Larkhall Lightweight Adele Craw fights out of Forsyth’s Boxing Club in Hamilton. Adele has made an impact on Scottish Boxing, and has her sights firmly set on becoming a Professional Boxer. However, for the time being she is looking no further than the Scottish Championships in January.

Growing up in Larkhall, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, was very difficult for Adele; she has blurry memories of her childhood, “I was a nightmare, very impatient, nervous - a very frightened child. I never wanted to go to school”.  She did manage to get herself into a lot of trouble in the later years of high school.

A cruel tragedy struck the family within a three year period, “My cousin and uncle were murdered. It was two separate incidents. I know my uncle Robert was murdered outside the doctors, he was battered to death”. This brutality must have scarred Adele who was only 17 when her uncle was taken under horrific circumstances.

Adele started playing football for Ballieston but kept getting sent off. She was gradually spiralling out of control; she became a real wild child. Adele admits, “I was totally off the rails”. She tried to drive a car home from the pub while under the influence of alcohol, “I went off the road and crashed the car. I got 32 stitches in my hand, broke my shoulder, and had a broken arm”, the doctors told her if she wasn’t drunk she would have killed herself, “I was in the car myself, the car flipped, and I punched my hand through the sunroof to get out”. Adele received a £350 fine and was banned for a year, “I learned my lesson never to drink and drive again”, she said.

Tragedy struck the family again another three years down the line, “My cousin was out watching a Celtic and Rangers football game around Christmas, and got stabbed through the heart”. Adele had such a close family, her uncle and cousin had lived next door. This latest horrendous misery must have taken its toll on Adele, “To be honest, I think it affected my dad more. I was just going through the motions, just had to get on with it, and felt as though I had to stick up for myself”.

Adele was making a name for herself for all the wrong reasons; she was fighting in pubs and clubs every weekend. She fought with men, women and bouncers. She got charged with Police assaults, and carrying offensive weapons. She got barred from all pubs in Larkhall to Hamilton. She did try karate, but opted for Thai Boxing due to the savage nature of the sport. It was during her time as a Thia boxer that she started going to Forsyth’s Gym in Hamilton to help improve her punching technique. This is where she met the owner and trainer Stephen Forsyth.

Adele had one exhibition and one professional fight as a Thai boxer, Stephen came along to watch her fight as a professional. It was then that Stephen suggested to Adele that she gave boxing a try; he thought she had a lot of potential.

Adele was at the stage her friends wouldn’t want to come out with her, for obvious reasons. It was at this time Adele seriously assaulted a guy in a nightclub, she could have got a jail sentence, but got a Police tag strapped to her ankle and 15 months probation. She was fed up letting her friends down and knew something had to give. Adele took up Stephen’s offer and started attending boxing classes at Forsyth’s Gym.

This was not just a turning point in Adele’s life, it was a god send. She started pushing herself to the limit during training, and then the time came for Adele to step through the ropes for her first fight. Adele had been really nervous on her way to the show, she was under the impression her opponent had no contests, but it turned out she had 2 fights under her belt. While staring across the ring at her opponent Adele had a thought, “She’s built like a tank”, and said to Stephen, “OH MY GOD, I can’t do this...” The nerves were getting the better of her, but as soon as the bell rang she was totally in her comfort zone. The fight was a close one, there was only a point in it, but Stephen felt she had done enough. Adele was awarded the decision by the smallest majority, “In the last minute I caught her with a big uppercut, I think that point won the fight for me”, Adele declared. After the fight Adele was in high spirits, legal ones this time, “I was buzzing, and couldn’t wait for my next fight – I loved it”. Adele was still wearing a Police tag round her ankle during the fight. It was a long time coming but Adele had finally found what she was looking for. A female boxer of African origin was up next for Adele, the venue was Cleland Miners Club, “I was more nervous for this fight. I was excited, felt the pressure and needed to win”. Adele won the fight by 5 points on this occasion, and voiced her thoughts, “Winning is the best feeling in the world”. She then entered the Scottish Novice Championships at Ravenscraig. In the final she fought a boxer called Robin Swan, and dropped her for a count of 8 after 1 minute and 20 seconds of the 1st round. The points scoring were a dead heat, so the judges had to go to count back, and awarded the Gold Medal to Adele by way of majority decision 47-43.  Robin Swan wanted a rematch ASAP, Adele was more than happy to oblige. This time Adele won by a straight win coming by way of a clear majority. Even although Adele’s record read 4 fights 4 wins, she still fell into the novice category. However, this year she jumped up in class and fought in the Scottish Open Class Championships. In the semi-finals Adele was drawn against a boxer called Natalie McKay, this was just a random name to Adele at the time. She felt as though she made a big mistake by looking at Natalie’s record card. Everywhere she looked the words TEAM SCOTLAD were jumping out at her. Natalie had been representing the Scottish National Squad. Adele’s curiosity handed the psychological advantage to her opponent. It was a close fight that went to the scorecards, Adele lost by a minimal margin of 2 points, “This fight was a learning curve for me, I learned a lot from it. Natalie is one of the best boxers in Scotland, and in hindsight I wish I hadn’t looked at her record”. Adele had fought her last 2 fights with a broken nose, “I didn’t even know, I got an operation in July to fix it. I’ve been out for two and a half months, but I’m back now”. 

Stephen Forsyth has been a huge influence on Adele, who says, “He believes in me, I would not be where I am today if it were not for Stephen. He’s been a huge help, and so have all the guys at the club”. Adele spars with all the guys at the club, her theory is, “I like to spar with all the big heavy guys, because no lassie is going to hit you as hard as they do”.

Adele trains 6 days a week, and takes a Saturday off. Her training includes strength and conditioning, sparring and pad work. Adele is currently being sponsored by her dads business Paintpot Decorators; she has also had a few offers from people wishing to sponsor her privately.

Mike Tyson was Adele’s favourite boxer growing up, currently its WBO World Lightweight Champion Ricky Burns, whom she would love to meet. Adele met my dad Ken Buchanan in February, because he fought way back in the 60’s and 70’s she did have to check the internet to find out more about him, “It was brilliant to meet a guy like that, my dad is a massive fan”. Adele has a few favourite boxing films such as, Million Dollar Baby, The Fighter and her favourite is Rocky IV, “I like when Rocky beats the Russian, because he thinks he’s impossible to beat”.

Adele has never been in trouble since she started boxing. These days she likes to train through the day and chill out at night. She is now getting more recognition for being a successful boxer opposed to the lassie who got barred from all the pubs. Adele is an inspiration to all the boxers at the club, her friends included. She got good standard grades at the school, and passed higher grades also. Adele is currently studying Psychology at University.

Adele would like to thank everyone for their support, and a big thanks to Stephen and everyone at the club.

When Adele hears the bell ring she’s buzzing with excitement, full of adrenalin, heart pumping, and ready to go. In so many ways you could say, Adele was Saved By The Bell.

I’ll leave the last words to Adele, “I love boxing; I’m good at it, and I want to become a Professional”.

By Raymond Fraser Buchanan

Stephanie Kernachan is a female boxer from Motherwell who fights out of Newharthill Amateur Boxing Club in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. She has won the Scottish Title twice in the last 3 years, and has her sights set on securing a place in the Woman’s Boxing Team that will compete at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014.

From as far back as the 18th and 19th Century boxing (fisticuffs/milling) was used to settle disputes between honourable men, it was the number 1 sport in the Western world - including England. It is known as the Noble Art, and regarded as the ‘Sport of Gentleman’.

In Scotland, I first noticed women coming into boxing gyms in the early 80’s; it was difficult to take them seriously back then, but times have changed. Women’s Boxing is now an Olympic Sport, and if anyone watched the boxing at London 2012 you would agree that the standard and quality of boxing displayed by the women was phenomenal, it made me a believer.

Stephanie’s dad was born in Inverness, her mum hailed from Leith in the Capital City of Edinburgh, but the family home derived from Castlemilk in Glasgow, this is where Stephanie grew up. “I used to get bullied at primary school, my big sister Laura would stick up for me. All my report cards would say I was very quiet, a bit of a loner”, Stephanie said. She was brought up in a big close-knit family comprising of 4 big sisters, 2 big brothers, and 2 little brothers. Regarding the situation, she summed it up in one word, “Mental”. The family home moved to another part of Glasgow called Toryglen, where the trend of bullying continued. Stephanie particularly remembers standing up for herself, a girl was kicking her under the desk in the classroom that ended up a fight at the bus stop, “I remember the girl getting on the same bus, I had a burst lip, and I tried not to cry”. Everything dramatically changed when the family moved to Motherwell in North Lanarkshire, “I fitted in nice here, a new start for us, kept my head down and never got bullied”.

Gymnastics, taekwondo, swimming, Stephanie tried a number of sports, “It got to the point I could not afford the uniform”, she went on to say, “I looked up my nearest boxing gym and e-mailed them for details. I received an e-mail back inviting me to go up with an adult”. Boxing lessons were going to cost £1 a night, and she didn’t have to splash out on a fancy uniform. Stephanie’s mum and dad were against her going to boxing, especially her dad. However, Stephanie’s mum let her go to boxing training with her big sister Laura behind her dads back for a few weeks. She started training 2 weeks before her 15th birthday, and her dad began to wonder where she was going every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Stephanie got her first fight on a Newarthill ABC home show, “Everything was a blur, I was not thinking, it was full steam ahead”, Stephanie wasn’t happy with her performance, she put a lot of thought into whether she was doing the right thing – it’s understandable why she felt that way. She stopped her next opponent in the second round and was invited to a Girls Box Cup in Germany, Newarthill ABC covered the expenses for this trip. After 2 consecutive wins Stephanie returned to Scotland with the Gold Medal. Stephanie racked up another 2 wins before heading to Sweden for another Box Cup where she fought her way to the final, this time returning with a silver medal.

It was the Time Capsule in Coatbridge where Stephanie fought for her first Scottish title, “I had beaten the girl before, it was my first proper title, and I was really scared she would beat me. I had stepped up my training, and the atmosphere was amazing. I got to pick my own music for my introduction into the ring, Kanye West, ‘Stronger’, this got me going. The lyrics were telling me I’m better, faster and stronger”. Stephanie won her first Scottish Title 13-2 on points. A year later Stephanie was making the first defence of her Scottish Title against a girl she knew nothing about, the girl had been hyped up, and the fear factor began to creep in, “I really wanted to keep the title, and the pressure was on, it was a straight final”. Stephanie stuck to boxing, never got involved in a scrap, and won the Scottish Flyweight Title for the second year on the trot by a score of 11-8. In March this year, Stephanie was due to make the 3rd defence of her Scottish Flyweight Title, “I felt like a dead battery, no nerves, and no feelings at all. I had not fought for 9 months since I lost at Haringey, my sister Laura had been with me throughout my whole boxing journey, she was trying her best to motivate me”. Stephanie lost her Scottish Title that day; a boxer at any level thrives on nerves, it keeps them sharp – but Stephanie felt nothing.  

Stephanie is 21 years old and has been boxing for 6 years; she started working at the Premier inn when she was 16, doing the nightshift on the reception desk. She started her shift at 10.30pm, returning home at 8.30am in the morning, after a wee bite to eat before going to sleep she would wake up and go to the boxing gym, then the cycle would begin again. Stephanie has only boxed 6 times in Scotland so the extra cash would help pay for expenses to go to tournaments out-with her native Scotland.

In the early days at Newarthill, Stephanie was the only female boxer. The boxing club was old school, and they tried putting her off using rigorous training sessions, but it only made Stephanie more determined to succeed. Stephanie was just not going to go away, the club decided she was serious and started training her properly, “After 3 years they built me a shower, toilet and changing room, there’s more girls at the club now since the Olympics”.

It was my dad who had the honour of opening Newarthill ABC back in 1980; the club has produced a wealth of boxers since, and is regarded as one of the best boxing clubs in Scotland.

After losing her Scottish Title in March Stephanie seriously gave thought to giving up the sport she loved.  Newarthill amateur coach Stevie Newns has been instrumental in guiding Stephanie to success over the years, “Stevie is more than a boxing coach, he’s someone you can talk to about anything, and the one person who has always believed in me 100%”, Stephanie explained. Stevie Newns re-told a story to Stephanie regarding a book he read about a former World Boxing Champion, the Fleetwood Assassin Jane Couch, and Stephanie drew great inspiration from Stevie’s rendition. She saw a chance of redeeming her mishap in the Scottish Finals by entering the prestigious Haringey Box Cup that took place at the Alexandra Palace in London in June. Haringey is the club that first female Olympic Champion Nicola Adams fights out of; both Nicola and Irelands Olympic Champion Katie Taylor have boxed in this event. Stevie worked relentlessly with Stephanie on a new style, also implementing a new technique to her punches.  It was a big boost for Stephanie that Morton’s Rolls generously sponsored her, “This made me believe that someone actually thought I could be good”. 

Stephanie arrived at the Alexandra Palace in London only to be informed there was nobody to fight in the 51kg Flyweight category. She was offered the chance of a straight final at 54kg in the Bantamweight division that had an additional 3lb allowance; therefore her opponent could be up to 10 pound heavier in weight. Stephanie had not travelled 400 miles for nothing, so she jumped at the chance. Then she found out her opponent was 5 times ABA Champion Jenna Reilly, a formidable force to be reckoned with.  

Jenna Reilly looked an imposing figure standing next to Stephanie, she overshadowed her in height and build.

Jenna Reilly, England V Stephanie Kernachan, Scotland

As the bell sounded for round 1 Kernachen looked eager, but it was Reilly who was putting the punches together, a solid overhand right from Kernachan rocked back the head of Reilly, the last right hand of a four punch combination clipped Reilly again. Reilly seemed to effortlessly throw a mass of punches throughout the round that were not all necessarily hitting the target, Kernachen was picking her shots. An exchange of punches heralded the start of the round 2, Kernachen was beginning to get in the driving seat landing the cleaner punches, pushing Reilly back, stalking her opponent, bang on the money with a good right and a cracking left hook. Kernachen had Reilly against the ropes bringing in uppercuts and hooks, Kernachen finished the round using a straight left-right with pinpoint accuracy, there was little response from Reilly. Kernachan stepped up another gear in the 3rd; a straight right jerked Reilly’s head back. Kernachen was now dominating the fight, letting her punches flow like a river, notably landing a hard left hook. Reilly tried to fight back but looked jaded, and yearning for the bell. Kernachan finished the round strongly with a stiff jab, working to the head and body followed by a combination of straight punches.

There was 5 ringside judges, 4 of them awarded the contest to Stephanie Kernachan who won by a majority of 4-1.

This was a big step in the right direction for Stephanie; I asked her thoughts, “I knew I had won, you just know, I was really hungry to win, and I treated it like my last chance”. Stephanie was also thankful to former Great Britain Team representative Nina Smith for taking her to one side and giving her pointers throughout.

Stephanie mostly spars with boys at Newarthill that include professionals like Gerry Brady, Danny Brady and Scottish Middleweight Champion Garry McCallum - she laughed while saying she takes it easy on Gary. I tried in vain to get her to pick a favourite Rocky movie, “Don’t really know, I like them all”. She did express her love for the boxing film Cinderella Man, it’s about a seemingly washed up journeyman James Braddock who gets a shot at the World Title against a brutal punching Max Baer (Who killed 2 men in the ring) Braddock defeats the virtually unbeatable Baer and becomes the Heavyweight Champion of the World. Stephanie’s biggest inspiration in life is her big sister Laura, “She has been there for me every step of the way”. Her all-time favourite boxer is Scottish Amateur Champion Charlie Flynn, “I wanted to box like him, he’s a smart boxer, and he used to fight for Newarthill”.

Stevie Newns informed me that Glasgow Company Morton’s Rolls have been back down to the club with more funding for Stephanie. She is currently over in Ireland for a month because there are more female boxers to spar with; this is all part of her preparation for selection to compete at Glasgow 2014. Stephanie’s emphatic win at Haringey doesn’t score any points with Boxing Scotland, but winning 2 of the last three Scottish Titles at Flyweight must go a long way to help her plight in securing a place in the team.

Regarding the Commonwealth games in Glasgow 2014, Stephanie told me, “It would be a dream come true”, but that dream come true is also her Burning Ambition.

By Raymond Fraser Buchanan

On Saturday night, David will make his way to the ring in the SECC Glasgow, on the undercard of Ricky Burns’ WBO Lightweight Title defence against Ray Beltran. He is an unbeaten professional middleweight after 8 fights in the paid ranks.


Born and raised in the small semi-rural village of Caldercruix in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Young David Brophy has a couple of tough acts to follow in the form of his father and grandfather. His father John was well known around the area because he played football for Airdrie, he was also well known for being a hard man. David naturally took to football as a youngster following in his dad’s footsteps by signing a 3 year professional contract with Dundee United at the age of 17. He played for both the youth and reserve teams and liked to dress the part as a footballer, haircut to match. After a freak accident with a mirror whilst grooming his hair - the mirror fell off the wall and went through his leg. Blood from the wound was pumping out everywhere, his mother got to the top of the stairs and fainted as the blood sprayed around the room and David began towelling up his leg. He wasn’t long in hospital before they let him out. A few weeks later David was rushed back into hospital with a blood clot, “I got told there was a strong possibility my leg could be amputated, it destroyed me mentally”, he said. A serendipitous turn of events pulled David to a full recovery, however, tragedy struck again when he broke the same leg, “The doctor told me I might not walk again and if so, I would walk with a limp “, mentally scarred and falling into a deep depression, “I couldn’t see any way out of the situation, my dad helped me through it, he was my rock”. His leg was in cast for a year and a half, his good mate Stevie McGill is a physiotherapist and also helped David overcome this disaster, physically and mentally. The cast was removed, but David had a limp. During a kick about with the boys, Stevie McGill launched himself into a tackle on David from behind and swiped his legs away, “Whit ye dain?” David roared! The next minute the limp went away, Stevie had suspected all along that David’s limp was mentally manufactured in his head. Stevie continues to help his friend whenever physiotherapy is required.

At the age of 11 years old David went to boxing for a laugh, his parents felt that he needed a bit of discipline, but he excelled himself as a boxer. It was some 5 miles away at the Four Isles Amateur Boxing Club in Airdrie that he forged a unique bond with his amateur trainer Jim Robertson “I took to it like a duck to water” David declared. He self confesses he was pretty quiet at school until he started boxing, “At high School, I was quite mischievous, we were just young laddies and spent most of the time taking the piss out the teachers”.

As a junior and a youth David racked up 2 Western District Titles, 3 Scottish Titles, 2 Silver medals from the British Championships and made the Quarter Finals of the European Championships in Albania, that was some achievement to date for a man who only walked through the doors of the Four Isles Amateur Boxing Club for a laugh.

David idolized his Papa who sadly passed away 8 years ago aged 82, “He was a real hard man, and a hard man to please”, Jake Brophy 41st Royal Marine Commandoes, “We shall fight them on the beaches” Winston Churchill famously said, and by no mean feat David’s grandfather did, and he survived. The admiration for a genuine war hero in the family inspired David’s interest in joining the British Army where he could continue his boxing, but, a 3 year contract playing football and representing Scotland all over the world for Dundee United was too much to turn down.

David made a full recovery from his leg injuries, playing for Dundee United was no longer an option so he had one fight as a senior amateur boxer then turned professional.

Scotland is such a small nation but has produced some fine boxers over the years. Billy Nelson is like Scotland’s answer to Freddie Roach, “I was 14st and out of shape, a lot of people would have turned me away but Billy took me onboard and is moulding me as a boxer, I put a lot down to Billy”. This 12 week training camp is almost over, he trains twice a day, runs 50 mile a week with Ricky Burns, that’s exactly the equivalent of running from Lands End to John O Groats in a straight line, Just a wee bit further and they would be in Paris. David’s manager Alex Morrison, his trainer Billy Nelson, Sparring partners such as Ricky Burns, Stevie Simmons, John Thain to name but a few, Stevie McGill, amateur coach Jim Robertson, everyone in the camp is like family to him. David’s dad John Brophy, idolises his son, and I’m sure his papa would feel the same way.

David likes to chill out with mates at home, go to the pictures; his mates are very understanding about what he wants to do with his life. His favourite film is Old School, starring Will Ferrell, “It’s a comedy, and it’s hilarious”. He loves the Rocky Films, his favourite is the crème de la crème Rocky IV, “Rocky fights Ivan Drago, and trains in the snow”.

Challenging for the British Title in 2-3 years time is a realistic ambition David has set himself, taking baby steps thereafter is the plan. Ricky Burns has worked in David’s corner for his last 4 fights, last one to date being at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Ricky was top of the bill that night against Jose Gonzalez. This certainly raised my eyebrows, but it’s a true testament to how strong a friendship they have.  

Sponsorship means the world to professional boxers; it dramatically helps them with expenses incurred and allows them to focus all their attention on making their dreams come true. Hartys Restaurants in Airdrie and Coatbridge, DMG Roofing and PFS Building sponsor David and he thanks them from the bottom of his heart, “I couldn’t do it without them”.

David’s last opponent Gary Boulden – who once took unbeaten British and Commonwealth Champion Billie Joe Saunders the distance over 10 rounds – was his hardest fight to date. His next opponent on Saturday night is Jason Ball, who has notably went the distance with unbeaten boxers such as Chris Eubank Jr and Chingford’s rising star Tom Baker.

His mum and dad split up 2 years ago, his dad took it real bad “My dad has always been there for me, and I’ll always been there for him, we are inseparable”. David’s dad goes to all his fights and they spend lots of time together.

Lest we forget David’s papa Jake Brophy, who nurtured his grandson on the brilliance of the Great Joe Louis, while young David was admiring the work of Iron Mike Tyson. His papa got to see his first amateur fight, that’s something David will never forget, for on every pair of boxing shorts he wears his papa’s name embroidered onto his shorts, he doesn’t care if anyone sees it; he takes his grandfather into battle again every time he steps into the boxing ring.

David says he can still feel the screws and plates that run from his ankle to his knee, he’s only 23. What a remarkable, inspirational and selfless individual he is. He had sold 350 tickets for the show on Saturday night, if you would like to see this man in action you can contact him personally or by way of Facebook.

He would like to pay gratitude to his fans and everyone who supports Team Brophy. Buchanan Boxing would like to extend their best wishes to him on Saturday night.

David Brophy has defied the odds; he truly is a Miracle Man.

By Raymond Fraser Buchanan

On the 7th June 2013 at Bellahouston Leisure Centre in Glasgow, Castlemilk’s Unbeaten professional boxer Gary McCallum will make his first defence of the Scottish Area Middleweight Title against Wishaw man Ryan Scott. The fight will be the chief support bout on the undercard of Willie Limond’s Commonwealth Title defence against Mitch Prince. 

When the curtains opened on Gary’s life he was right into his sports, especially football where he played for Livingston Boys Club till he was 15. However, he used to stay up late with his mum and dad to watch all the big fights live on the telly and it was during one of Mike Tyson numerous wars that his dad said, “Do you no fancy trying the boxing son”, Gary recalled, “I wasn’t too sure at first but decided to go along and it’s been the best decision I have made so far”. He was 12 years old when he walked through the doors of O’Neil’s Gym in Cambuslang and that’s where it all began for Gary. He openly admits he was a shy, laid back kind of guy before he started boxing, “I suddenly changed, became more outgoing and my confidence had grown dramatically. I still had a laid back exterior but boxing had given me an inner confidence”.  During Gary’s time at O’Neil’s Gym he won the British Title when he was only 14 and also lifted 2 Scottish Youth Titles.

When Gary reached 17 he felt he was not progressing enough so he decided to join Newarthill ABC in North Lanarkshire, because he knew they were a good club and it’s only fair to say he hit it off straight away with coach Wull Downie who made a big impression on Gary and more to the point he was pushing him in the right direction. It’s a 30 minute drive to get there but his father Brian was always on hand to make sure his son could pursue his career in boxing. Gary was getting inspiration watching Floyd Mayweather in his vocation demonstrating a superlative skill in the sport that merely a few mortals have possessed in history.

The Western District of Scotland is the most densely populated area in the country; therefore, the Senior Western District Title is the hardest one to win bar the Scottish, “I was only 17 and not really a senior but because I had boxed for Scotland before they let me compete, I had to win three fights to become Western District Champion”, it was an achievement alone that Gary was given permission to take part in the competition.

It was around this age that Gary first had the notion he could do this as a profession, he also became a father at 17 and moved out the family home, “Becoming a father so young was a big shock to the system, I had to grow up really quickly, it opens your eyes”. He continued boxing for Scotland all over Britain and also places like Albania and Poland until he decided to turn professional with Manager and Promoter Tommy Gilmour when he was almost 19.

Thus heralded an equivocal period in his life where he was socially pressured into living a normal life away from boxing that meant it was impossible to continue what he signed up for. This deviation from his dream was heartbreaking for Gary; the normal life was anything but, but after a reasonable period of time his lovely partner Charlene encouraged him to go back to the gym and do what he does best.

On the 17th of October 2011, Gary made his professional debut over 6 X 2 minute rounds beating Londoner Dalton Miller on points at the Raddison Blu Hotel in Glasgow. Miller had given Gary a hard professional debut, there’s not such a thing as an easy pro debut when you take everything into consideration but it was the beginning of a learning curve and a step in the right direction.

Since Gary made his professional debut he has been rapidly improving under the watchful eye of Wull Downie, and, after 8 straight wins he fought Paul Allison for the Vacant Scottish Middleweight Title in March at Ravenscraig, Motherwell. I was reporting on the fight so I can tell you Gary fought behind a good jab, out boxing his opponent throughout the fight with a variety of punches using clever footwork and great hip movement, he won almost every round until the belt was strapped around his waist.

Gary now has 2 kids and works for Glasgow City Council’s Land and Environmental Department, “It’s a physical job that’s involves driving machinery, it’s quite tough at times”, Gary pointed out. He gets up at 5.30 in the morning and returns home at 5pm, he’s barely in half an hour before he leaves for Newarthill and the kids are asleep when he returns around 9. Gary trains Monday – Friday at the club and runs at the weekends, “My body is used to it now, it would be great if my employer would support me and give me some time off before a fight”, Having said that, Gary has never asked his employer for help in any way, shape or form so the above routine will be the norm before he steps in the ring on Friday night.

Gary does get support by way of sponsorship from G&M Civil and Structural Engineering, “They pay for all my boxing equipment, training gear and medicals, anything I need really. It’s a massive help because it lets me concentrate on my boxing”. His partner Charlene supports him in every way she can by looking after the kids and making sure everything is ready to go like clockwork. It takes a special kind of woman to adapt to such a lifestyle where she sometimes only see’s Gary for half an hour a day. I asked Gary what drives him on, “I want to do it for my family and give them a better life. There’s a lot of sacrifices has to be made, Charlene is the star of the relationship, it’s for their benefit in the end”.

I always ask boxer’s what films they like to watch but at only 23 years old, becoming a father so young, working full time and training every day Gary has very little time to afford such precious luxuries but he did give me answers. His favourite film is The Hangover because he loves comedy, boxing wise it’s The fighter, based on a true story of American boxer Micky Ward who grafts by day and fights at night, Gary can relate to that. He loves the Rocky movies and his favourite is Rocky IV, because it’s the best. Chilling out for Gary involves clicking onto Youtube to watch Floyd Mayweather and Adrian Broner “I have my own style but if I see something that works I’ll keep it and try it out in the gym, your learning from the best in the world and it makes you a better fighter”, Gary believes the more he learns the more he develops.

It’s only a few days until Gary makes his first defence of the Scottish Area Middleweight Title, he has never been out the gym since his last fight and he regularly spars with fellow professionals Danny Brady, Gerry Brady, Paul Burns and Kris Carslaw who is a contender for the British Title. I asked Gary about his opponent Ryan Scott, “I fought him as an amateur when I was seventeen and won on points. I know Ryan personally, he’s a good friend in boxing but once you get in the ring its business”, Gary continued, “I’m keeping the belt, its mine until I move onto something bigger and better, losing is not an option”.

Wull Downie invited me up to the club at Newarthill last week; it did not take long to witness a natural progressing partnership a bit like poetry in motion. Gary has been blessed with a talent and Wull is his guiding light. It’s hard to describe how down to earth Gary is, for want of a better word I could say, gentleman.

I asked Gary what the secret to his success was, “Dedication”.

By Raymond Fraser Buchanan


Tickets are still available for Friday night and can be purchased by contacting Gary McCallum on Facebook or alternatively you can call the St Andrews Sporting Club 0141 810 5700  

Professional Boxer Mitch Prince lives in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire; however, in stark contrast he was born in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa where he used to watch the big fights on the telly with his dad when he was just a kid, his father was friends with a South African Professional Boxing Champion so Mitch was familiar with the sport from a very young age.

Tragedy struck when his father sadly passed away at a relatively young age of 39 due to a sudden heart attack, “I was traumatized but I think I had it the easiest because my siblings were teenagers”, Mitch said with sincerity, and went on to say, “It affected me badly, I missed a lot of school and ended up being held back a year”. Mitch was only 8 years old when this heartbreaking misfortune happened, he was the youngest of the family by seven years, his family were very tight knit but it never took the pain away because he was so close to his dad.  

At 10 years old Mitch told me he had a cousin who used to take him to a boxing club in Johannesburg and he was enjoying it until they put him in with the local champion, “He leathered me, so the next time my cousin came to pick me up I hid under the bed”, he said, this was his way of discouraging his cousin coming to pick him up. Most young boys will never return to a boxing ring when this happens – but not Mitch. Due to circumstances he moved over to Scotland with his mother when he was 13 and there was still two weeks left on the school curriculum of first year at high school, he was offered the choice to stay at home and start a fresh in 2nd year but decided to attend school so he could make new friends. Mitch has a friendly outgoing personality, this attribute instantaneously made him very popular and he bonded with the bigger crowd. He went along with a group of friends to local boxing club Broadwood in Cumbernauld at 14, “I took to it straight away”. Mitch tried a lot of sports including gymnastics but boxing was the one he fell in love with and at 15 he got his first fight at a home show where he slipped and fell on his way to the ring but managed to stop his opponent in the 1st round, “It was nerve wrecking”.

Mitch would look up to guys in the boxing club who were fighting for amateur titles, “Funnily enough, it was good to meet Ken Buchanan who was friendly with my old coaches Davie McGuire and Kenny Loan”, he continued to say, “I stayed with Broadwood my whole amateur career”. Mitch fought 66 times as an amateur travelling the world boxing for Scotland picking up Gold Medals in Multi-Nation Tournaments in places like Almeria, Spain and as far away as Darwin in Australia, he also picked up Silver Medals and Bronze. His success in International Tournaments secured him his place in Scotland’s Commonwealth Games Team where he returned to Australia to compete in 2006, “I was training up to 4 times a day, I was boxing a good Australian then realised I was using the wrong style and it was too late to pull the score back, it was an excellent learning experience, the best in my life so far”. This was to be the last time Mitch laced his glove’s up as an amateur so I asked him to sum up his experience, “My family were very supportive, mum used to go ballistic watching my fights. Representing Scotland was more than I could ever imagine doing as an amateur but taking part in the Commonwealth Games was a magnificent experience”. 

 It was in 2006 Mitch decided his style of boxing was more suited to the professional game and he turned pro with Glasgow manager and promoter Tommy Gilmour, he moved to Forgewood Boxing Club in Motherwell and got off to a flyer with 4 straight wins over six rounds before the festive period had arrived. Thus heralded the beginning of a long period of time when he fell in and out of love with boxing, sometimes only fighting once a year. He even changed his name by deed pole to Prince of Passion, it began as a laugh with his mate but he now had a cash line card that read the aforementioned name. Mitch admits he didn’t train properly and took fights at the last minute but he was still unbeaten and near the end of 2009 he won the British Masters Light-Welterweight Title. Mitch incurred his only loss to date in 2010 in a Scottish Area Lightweight Title fight that he took without enough notice to properly prepare, “It was a scrappy fight where I received stitches to the back of my head”, Mitch lost on points. It was not long after this fight that Mitch’s trainer Archie McKay sadly passed away at the age of 52, this was devastatingly heartbreaking to everyone that knew Archie and a massive loss to Scottish Boxing. Mitch began an 8 month stretch of semi- retirement, “Archie was a great coach and I could not go back to the gym because there was an awkward eerie silence, it was not the same”.

Jim Love took over as head coach at Foregewood and he was instrumental in reviving Mitch’s passion for the sport and he got back to winning ways that lead to him going on to lift the vacant British Masters Title against Bermondsey boxer Ideh Ochuko, incidentally, this was Jim’s first title success as a pro trainer, “Jim got me working harder than ever, we had trained for ten rounds and I was happy to win on points”. He has come straight off the back of a 1st round stoppage against Bulgarian Radoslav Mitev and looked very comfortable in doing so that in the ring after the referee intervened he stood on his head while balancing himself with his hands after a wee dance round the ring, that has earned him the right to fight for the Light-Welterweight Championship of the Commonwealth against Champion Willie Limond on Friday 7th June at Bellahouston Leisure Centre in Glasgow. I spoke to Mitch about this, “I am buzzing, jumping out my skin with excitement. I am one of the friendliest guys you will ever come across outside the ring; I drastically change once I’m inside the ropes where I get my fighting head on and keep my eyes on the target.  Willie is standing in front of me and many titles to come”. Mitch has known about this fight for 10 weeks, he trains three time a day and spars with the likes of Barry Morrison, Barry Craig, John Simpson, Paul Burns and Craig Docherty.

Mitch was informed about his shot at the Commonwealth Title around the same time as he got engaged to his lovely girlfriend Caroline Rock, she’s a diamond. Since he met Caroline he dropped the name Price of Passion and reverted back to his original so as to avoid the eventuality of his good lady being called Caroline Passion. His favourite movie is Pulp Fiction because it’s got a bit of everything in it, “It’s Crazy, hard to describe, funny, sad and twisted”. He can’t see past the Raging Bull in boxing films and his favourite Rocky movie is Rocky III “There’s some good characters and epic fights”. Mitch is very level headed and draws inspiration from local Scottish boxers Barry Morrison, John Simpson and Ricky Burns because they bring different aspects to the game; his all-time favourite boxer is Diego Corrales, “He was tall, rangy and powerful, he was able to live a normal life outside of boxing, a warrior who didn’t back down from no-one”.

Back to the job in hand, Mitch has no sponsorship but would be very interested to hear from anyone willing to help out; he has been given leave of absence as a joiner by Lovell Homes so he can prepare for the fight of his life. Mitch told me that his trainer Jim Love has been a godsend, he has got him 100% fit and is ready to go 14 rounds if required, “I’m young and hungry for success, this will be an epic fight that no-one will want to miss, it will be a belter”.

Mitch has risen like a phoenix and showed strength of character time and time again, he is physically and mentally prepared to overcome any obstacle that stands between him and his quest to endeavour success.

Mitch is a pure entertainer and if you would like to see him in action please contact him to get your ticket on 07912 963761

Alternatively, you can call the St Andrews Sporting Club 0141 810 5700  

For those of you who have never heard the name Keith Knox lets assimilate ourselves with the Midlothian man who initiated a substantial impact on the sport of boxing back on 22nd May 1999. Keith travelled over the Irish Sea to Belfast to face local man Damien Kelly for the British and Commonwealth Flyweight Title’s at the Maysfield Leisure Centre, as a wee boy Keith dreamed of fighting for titles but his paradoxical dream was alive and almost ready to begin. He was the immense the underdog, Kelly was flying high in the world rankings and Keith openly admits “He was another level from me; to be honest I wasn’t very confident, I felt the fight was way over my head and I was always putting myself down on the night of the fight”. Keith was a natural Flyweight meaning he always fluctuated around his fighting weight; Kelly was naturally a bigger man who had to take a considerable amount of weight off in preparation for a fight and with the weigh-in the day before the fight Kelly could weigh up to a stone heavier than Keith. The two boxers had fought against each other in the amateur ranks while representing their respective countries, “Kelly beat me, I knew he was a classy boxer but I also knew he had a tendency to cut up easily”. Kelly was the taller man and was very fast, who masterly executed his punches with panache. Keith said “I always had the belief something was going to happen”. The opening bell had rang and as the fight progressed Keith noticed Kelly had sustained a small cut to his eye, he said “I kept boxing away putting my heart and soul into every shot, there’s something told me it was now or never”. Kelly picked up another cut and the wee man from Bonnyrigg stuck to his guns and fired away like a Scottish Soldier in the trenches at the Battle of the Somme. His opponent was cutting up all over the place and one cut in particular had opened up that wide the referee had no alternative but to stop the fight in the 6th round and awarded the fight to Keith by way of Technical Knock Out, “I had won The British and Commonwealth Titles, it was a dream come true, I was ecstatic and relieved. It just made everything I had ever worked for feel so good but on boxing ability he would have boxed the head off me all night”.

As a kid Keith used to love watching Barry McGuigan and this was the inspiration behind him travelling to a boxing club in Dalkeith and in the same year at 14 he went along with a pal to Lasswade Boxing Club in Bonnyrigg. Although Keith took 5 o Levels, he used to skip school more often than not, boxing was his pleasure, “I just felt boxing was my thing, like I was meant to do it, I loved training and I loved the smell of the gym”. His mum was dead against her son boxing due to him regularly coming in with black eyes. He eventually wooed his mum into watching him win trophies and every Christmas all he ever wanted was more boxing gear. Bonnyrigg Boxing Club coach Jackie wood who has sadly passed away was the most influential person in Keith’s boxing career, he reminded him of Mickey in the Rocky movies, “He was a great auld guy, he could see my potential and was always egging me on to do better”, and do better he did. Keith won the Eastern district Title every year as a youth and as a senior, he won his first Senior Scottish title in 1990 and continued to do so, I remember boxing on shows with Keith, he was built like a pocket battleship and used to steam right through opponents. In 1992 he went down to the British Championships in England and out of a 12 man Scottish Team he was the only one to win the British ABA Title that year. By this time Keith had a full time job as a butcher and two young kids. He had to use up holidays so he could go away to fight in Internationals, it was all getting a bit too much and something had to give for him to continue doing what he done best. There’s something Keith would like to mention, “In Scotland V England Internationals I only ever lost once”, his only loss was to a boxer called Paul Ingle who went on to win a version of the World Title.            

Tommy Gilmour had approached Keith and suggested that he turned professional. Keith’s mate Willie Quinn recently had turned pro with Tommy but he was a bit unsure having to travel back and forth to Glasgow for training. Willie was being sponsored by a local taxi firm and the butchers Keith worked in; Keith was offered the same sponsorship so he would not have to incur any travel expenses. The initial offer on the table was £1000 a fight “At least I would be getting paid for something I loved doing but I never expected to do anything”. Keith left behind an amateur record that read 120 fights with 90 wins.

Keith’s training routine never changed over the years, he would get up and go for a run around 4 miles in the morning, work as a butcher throughout the day and travel to Glasgow for sparring at nights, his boss would let him leave early so he could make the journey west. When Keith was an amateur he openly admits he was sometimes more interested in going out with his mates to the pub but as a professional he gave it his all while holding down a full time job. After racking up an 8 fight unbeaten run he was matched against Louis Veitch for the vacant Scottish Flyweight Title, “The fight was an eliminator, the winner would be fighting for the British Title”, Keith won this fight by TKO 6th. The venue for the British Title fight was the Elephant & Castle, Southwark, London and his opponent was Mickey Cantwell, “I got robbed, it was all over the papers, the English referee gave it to Cantwell who had done an interview for Sky TV claiming he had lost his house, his job, it was a sob story and everyone fell for it, I lost by half a point. The board agreed it was a bad decision and ordered a rematch but he wouldn’t fight me so he vacated the Title”. Keith got a shot at the European Title against Jesper Jenson in Denmark but lost on points, “You really got to knock them out for a draw over there”. He then fought for the British Title again against stable mate Ady Lewis at the St Andrews Sporting Club in Glasgow “ Ady had moved down to Flyweight, fair enough he got the decision and held onto the title for a wee while”.

Keith fought his way back up the rankings and two years had elapsed before he finally got his shot at Damien Kelly for the British and Commonwealth Flyweight titles in Belfast, “Winning the British Amateur Title was a special moment for me but that night in Belfast was the icing on the cake”.

In Keith’s last fight he fought for the IBO World Title against an American based Columbian Jose Garcia Bernal at the Bellahouston Sports Centre in Glasgow, he lost on a split decision, “The American referee gave the fight to me but the two English judges gave the fight to Garcia, I was gutted but happy at the same time because I had gone the distance. I never expected to get that far in my career as a boxer, sometimes I think about how close I was to winning”. Keith walked away from the game at 32, he did not want to become a journeyman and he wanted to go out on a high.

Keith works as a bus driver these days, his favourite film is Dumber and Dumber, “It’s funny as”, his favourite Rocky movie is Rocky IV, that is quintessentially the greatest of the saga, “Rocky had to fight the Russian on Christmas day, everyone at the pictures stood up”. Keith looks up to boxers such as Muhammad Ali, Jim Watt, Ken Buchanan, Barry McGuigan, Marvin Hagler and the list goes on but his All-time favourite boxer is Sugar Ray Leonard, “He had everything and beat Duran”. His old foe Damien Kelly did go on to win the European Title and IBO World Tile.

His advice to young boxers is simply give it 100% no regrets. He still trains regularly to this day and reckons he will continue to do so until he drops. I’ve known Keith for 30 years and he has never changed a smidgen, an extremely modest, fun loving man who is the best o tartan and if you get him on the subject of boxing he’s there till the battery in phone goes dead.

I asked Keith if he had anything else to say, “If I had the chance I would do it all over again”.

By Raymond Fraser Buchanan

Edinburgh’s Unbeaten Cruiserweight boxer Stephen ‘ Simbo ‘ Simmons next fight will be on May 11th on the Eddie Hearne’s Matchroom Sports Promotions bill, Betfairs ‘Fighting Pride of Scotland’  headlining the bill will be Scotland’s WBO World Champion Ricky Burns. This boxing extravaganza will feature many of Scotland’s most talented fighters. However, Stephen has his eyes fixed firmly on lifting aloft the CELTIC Cruiserweight TITLE against formidable opponent Michael ‘The Storm ‘ Sweeney who hails from County Mayo, Ireland. The venue will be the Emirates Arena, Glasgow, the show will be a sell-out and Simbo will be all-out to make sure the CELTIC TITLE stays in Scotland.

Let me take you back to where it all began for Stephen. His mum and dad split up before he was 5 years old and was brought up in a notoriously rough area of the Capital called Wester Hailes. Primary school was never going to be young Stephen’s forte, “I got thrown out five times for fighting”, he said with a trademark smile, “My brother was the quiet one but if anyone tried to bully me I stuck up for myself ”.  At the age of 12 Stephen had just started to attend Wester Hailes Education Centre, “I was wild and cheeky, my mum always wanted to get me into boxing to control my aggression”, and by chance one of his neighbours Mikey Sangster, who used to box for Edinburgh’s Sparta took him along to local club Clovenstone ABC where he attended classes for three months. His uncle Kenny was right into his boxing and began to take Stephen to a boxing club at the foot of Leith Walk called Leith Victoria. Stephen openly admits he did not get many bouts between the ages of 12 to 17 years old because of his size, “Boxing became a way of controlling and channelling my life in the right direction”.

“As soon as I was 17 years old I started winning titles, boxing for Scotland and I was travelling all over the world”, this was the start of a long illustrious career in the Amateur ranks. After winning 2 District Tiles, 3 Scottish Titles and a British Title, Stephen stopped entering the Scottish because nobody would fight him.

In 2006 Stephen won the British Amateur Title in Ireland but broke his right hand in the final. The Commonwealth Games were taking place in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia that year and he did not want to jeopardize his place in the Scotland Team so he inaudibly withheld this information so he could live the dream. He out boxed his first opponent with the left jab but in the quarter finals against Ghana in a fight he thought he could have won that would guarantee him a medal it was evident he needed both hands to do so “I was really disappointed but decided to stay amateur”. Stephen competed in 3 European Championships and got to the last 16 twice in the World Championships. The lure of fighting in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India 2010 was the motivation behind Stephen’s decision to stay Amateur. Stephen had stayed amateur with the objective of winning Gold in Delhi; this was a realistic, tenable ambition for the Edinburgh boxer. A friend helped procure funding by way of race nights that included a karaoke and a raffle. I attended one of these and I could not help but notice a woman who so fleet footed and fast with her words, she had the pub in the palm of her hands. I asked Stephen who the woman was “That’s my mum”; the words ran through my head, ‘If it was definitely Thursday and she said it was Friday, I would agree’. Stephen was unlucky not to make the final in Delhi but he returned with a Bronze medal, “I was crying in the dressing room and felt gutted for 5 days but on the flight home I realized how much of an achievement it was and testament to all the hard work I had done”.

There was not enough funding for Stephen to stay amateur so he decided to make the move into the professional ranks at the age of 26, “I had to make a living”. He is a very genial, laudable and courteous man who has a smile that almost goes from ear to ear inspiriting a presence of exuberance that is a unique quality in any individual, however, when Stephen ducks between the ropes the smile disappears and fades into an earnest, austere glance of ruinous intent. He has been steadily moving up the ladder and it’s fair to say the transition from amateur to professional has been seamless due to the wealth of experience he has acquired over the years.

Stephens Uncle Kenny has been with him every step of the way and has had an extensive influence on him. His father lives in Sunderland and comes to watch all his professional fights. He is managed by Scotland’s Alex Morrison and more recently been trained by top boxing trainer Danny Vaughan – who also trains Derry Mathews. Stephens’s training regime consists of travelling to Glasgow Monday to Friday where he works on the bags, pads and sparring with David Brophy and Barry Connell, he also does track running at Glasgow’s Velodrome 3 days a week. He has really gelled with Danny, working on a technique that has improved his power punching explicitly where in his last fight at the Gorbals Leisure Centre in Glasgow Stephen had his Serbian opponent Jovan Kaludjerovic down twice before a pulverizing blow put his man down and out for the count of 10 in the 2nd round.

He talks about his mother with enormous admiration, she has been very supportive in what her son has chose to do as a profession, “Mum has done an excellent job in raising the family, I could have went the wrong way but she is living proof that kids grow up and make their own choices”.

None of us like to admit it but Stephen wears his heart on his sleeve and admits he has tears in his eyes when he watches the movie The Champ, and on this subject his favourite Rocky movie is Rocky II, "I Love watching it, it’s very inspirational and it's great how he comes back and beats Apollo Creed”. His favourite boxer is Iron Mike Tyson, “He came from a rough back ground and done something with his life – he could have  gone the wrong way, but became Heavyweight Champion of the World".

Hardest opponents to date, “Egor Mekhotsev, he was a Russian guy, 2 times world and European Champion – he’s also the Olympic Champion”, who’s the biggest name you’ve beat? “I beat this Cuban boxer called Osmay Acosta before the 2008 Olympics, he went on to lift the Olympic Bronze and the year after he won another bronze in the World Championships”.

Stephen is lucky he has good sponsorship from Edinburgh’s J&I Scaffolding, Woods roofing and Shooka Bootcamp who are based in South Devon, he is also moving up the ladder working with Herbalife.

He recently got engaged to his to his stunning girlfriend Nicole and has a boy of 6 years old who is also called Stephen. His son watches his dads fights on the I Phone and said, “Daddy, I want to be a boxer”, Stephen would prefer he didn’t want to box but would totally support his son in whatever he chooses to do.

“Having a positive attitude and not getting involved with the wrong people. I’ve always kept a level head, positive mind and I don’t get involved in other people’s problems”, these are the principals that Stephen installs and nothing will alter this young man’s crusade.

Stephens Simmons is a veritable Professional with high hopes of making a big impact on the Professional scene, he genuinely is a Scottish Lion in the Boxing ring and I asked him about his upcoming fight, “I love fighting in Scotland in front of home fans – it’s a great buzz, there’s going to be a capacity crowd of 9000, I’m really excited”, I also solicited the question and more so a statement on how the fight will go and he accentuated “I do my talking with my fists, I do my talking in the ring”.

Tickets for Betfair’s ‘Fighting Pride of Scotland’ are on sale now. Tickets are priced £40 upper tier, £60 lower tier and floor seats, £100 ringside and £200 VIP (all tickets subject to booking fee). Tickets are available through the Emirates Arena at www.emiratesarena.co.uk, Matchroom Boxing atwww.matchroomboxing.com and by phone on 0141 353 8000.

Lewis Benson is the current Scottish and British 64kg amateur Boxing Champion; he is a very proud, affable and admirable young man who is in it to win it. He was kind enough to take time out to speak with me before he goes to Serbia to fight for his country.

The first memories in Lewis’s life go back to primary school; he was always getting into trouble because of verbal racist abuse targeted at the colour of his skin, this turned Lewis into an angry young boy who fought back and became the ring leader of a mischievous wee group of boys.

He developed an interest in boxing but his mum would not let him go unless he mended his ways. However, he satisfied his mum’s curiosity in his behaviour and started attending boxing classes at Meadowbank when he was 13 years old; travelling by bus with a friend who also used to get into trouble and the journey could take up to an hour to get there. His friend gave up boxing pretty quickly and has been in and out of jail since he was 16, “I think to myself, that could have been me if I had not taken the boxing route”, said Lewis. He told me his biggest influence was his dad, his family are very close and supportive in whatever he does, Lewis said, “I always wanted to make my dad proud, also my family; I always want to do better”.

Lewis’s first trainer Mark Geraghty had a profound influence on him, “He taught me the basics and it was more like a father son relationship”, he went on to say. Geraghty was a former professional boxer who had won the Scottish Super-Featherweight Title during his career and never lost that title in a boxing ring. During his time with his mentor Mark, Lewis went from strength to strength winning Bronze, Silver then Gold at the Scottish Youth Championships. He also boxed in two British Championships, picking up a Silver Medal to a boxer who now ply’s his trade in the professional ranks and he lifted the Bronze Medal losing out to Jeff Saunders whose brother Bradley is flying high as an unbeaten professional Welterweight. It’s fair to say Lewis gained a lot of experience and success under Mark Geraghty but Mark became a father and his priorities had to change significantly, “leaving Mark was the hardest thing I have ever done, we were so close, I had to move on to improve my career”, he said poignantly.

Almost two weeks ago on the 29th March 2013, the venue was Meadowbank Stadium in the Capital City of Edinburgh, it was a capacity crowd that exploded into life as Lewis had to defend his Scottish 64kg Title against local man Jason Easton. He told me that he and Jason were good friends who lived on either side of the city and that the wind up’s begun way before the final. Both boxers had to fight their way through the preliminaries and they had fought each other four times with the score standing at two a piece so this was the ultimate decider to date. I was at ringside that night, it was the theatre of dreams, the atmosphere was something else, it was more like top of the bill material because the noise level of the crowd was so loud and intense you would think the old volcano under Edinburgh Castle had just erupted. Both boxers came in to a rapturous, arousing appraisal that almost took your breath away. The fight itself lived up to all expectations, Lewis was using his superior reach advantage working to the head and body, Jason was slipping inside throwing forceful right hands to the head, it was a very close fight but there had to be a winner. Lewis upped his game in the second half of the last round and that may have been the difference on the judges scoring. The announcer lifted the microphone and said “Scottish Champion at 64kg 2013, Lewis Benson. I asked Lewis what that meant to him “That was massive, it was a great feeling, mum and dad were in the front row, she only comes to home shows or finals and dad comes to them all”.

In 2010 Lewis left his former trainer Mark Geraghty on good terms and they remain friends, he then joined his current club Lochend with corner man and trainer Eric Brown who has been with him throughout his career.  Joining Lochend ABC has quintessentially been a landmark in Lewis’s boxing career, “Moving to Lochend offered me full time training every day of the week, this has allowed me to better myself, become a more accomplished boxer and I’m reaping the benefits. Eric Brown is like family to me, Terry McCormack has been a massive influence, also, Raymond Gibson comes in on a Tuesday and Thursday to give me a good workout on the pads, I will never move away from this gym. Why would I want to be anywhere else, 3-4 times a week Ken Buchanan comes in, he’s a legend, he’s always giving us advice, takes time to speak to the boys and points out anything that we are doing wrong. He also tells us boxing stories and it’s just great to be in the gym with Ken”. However, Terry McCormack holds all the keys, not just to the gym but to the success of every boxer who enters the door. He immediately pointed out to Lewis that success didn’t come overnight and that you had to work at it.

October 2011 was significantly a statement that Lewis Benson sent out to the whole of Scottish boxing, he was boxing on a home show against Scottish Champion Mark Parvin, “It was one of my best performances, I beat Mark very well, this was the turning point in my boxing career and I felt really confident after that”, he went on to say “When my club mate and Olympian Josh Taylor moved to the Great Britain Podium Squad, I was next in line. As a boy I looked up to Josh and John Thain, now I’m getting close to being as good as them, if not better”. Lochend head coach Terry McCormack began the process of procuring young Lewis into the formidable fighter he is today by beginning with working on strength and conditioning, he regularly spar’s with club mates who are amateur and professional that include John Thain, Aston Brown and Steven Tiffany. Lewis won his first Scottish Senior Title last year 2012 and progressed to the final stages of the British Championships, “Terry told me I could win it but I didn’t really believe him. I knew I was doing well and I was really fit but the last person to win the British Title fighting out of an Edinburgh club was Scott Flynn who boxed for Gilmerton and that was a decade ago”. Well before the British Finals Lewis had travelled to Liverpool to fight a local boxer called Robbie Davis, who was tipped to win the British that year, “I beat him on his home show”, said Lewis, Terry said to Davis’s coach, “We will see you at the British”. Lewis and Terry travelled to London for the finals knowing Robbie Davis was going to be there, with only three boys in the weight division Davis got a bye into the finals and he also had the luxury of having his club coaches in his corner whereas Lewis had the Scottish Team coaches in his, it does make a difference who’s in your corner because you develop a special, unique bond that can have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the fight. Lewis dispatched a Welsh boxer while Davis and his coaches looked on deliberating a plan of attack. Terry and Lewis had worked for weeks on end on tactics for the inevitable showdown with Davis, “No-one had even thought about me going there and winning a medal at the British, I was still working at this point”, Lewis pointed out. The judges scoring had been announced “16-13, and the NEW British Champion at 64kg, Lewis Benson.  

This lead Lewis to return south to join up with the Great Britain Development Squad, he went down with fellow Scottish boxer Charlie Flynn, it is the path you have to take that could land you a place in the Great Britain Podium Team that fight in the inaugural World Series Boxing Tournament. I admire Lewis as a boxer, he has a natural god given talent and after witnessing Charlie Flynn demolish his opponent at the recent Scottish Championships I was surprised when Lewis told me he and Charlie received a letter’s saying they were unsuccessful, without an explanation why.

Lewis was a bit of a bright spark at school that never revised and believes he could have done better but he secured an apprenticeship as an electrician. He has recently given up his job in a bold bid to cement his place in the Scottish Commonwealth Games Team for 2014. His employers have reassured him his job will still be there for him if he chooses to return to his trade. He has no sponsorship; his father truly believes in his son and is providing his son a means to making his dream a reality.

Lewis is an open class boxer who fights at the highest level and has only lost one bout in the last twenty. He watches the film Against The Ropes before every fight, it’s about a boxer from the ghetto who comes from nowhere to make something of his life in the boxing ring. He has a pre-fight ritual where his socks have to be positioned directly under his knee and he always wears the same club vest when he fights for Lochend. His favourite Rocky movie is Rocky III “He got beat by Clubber Lang, he got another trainer who changed his style that took him to another level he won the rematch”, Lewis explained. His favourite film is Notorious, about the life of Biggy Smalls, one of Lewis’s favourite rappers.

I spoke with Lewis about the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014 and he gave me a simple answer, “To the people that have doubted me, I am the Champ for a reason. I will be looking to take that No 1 spot for the Commonwealth Games at 64kg no matter who is in my way”.

Lewis Solemnly believes in hard work and dedication, he has won back to back Scottish Titles and is the current British Champion, I would consider that to be very successful and I can only beg the question, how is this man being immensely overlooked by the Team GB Podium Squad. I’ll leave the last word to Lewis “Never doubt me”.

By Raymond Fraser Buchanan  

Ex Professional boxer Willie Quinn was a big crowd puller in the 90’s both inside and outside the boxing ring, at one time he had more followers than Geronimo. Willie hung up his gloves in 2001, his trademark was making a T sign with one glove touching the other forearm that would send his fans into a frenzy, he was better known as Willie ‘The Mighty’ Quinn.



Let me take you back to the winter of 1997, January the 18th to be precise. Willie travelled down to Derbyshire, England, with hoards of his loyal fans also making the trip south and the prize at stake was the British Middleweight Title. Willie had come a long way in the pro ranks and had earned his right to fight for the Lonsdale Belt. Green Bank Leisure Centre, Swadlincote was the venue and the formidable opponent standing in front of 24 year old Willie was British Champion Neville Brown who held the Lonsdale belt outright. However, this was not the only obstacle Willie had to overcome on that winter’s night hundreds of miles away from his hometown of Tranent in East Lothian. His wee brother Tommy was 21 years old, whose record stood at a perfect 8-0, was also fighting on the undercard. Tommy suffered a severe blow during his fight and had to be treated in the ring by doctors for 12 minutes, he was put on a drip and given oxygen as they rushed Willie’s younger brother to hospital, Willie says, “My brother got knocked unconscious, he was in a coma, it was a really nasty one”. No one will ever know what affect this truly had on him, Willie stared god in the face of adversity, but I asked him, “I had been training hard all through Christmas, there were a lot of people down to support me and I didn’t want to let them down but what had happened to Tommy was always on my mind”. I remember the fight well, Willie looked very anxious before the bell sounded and when the bell rang Willie ‘The Mighty’ Quinn looked more intent on taking Brown out with a single shot as opposed to boxing him, in the 3rd round Willie hit Brown with a devastating punch that scattered him over the canvas and onto his back and for that moment it looked like Brown would not make it back up for the count but using elbows and sheer determination he just made it back onto his feet to beat the count of 10. Willie had produced a titanic effort in the first three rounds that by the fourth he had little to offer and the referee stopped the fight in favour of Brown who had come out looking rejuvenated after a minute on his stool. Willie Quinn was a mere second or two away from becoming British Champion but more to the point his brother Tommy made a full recovery. 

I’m taking you further back to the year of 1985 where Willie and I boxed for the same amateur club Haddington ABC, the club originally started in a hall above the British Legion in the heart of the town then moved to the old unused Co-Operative store and that’s where I remember Willie from. He was the smartest dressed boxer I’d ever seen coming to training, Boss jeans, Boss shirt, Boss jacket and even Boss aftershave, young Willie liked to look after himself; he looked naturally comfortable in the boxing ring and trained as hard as anyone at the club.

Back then Willie openly admits he was a ladies’ man, as he likes to put it; he played rugby but was not really interested in football or any other sport for that matter. He could handle himself on the street and had a reputation, he said, “I was always the tough nut, I was known as the tough laddie from Tranent”, his father Tommy spotted this and took him to Haddington ABC three times a week, that’s where he became friends with Stephen Wilson, a man who went on to become an Olympian, representing Great Britain in Barcelona, and as a professional lost to Joe Calzaghe for the British Title. Willie would sometimes concede up to a stone in weight to do exhibitions with Stephen as amateurs when they could not get an opponent to fight.

Barry McGuigan was Willie’s childhood hero but his biggest influence was the Rocky films, he said, “I always watched the Rocky movies, this drove me to train harder and I still watch them to this day. They are such great movies, this made me train harder to be the best”, incidentally Willie’s favourite movie is Rocky III with Hulk Hogan in it, I did not even touch on the subject of Rocky IV. His all-time favourite boxer is Sugar Ray Leonard.

Willie had 50 amateur contests and fought for his country a number of times and had been Scottish Amateur Champion but fighting for trophies was no longer an attainable pleasure so the idea of fighting for money was the way forward and on the 9th October 1991 Willie made his professional debut at The St Andrews Sporting Club in Glasgow, losing on points to a more experienced opponent Mark Jay, however, Willie avenged this defeat by way of TKO in the 1st round on the 21st November 1994 at the Magnum Centre, Irvine, Scotland. Back in those days Willie had to travel to Glasgow for training after a hard days graft.

Willie has particular fond memories of working with trainers such as George Borden and Peter Harrison, who helped Willie go on to become WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Champion on the 1st of June 1995 beating England’s Paul Busby by TKO in the 8th round. Willie went on to say, “I think winning the WBO Inter-Continental Title in Musselburgh was the highlight of my career, this put me in line for a World Title shot, and I was now rated No 3 or 4 in the world at the time. I had packed in my job and was lucky enough to get good sponsorship by a local taxi firm, Andy Nailor helped with travel, money wasn’t a problem at this time and this allowed me to fully concentrate on my career”.  By this time Willie performed to capacity crowds and marching round the ring arousing his fans by making a T sign with his arms followed by his mate holding the St Andrew’s cross high above his head, the crowd went berserk singing his entrance song with uncontrollable excitement.  There were even rumours that Willie was in line to get a crack at WBO World Champion, Steve Collins.

The Mighty went on an unbeaten winning streak of 19 wins with 12 inside the distance, I asked Willie about this, he said, “My career was getting better and I had a bigger following as the years went on. When you start winning, moving up the rankings and getting closer to a title shot it’s a great feeling, I was training really hard, twice a day, five days a week”. Willie used to spar with the likes of World Champions in Nigel Benn and Steve Collins, Nigel Benn even came up to Scotland to meet him.

Neville Brown ended Willie’s unbeaten run, he won his next three fights and lost in an eliminator for the British Title to Sven Hamer. Willie did go on to win the Scottish Super-Middleweight title against Jason Barker in Glasgow by way of TKO in the 4th round, he said, “I was proud to be Scottish Champion and it put me back up in the ratings”. This opened the door for Willie to get a shot at the British and Commonwealth Champion David Starie but it was not to be for The Mighty, he ended his career with a rematch against Jason Barker by stopping him in the 2nd round at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.

I asked Willie about his toughest fight and he went on to say, “I fought Giovanni Pretorius in South Africa, he had fought Robin Reid for the WBC Championship of the World and was rated No 2 by the IBF. I had to come down to Middleweight, this was a whole different experience, I had no support from the crowd, it was like being thrown into the lion’s den, I lost on a split decision but felt like I got robbed”.

I asked Willie what advice he would give to young amateurs or professionals today, he replied, “My advice would be to turn pro at the right time and make sure you’re looked after well, the professional game can be cruel so you have to look after No 1”.

Willie was asked to strip for charity and someone took pictures of him that ended up in The News of The World, he said “I thought why not, it was for charity but before I knew it I had started a wee agency and it was a good laugh at the time”.

These days Willie puts on as much clothes as he can because he works off the north coast of Scotland as an oil rigger but he still works out hard and actually looks bigger and better than when he was a boxer, that’s dedication.

The Mighty Quinn Professional Boxing Record Stands, 28-5, and three of the contests were for British and Commonwealth Titles.  

Willie has been in the lion’s den, he’s stared god in the face of adversity but got married last year to a beautiful model Gillian, so in the end Willie really did win; you ain’t seen nothing like The Mighty Quinn.   

By Raymond Fraser Buchanan

Willie ‘The Mighty’ Quinn Entrance Song, you need to close your eyes and imagine a capacity crowd singing this as you enter the ring. Please click HERE.

Unsung Hero Alec Mullen

For those of you who have never heard the name Alec Mullen, he is one of the most successful boxers ever to come out of Ayrshire. 


Alec Mullen was born on the 8th of February 1966, for any true Scotsman it's not a year we care to remember with fondness because it was greatly overshadowed by the most significant thing to happen on British soil, our neighbours - the auld enemy - England, won the World Cup. However, Alec was born 8 weeks premature and caught pneumonia when he was 3 months old, the doctors never gave him a chance and all his family had to be called upon. Alec defied the odds of survival and this was just the first battle he went on to win.

Alec’s great-grandfather hailed from a large Mullen family of 14 from Limavaddy, Londonderry, Northern Ireland in the early 1900’s, when the family grew up they descended to all over Ayrshire and parts of Glasgow. He was a hard working, teetotal, non smoking, ladies man who fathered children all over Ayrshire including 9 children to his dad’s mother.

Like so many of his generation, Alec Mullen’s childhood hero was the man considered to be the greatest of all time, Muhammad Ali.

Alec was raised in a run-down area called Springside, Irvine, in Ayrshire, Bonnie Scotland. His dad took him along to a boxing club called Witchknowe that was situated between Irvine and Kilmarnock at the tender age of 7 years old. Alec said “My dad was never a boxer but he went along to train at the club in his mid 20’s, he also took my brother’s Johnny who was 8 years old, Boyd 6 and my youngest brother Joe who was only 4”. The man who trained the club was Tam Brown who incidentally was the Scottish National Coach at the time, “That’s how it all started for me in 1973”.

In 1975, Alec’s dad went on to start his own local club in the village of Springside, the facility they used was the local community centre, Alec told me, “We got a room to use 3 times a week in which we had to put the ring and bags up every night, then take them back down again, every night”. In 1979, the local council gave Alec’s dad the old school that had been lying derelict for years to use as a boxing club.

I asked Alec what age he was when he had his first fight and without flinching he retorted, “I was 10 years old, you had to be 11 years old to fight so they had to lie and say I was 11. Back then there were no medical cards; I turned up on the night at the Palace of Parks, in Bellahouston, filled in a wee form with my age and experience, I won my 1st, lost my 2nd and 4th , then I never lost a fight till I was 15”.

 No different from any other kid at the time Alec liked a wee kick about with a football; he was in his school B team, never the A. It was boxing that Alec excelled in. As a junior he would get up at 5.30am to go for a jog as far as 3.5 miles and do stomach exercises before going to school, his mother would have his tea ready for him when he got home from school  so he could be at the boxing club for ten past five every night. Over the years Alec’s training regime never changed much.

In 1981, at the age of 15 years old Alec became the British National Schoolboy Champion, Alec told me, “There was not a lot of Scots boys involved back then, it was 2 years later that the Scottish ABA embraced this competition. I entered it by way of the North West Counties as there were less rules and regulations back then. It was a great feeling; you had to win 6 fights to win it and the rounds of the competition were staged every fortnight, from the first round till the final. I fought my way through from Blackburn, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newport and the final was in the Assembly Rooms in Derby”. This was some achievement and a true reflection of a boy who strived to achieve success in boxing by going beyond the beyond.

Alec’s first memory in life was going down the pit road to collect coal; this was to become a way of life for Alec.

Money was tight and jobs were hard to come by so anything you could bring to the table was a godsend. Alec, his brothers and his cousin Harry whom he looks upon more of a brother were continually on the lookout for coal and even more to be honest. Alec said “We stayed in a village surrounded by miles of countryside; there were 5 farms within a mile radius so you can imagine feeding ourselves wasn’t hard. There was tattie’s and turnips off the fields, rabbits, hares and ducks courtesy of oor Joe and his ferrets and off course our pet dog Trooper, who was a Rhodesian Ridgeback breed of dog whose origins come from South Africa where they were used to fend off lions. While its master made the kill, Joe would sometimes get a rabbit caught in one of his traps; he would skin it there and then and feed it to the dog”. Alec went on to say, “In the winter of 1985 the police searched our house after a tip off, they turned beds upside doon the lot, believe it or not they were looking for coal that we were stealing from the opencast mine in Kilmarnock. One of the policemen took me outside to the garage round the back and said “Open the door of the garage son”, so he could have a look inside, there was about 6 ton of coal in there so I was starting to get a wee bit worried, the police officer popped his head in and turned to me and said “You will not go cold this winter son”, he went into the house and shouted to the other 3 police officers, “Right boys, come on, there’s no coal here”,  and off they went, what a relief that was”. The garage was later used as a boxing club.

Alec turned senior at the age of 17 and won the Scottish Light-middleweight Title 3 years on the bounce, 1984, 85, 86, they were all televised live on the BBC. He also picked up a gold medal in the inaugural Gaelic Games in Wales that included all countries who were Gaelic spoken, including Canada. Alec represented his country 18 times, winning 15 of them. One of Alec’s most memorable victories came at the Caird Hall in Dundee against Rod Douglas, who previously beat him in the final stages of the British ABA’s that took the eventual winner, Douglas, to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, 1984. Alec got his revenge not long after Douglas returned from Los Angeles and it was also broadcast live on the BBC. In 1985, Alec’s cousin Harry won the senior Scottish Welterweight Title in the bout preceding his second consecutive Scottish Title. Alec fought 3 Olympian’s as an amateur triumphing over 2 of them.

When Alec was 18 years old there was mass unemployment and a guy offered him a cassette player for £40 but Alec did not have the money, his father lent young Alec the money to purchase the cassette player on the condition he paid the money back. Alec was offered a job as a door man (bouncer) at a pub in nearby Dreghorn, he now had the means to repay his father’s loan and he continued to be a bouncer all over Ayrshire till he was 34.

After Alec won his 3rd Scottish Title in a row the 20 year old man from Ayrshire cemented his place in the Scotland squad who represented their country at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, he said, “It was a big buzz that year because it was in Edinburgh, the training was hard, we were based in Rosyth Naval Base every week for 2 months”. Alec went on to win a Bronze medal in the capital and was more than delighted with his achievement.

After a long illustrious career as an amateur Alec decided to turn professional with Scottish boxing manager Alex Morrison, he told me, “I’d been boxing that long I just wanted to earn a wee bit of money, I thought I could have been at least British Champion. In the mid 80’s not many people had bought their own house so I thought if I could make enough to buy my own house, I’d be happy”.

Alec made his professional debut at the St Andrews sporting Club at the Albany Hotel in Glasgow, he was now fighting as a middleweight and at 6’ 2” he was growing faster than B&Q, he stopped his opponent Gary Pemberton by way of a technical knockout in the fourth round, the fight had been scheduled to go 6 rounds. Alec immediately stepped up to fighting 8 rounder’s and after an unblemished 6 wins with no losses things were starting to look up for the big man from Ayrshire.

However, big Alec, who’s father had trained him all his career from amateurs to professional were attending a boxing show in Solihull, England, and his dad says to Alec “Look at the build on that guy”, Alec could not really see the definition on the boxers body. This led to a medical by the British Boxing Board of Control, they asked Alec if he wore glasses, which he did, he could not read the writing on the board in front of him without his glasses so the BBBoC took Alec’s boxing licence off him only a year into his professional career, he said, “I was only 21 years old and my career was finished, I didn’t know anything else but boxing. I remember going into the careers office after leaving school and they asked me what I was going to do, I said professional boxer, I didn’t want to be anything else, I wanted to be the Champion of the World”.

Alec went straight into training boys at his dads club in Springside from 1987 – 1999, it was in the year 1999 that his wee brother Joe died, as an amateur Joe had won Scottish Titles, British Titles and 2 Gaelic Games Gold Medals, he had 12 fights as a professional and 10 years after his boxing career had ended Joe passed away with a brain haemorrhage and it was Alec who found his brother lying on the couch dead. This had a traumatic affect on big Alec’s life he said, “I was disillusioned with boxing”, and this lead him to turn his back on boxing. He threw everything out his house that reminded him of boxing, including all his International vests and his Commonwealth Games team suit that he proudly kept in his wardrobe. He would have binned the trophies he won but he had given them all to his mother.

From 1999, Alec worked on the railway travelling all over Britain but after the local police put out an appeal looking for someone to run a boxing club in the area in 2006, he spoke to his wife Sandra who encouraged Alec to go back to the sport he loved and do what he does best.

The neglected scheme Alec lives in is called Vineburgh, so he decided to call the boxing club, Irvine Vineburgh, because he wanted people to know they were from Irvine. The building he was given was an old scout hut that had been lying derelict for 30 years, he got a lot of help from the community association and by working on building sites he got a lot of help from the site manager giving him building materials.

The Irvine Vinburgh Boxing Club since 2006 has produced 14 Scottish Champion’s, 3 British Champions and a European Junior Bronze and they have brought through a boxer who was Scottish and British Champion at amateur level, who is now 4 fights unbeaten as a professional, Ryan Collins. Alec says, “Ryan made his pro debut last year as a super-featherweight, I wish all the boys had the commitment and dedication he has, he’s a full time pro and goes to college to study sport and nutrition”, Alec has been with Ryan every step of the way and holds a professional coach and seconds licence.  Alec spends 5 nights a week at the club also Saturdays and Sundays when there is championships coming up. I asked him what a typical night at the club would involve, he said “Skipping, bags, bag work with pad work, shadow boxing and we always finish with a circuit”.

I asked Alec what advice he would give to any aspiring young boxer, he told me, “Its a short career, you have to maximise it and dedicate yourself, the years flee in, so good living and hard training are the key to success”.

Alec’s mother has been a vital key to his success, she worked around him making sure everything he needed from meals to the clothes on his back were ready and laid out exactly at the correct time so her son could maximise his time in the gym. She not only brought up her own 7 children but most of his cousins as well, as his dads other brothers marriages ended she looked after everyone who needed a place to stay without a fuss. Alec told me he stayed in a 4 bedroom house but one was used as weights room with a weights bench and dumbbells to name but a few of the training equipment his father used. In the 1970’s there was up to 14 people staying in the house at the one time.

On a lighter note, Alec’s all-time favourite boxer is Tommy ‘The Hitman’ Hearns, his favourite boxing film is the Raging Bull, a film that is based on the true story of legendary boxer Jake LaMotta, he can be excused for saying his favourite Rocky film is Rocky II, because he has only watched the first 3, he is only one film away from the epiphany of relishing Rocky’s finest ever movie, Rocky IV.

I asked Alec what his thoughts were on Scottish boxing and he replied “One day I would like to see more funding and support for Scottish boxing clubs from our own Scottish government, the Irish ABA have a strong financial backing from their government and look at the results they are getting on the big stage. A smaller country than ours like Panama whose President passed a motion to make boxing Panamas number 1 sport and they reaped the benefits for years producing class fighters including none other than Roberto Duran”.

Alec likes to think he is a better coach than he was a boxer and who could possibly argue that against his current record as head coach of Irvine Vineburgh but unbeaten as a professional and as an amateur he fought in over 120 contests, winning 105.

As it’s supposedly politically incorrect to use the other term, Alec calls a shovel a shovel, he’s a genuinely honest and extremely modest man, and he truly is a Scottish Boxing Unsung Hero.

By Raymond Fraser Buchanan,

 Irvine Vineburgh opening times vary from Mon to Fri 5pm upwards depending on age and experience but if you would like to contact Alec for more information you can contact him on his mobile 07774 172373.

Additionally if there is anyone wishing to provide sponsorship for Irvine Vineburgh, contact Alec on the above number.