Bobby Dalton loves a fight and can’t wait for the night he gets let off the leash for something big.
The unbeaten Redcar star is in action on Saturday, March 16, when he fights Doncaster’s Sam Kirk over six rounds on Jobes Boxing’s stacked card at the Rainton Arena.
It would be wrong to state that the 25-year-old is impatient – he’s learning all the time in the gym with his coach Craig Carney and has impressed in a six-bout winning sequence as a pro.
Burt the high-paced, relentless approach and accuracy he has displayed so far suggests he’s not far away.
“I still haven’t dropped a round yet so each fight has been a shut-out which is good,” Dalton told punch-lines. “I’m just waiting for the right opportunity to arise and then take it.
“I’m only young but there is only so long you can do ticket-based deals and I need that step up.
“The thing about fighting journeymen is that after a round or two they are covering up. With my style, I want to be fighting someone who will exchange with me because that’s when you catch them clean and hurt them.
“When your opponent is just covering up it is hard to find gaps.
“It’s strange because in our gym there are a lot better runners than me and those who look better on the pads. But I just have that natural fighting fitness and ability to box at a high tempo.”
Punch-lines first came across Bobby in a compelling Senior England Elite Championship clash with Joe Laws this time six years ago.
He looked good then and looks good now.
“At some point I’m going to have to step it up and when I do that will be when people see the best of me,” he said. “I think people wrote me off before I boxed Joe Laws in the ABAs – he had been to the finals the year before.
“But I do show the best of myself when I step it up and I thought I won that bout.”
Dalton is making tremendous progress as a pro under Carney’s guidance in the Phil Thomas School of Boxing HQ in Middlesbrough, where he gets to train alongside ex-British champion Troy Williamson. ‘Trojan’ is hard in training for a showdown with Ishmael Davis in Sheffield on March 23.
“Craig is a top man,” said Bobby. “When he talks, you listen. When I was sparring recently he said ‘I know you can fight all day long but try using your boxing more’.
“I know that if someone is strong on the inside that I can take a step back and box.
“It’s a work in progress because I’ll still get involved in a tear up somehow!
“Troy is a model professional. He helps me so much in and out of the gym. He’s a good mate though that goes out of the window when we get in the ring and spar.
“But that’s good because we are both in camp and we are pushing each other. It’s ideal really and hopefully you’ll see two good performances.”
Punch-lines met up with Dalton when he took part in a work-out at the Everlast gym in the Metro Centre, a vast gym with whom Jobes Boxing have linked up with.
“It’s good to get out and do stuff like this,” he said. I appreciate what Jobes are doing. You don’t always get a lot of advertising for the small-hall shows so this is good idea and a pleasure to be a part of it.”
