North-East women have starring roles on VIP Boxing’s visit of the year to the North-East.
April Hunter, Jade Pearce and Laylie Heath are all part of a 10-fight card at Rainton Arena.
Throw in an appearance by former world champion Ebanie Bridges and female bouts account for 40 per cent of the show staged by Norrth-West fight figure Steve Wood.
And there is something to get excited about where all four of the quartet are concerned.
Hunter’s eight-round bout at light-middleweight or super-welterweight, if that is your preference, is of critical importance to the Geordie.
The 30-year-old Jobes Boxing star is aiming for a title shot, providing she gets past Spanish opponent Patricia Gonzales at the Houghton venue on Saturday night.
Hunter (pictured) is a boxer very much making up for lost time – this contest will only be her second appearance in 33 months.
Since outpointing rival Kirstie Bavington in Manchester on the Savannah Marshall-Franchon Crews undercard in July 2023, the Geordie has only boxed once – six straight-forward rounds against Bojana Libiszewska on the previous VIP Boxing visit last October.
Both Hunter and Gonzales will be in the professional ring for the 10th occasion though April has the clear lead in terms of fight log at 8-1 with Patricia’s numbers reading 2-6-1.
If Hunter is on the cusp of a tilt at something big, then Pearce is probably not that far behind. Here she’s up against Bolton’s Linzi Buczynskyj over six rounds.
Middlesbrough’s 29-year-old has begun her career most impressively with three straight victories.
Her third-round stoppage triumph over Iceland’s Valgerdur Gudsteindottir in her home town last summer represented a spectacular entrance into the professional game.
She then pounded away at Naila Abigail Peloso, from Argentina, in her second bout before outpointing Commonwealth super-feather champ Kirsty Hill last time out in Bolton in October.
Coached by dad John, a Middlesbrough legend in his day, Jade will be out to shine against Buczynskyj, who arrives with a 5-10 record.
Watching Heath in action will be an equally appealing prospect after the Wearsider made her debut down in Bolton last November, when she outpointed Sheffield’s Kerry Orton.
The Sunderland boxer, not long turned 20, is making only her second venture through the ropes having left the amateur game last year. Like Hunter, Heath has Spanish opposition in Katherine Quintana.
Laylie had an excellent amateur career, which included four national titles, the highlight being lifting the Senior England championship (the ABAs in old money) for Sunderland ABC last year.
The sight of Bridges in a North-East auditorium will capture much of the attention given her profile. It certainly should.
Australia’s beautiful and brainy ‘Blonde Bomber’ has sent internet numbers soaring with her selection of outfits for her weigh-ins but that is the show business side of her game.
Inside the ropes, my word the 39-year-old, who now boxes out of the world famous Ingles gym in Sheffield, knows how to fight and is a former IBF World champion.
A mother to a young son (her and other half Kell Brook recently celebrated the first birthday of Ezerra Ray), Ebanie will be having her second contest post-motherhood.
Outpointed over eight rounds in Puerto Rico in January by Alexis Mones, Bridges here boxes an Ebonie, Midlands boxer Ebonie Cotton.
The similarities go beyond their names – Ebonie made the headlines back in November when she revealed a little bit too much at her weigh-in on the Ben Whittaker undercard in Birmingham.
Cotton barely wore anything for Friday’s VIP weigh-in for this show but how well she wears the punches from Bridges in Saturday night’s show will be the principal point of interest.
There are six male bouts, headlined by Northern Area champ Owen Rees’s eight-rounder against Argentina’s Emiliano Araujo.
A six-round Wearside derby between Sunderland’s unbeaten Beau Smith and Seaham nuisance Jordan Ellison looks intriguing, while there is a Trimdon double in the shape of Tom Summerbell and Joe Tyers, who operate out of Billingham Boxing Academy. Summerbell faces Owen Durnan while Tyers has his third pro bout against Newport’s South African-born Garth Noot.
Stockton’s Ste Raybould will look to extend his record to 4-0 in his first six-rounder against Connor Goulding, from Liverpool.
In the only four-threes ‘Boro Balboa’ Will Howe faces Ryan Labourn, from Bradford.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Jason Corbett/ Mindenwood Photography
