Adam Cope hopes the return of ’Super Sunday’ will become a regular fixture rather than a nostalgic one-off.
The Hartlepool boxer will top the bill this Sunday at the Mayfair Centre in Seaton Carew, where he will chase his seventh win as a professional.
Cope will take on seasoned Lithuanian campaigner Simas Volosinas over six rounds and will be joined by two other North-East unbeaten prospects, Nathan Forrest and Callum Walton.
A crowd of up to 500 is expected at the Tees Road venue, which has become synonymous with the sport, hosting countless events every year with Hartlepool clubs, Catholic, Elite, Headland and New Welfare all staging their shows there, not to mention the numerous championships it has hosted.
But Cope v Volosinas will headline the first professional bill since September 2007.
The ’Super Sunday’ concept was born in 2000 with town fight figure Dave Garside promoting five of them in a breathtaking 20-month period, when the new crop of professional talent like Kevin Bennett, Billy Bessey, Ian Cooper, Michael Hunter and James Rooney were all setting out in the sport.
In fact, Neil Fannan-trained Cooper and Hunter both clinched Northern Area titles on ’Super Sundays’ with thrilling stoppage wins and Cope, a Northern Area champ himself, hopes such shows can be the platform for other boxers from this area to make their mark.
“If it goes all right hopefully there will be a few more,” said the 26-year-old.
“These shows launched the careers of boxers like Michael Hunter, Kevin Bennett and James Rooney so they can only be good for us.
“I think there are a couple of good Hartlepool amateurs looking to go pro so these Super Sundays would be ideal.”
For Cope, who boxes out of the New Welfare gym in Lister Street, this will be an important afternoon.
The Andrew Close-trained fighter has not boxed since beating Karl Sampson at Houghton at the end of November.
With a challenge for the vacant English lightweight title against Hull’s Lewis Sylvester coming up in Sheffield on July 1, the exciting boxer would like some rounds under his belt.
Whether Sunday is truly ‘Super’ will depend on the calibre of the performances of the home fighters and the effort of those in the away corner. Down to three bouts, the show will hopefully be about quality instead of quantity.
Forrest, making his fifth appearance, is also set to box over six rounds against Manchester’s Dean Wilkinson.
After a series of impressive four-round points wins, coach Fannan believes the time is right to step up the 24-year-old, from Bishop Auckland (pictured).
Walton is having just his second professional outing on the show and will take on Tommy Jacobs, from Colchester.
Callum’s debut was a spectacular in March, when the Ferryhill fighter sent Croatia’s Zdenko Bule crashing to the canvas in Newcastle, where the referee counted him out in the second round of a scheduled four.
Sadly, a fourth fight, involving undefeated Jarrow southpaw, Ewan Mackenzie, fell through.
To maintain the ‘Super Sunday’ tradition, the promoters have signed up comedian Gary Skyner, a veteran of the Dave Garside events, as entertainment.
Doors open at 12.30pm with boxing due to start at 1.30pm. There are a limited number of tickets on the door.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Tom Collins
