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Kevin MareewithSugar Ray


Five-weight world champion in top form


• h s


Five-weight world boxing champion Sugar Ray Leon- ardwasthelatesthigh-pro- file name to hold a ’meetand greet’ with guests at Stirk House.


On the back of the visit of Thomas “Hitman” Hearns, who was beaten by Sugar in Ring Magazine’s 1981 Fight of the Year, the 58-year- old American signed autographs, posed for pho-


Luke Blackledgeisgunningforhis fourth titlebeltatKingGeorge'sHallaweektomorrow I ; t !


, tographs and met Maree Boxing stablemates Qasim Niaz, Mark Heffron, Yassine El Maachi and Alex McCloy. The North Carolina fight­


By Da n Blac k Daniel.black@jpress.co.uk Twitter: @DanBlack84


Blackledge confident of Commonwealth success ahead of Cameron showdown In a turbulent 2013, where he


lost twice and drew once in five outings, Blackledge naively sprung


Luke Blackledge feels he’s sig­ nificantly better equipped to land the Commonwealth title


,


-ahead of his second shot atthe strap.


@ The 24-year-old conceded that he wasn’t ready 16 months ago when stepping up to take on Rocky Fielding on the under-


r- card ofFroch versus Groves I at ^ Manchester’sPhones4uArena.


towards the champion with a wayward swinging right hand, only to be floored by a crushing left hook with 30 seconds of the opening round remaining. ■ Ahead of his contest with


British number 10 super-mid­ dleweight Liam Cameron at


• Blackburn King George’s Hall on April 4th, he said: “I’m not underestimating Liam like I did with Rocky. I’m really up for this


fight, I’ve trained hard for it, but I’ve got to stick to the game plan. I didn’t have one when I fought Rocky. Tdbeen training to fight Paul


Smith, that’swhymyhands were lowwhenfightingRocky.I’dbeen preparing to protect myselffrom the body shots against Paul. But Rocky is much taller. “I fought Rocky on the back


of a tough week of sparring with Froch andRonnie Heffron. I took the fight two days before. That was my downfall. I underesti­ mated Rocky and I switched off.”


Blackledge has built himself


back up since that defeat, tri­ umphing over Jody Meikle, Dar­ ren McKenna, Philip Kotey and Konstantin Alexandrov since switching to Alex Matvienko’s Elite Boxing hub in Bolton. And the WBC International


Silver supremo has studied hard in his bid toland the fourth strap of his professional tenure. “It’s a big fight andonethatlneedto win. “If I lose then I’m buggered. 1


don’t want tohave to build myself up again because it’s been hard


er, who won gold in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, cul­ minated his career with 36 wins, with 25 by way of knockout, from 40 contests. “The event was a to­


work.There’snowayI’mgoingto letthat happen. I’m confident I’ll do the business this time. “It’s the biggest fight of my


career. I will get that belt. I think this is my time now. I’ve taken my time and not rushed in to anything. “I didn’t go to America to fight


AndreDirrellorgotoAfrica.I’ve ' been patient and waited and now


I’ve got another shot at the Com­ monwealth.”


Anybody wanting to pur­


chase tickets for the show can contact Luke on 07731542103.


tal sell out,” said organiser Kevin Maree. “Sugar Ray was in great form. When I asked him who would win in a fight between him and Mayweather Jnr he said ’ 1 beat his father easily so I’d say like father, like son’.” In a moving tribute, Sug­


ar Ray was then pictured with a bandana in recogni­ tion of the Brain Tumour Charity bn the anniversary of Kevin’s mother, Joan’s, death. His sister, Laura, is an ambassador for the charity.


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