for them,” he said.
“It’s been a frustrating 20 months but there’s nothing we could have done about it, there have been bigger problems going on in the world.
“But I’m looking forward to this fight, enjoy Christmas then get straight back into it next year.
“I’m the fittest I’ve ever been, physically and mentally, but I am 30 and the clock is ticking – it’s not like I’m 20 years old.
“I’m focused, I know what I want and I’m going to give it everything.”
McCallum v O’Neil should be a beauty, while the show also has a belter of a cruiserweight derby between Adam Gair, the unbeaten Hetton prospect who boxes out of Wallsend Boxing Academy, and adopted Geordie Jone Volau.
The promotion,staged in association with Phil Jeffries, features three new professiojnals from the Jobes gym – Nathan Cummiskey, Enrico Samba and Sam Wallace, plus unbeaten South Shields fighter Sam Menzies.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Jennifer Charlton
