“I’ve trained my arse off for this – I can’t get beaten off this guy.”
That is the succinct and no-nonsense view of title challenger Adam Hepple on the eve of his Northern Area championship contest with Matt McCallum.
The rivals meet for the vacant light-heavyweight belt on Jobes Boxing’s exciting ‘Titles on the Tyne’ promotion on Saturday evening at the Vertu Motors (Eagles) Arena in Newcastle.
For Hepple it is back to the point where his career took off – in only his fourth bout he ripped the Northern Area super-middleweight crown from the Morpeth star, who was making his maiden defence in the summer of 2023.
The Seaham fighter stopped McCallum inside two rounds, a sensational win that propelled him into big 10-round matches with Reece Farnhill, Brad ‘The Sting’ Rea and Zak Chelli.
It promises to be a belter.
Much is at stake – Jobes Boxing southpaw McCallum is aiming to make history as a three-weight Northern Area champion while Hepple aims to join McCallum, Paul Charters (North Shields) and Eddie Haley (South Shields) as title winners in two different divisions.
And, to add spice to a match that does not really need it, there is a great deal of needle between the Tyneside and Wearside rivals, despite the obvious mutual respect as fighters.
“It’s going to be some night,” Hepple told punch-lines.
“I know all boxers say stuff like this, but I really am in the best place I’ve been in a long, long time.
“This is the sort of fight that has got the best out of me.
“I’ve trained my arse off for this – I can’t get beaten off this guy.
“I have total respect for him as a fighter – he’s got great heart and determination, very much like myself in a lot of ways.
“But i don’t really like him as a fella for some of the stuff he comes out with.
“The nicest way I can probably say it is that he doesn’t come across very well sometimes.
“But as far as this fight is concerned, he is showing he’s got the biggest set of bollocks to get in with me after what I did to him the last time.”
Hepple, dubbed ‘The Punching Politician’ after winning a seat on Seaham Parish Council, hopes that victory might move him back into national title contention.
The English light-heavyweight belt is available again after Chelli vacated his spoils in order to challenge for the British championship.
Despite a run of three defeats in his last four contests, Hepple is getting his head around being the fancied man at the Newcastle venue and hoping to go on and enjoy a big 2026.
“I think it’s the first time I might ever have been favourite,” said the 33-year-old, whose record reads 5-3. “I always seem to go into my fights as the underdog.
“I’m focused on getting in there on Saturday, getting the job done then look to have a good year.
“33 is no age in boxing at the moment, and I live the right life.
“I definitely want another crack at the English title.
“I probably went into my fight with Zak giving him way too much respect – he was someone I’d watched on the telly!
“While I lost I’ve taken a lot from that contest and think I deserve to be in that sort of fight.
“In the frame of mind I’m in, I see no reason why I can’t get the chance.”
You would have to say that, on paper, there isn’t a great deal to choose between the two protagonists.
Hepple’s record of 5-3 (with one KO win and three defeats inside the distance) isn’t miles away from the 8-5 fight log of McCallum, who has one win early and has been stopped twice.
Neither man has been afraid of either taking on a significant challenge or away mission or both.
Hepple, trained by Jordan Williams in the Twins Academy in Trimdon, believes those stoppage defeats by Farnhill, Rea and Chelli have improved him as opposed to denting his confidence.
Click here to read Matt McCallum’s take on the big fight.
“I’ve learned that getting beaten is not the end of the world,” he said. “Now I look at why it has not gone my way and then look to put it right.
“I’m mentally the strongest I’ve ever been.
“At Twins, we’ll fight anyone, anywhere.
“I’ve lost a few, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
“Those losses have helped build me into the man I am today.”
McCallum v Hepple is part of the bumper ‘Titles on the Tyne’ bonanza, with Joe Miller, Cyrus Pattinson and Hannah Robinson all in action in contests for Commonwealth belts.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Jason Corbett/ Mindenwood Photography
