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i t . - KirkCattermole


K irk ’s top 10 finish in British Champs


ClitheroekarterKirk Cattermole battled race- day demons to register a top 10 finish in the 125cc Open British Superkart Championships held at


V


• Norfolk circuit Snetterton. The 26-year-old 2013 Driv­ er of the Year was forced to endure torrential rain on the three-mile track, a col­ lision and a puncture over the weekend, but finished in seventh spot. “It was my first time rac­


Luke BlacWedge, right, against Rocky Fielding, hasset his sights on the EnglishtitleafterhelpingWBOsuper middleweight champion Arthur Abraham’spreparatic B y D A n B LA C K l a c k Ir r


USh - j^ iJ ■


Daniel.biack@jpress.co.uk £ Twitter: @DanBlack84


Luke Blackledge believes he's destined to join boxing's elite somedayaftercontributing to the success of some of the globe's top fighters.


The 23-year-old was part of Arthur Abraham’s prepa­ rations in Germany most


^ re c en t ly as the Armenian fighter - ranked number four


® in the world-went on to de­ fend his WBO super middle­ weight belt with a unanimous


Luke m ixing it w ith best. , . .


decision victory over Serbian foe Nikola Sjekloca at Berlin’s Velodrome. But training with ‘King


A rthur’ is ju s t one o f the crowning moments on Black- ledge’s blossoming resume. Alex Matvienko’s student,


who started out at Kokoro Gym in Accrington, was also called upon by Carl Froch last year ahead of the Cobra’s de­ fence of his WBA World and IBF super middleweight titles againstGeorgeGrovesatMan- chester’s Phones 4u Arena. And he’s squared up with .


interim WBA World mid­ dleweight champion Mar­ tin Murray - who’ll challenge Max Bursak for the vacant WBC Silver title next month in Monte Carlo - and former Commonwealth and WBC Intercontinental light heav­ yweight champion Tony Bellew. Blackledge, who beat Jody


Meikle on his comeback at Colne Muni, said: “It was re­ ally good.I spent two weeks over there and they’re want­ ing me to go back. There was a fitness gym, weights gym


and a running track so I was kept busy. There were loads of champions in the gym as well, loads of professionals, so I sparred with a few differ­ ent fighters. “It was something differ­


ent. He’s a world champion so obviously it was world class sparring. It was brilliant. I did a few six and eight rounders with him and I got through them all. I worked him hard and it was just a great experi­ ence. I’ve learnt a lot from it. “I’ve now sparred with Froch,Abraham,MartinMur-


rayandTonyBeliew.I’vecome up against some top lads. I’ve mixed it up with a lot o f the world’s top fighters."


Blackledge, who wants


Callum Smith’s English title belt by the end of the calendar year, added: “I think I’m des­


tined to be up there with them at some point. I’m back out in


July now which will hopeful­ ly be building towards a title fight in the summer.


“I’m gunning for the Eng­


lish title. I want to be the Eng-. lish champion before the end oftheyear.”


ing at this track,” he said. “I qualified in sixth but on Sunday, in torrential rain and extremely windy con­ ditions, I was hit from the rear, which caused me to spin off. I managed to keep the engine running and re­


join the track in last place, climbing to eighth over the remaining laps. “I started the last race


on row five and made an excellent start. However, I suffered a rear puncture on lap four which hindered my performance, but I still managed to bring it home in seventh. “I would’ve obviously


preferred to have finished higher, but, with the high calibre of drivers compet­ ing, a top 10 finish in all rac­ es is what I set out to do.” Kirk’s next outing is at


Darley Moor in Derbyshire at the end of June.


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