Cyrus Pattinson – Alnwick, England – 5-0, 3 KOs – fighting Chris Jenkins for the vacant WBA International Welterweight Title:
“I’m really excited to headline my first show in Newcastle. Preparations couldn’t have gone any better. It has kind of gone full circle; I was meant to make my professional debut at the Utilita Arena but we’re five fights in now and opponent number six is Chris Jenkins. It’s special to be headlining at the arena. I want to test myself and I don’t want easy fights. Chris was the best name that Matchroom brought to the table. No risk no reward. He had a close tight fight with Tyrone McKenna and a lot of people thought it went the other way. I think he was winning the fight with Florian Marku too. I expect the best, and I want the best, Chris Jenkins. That is what I have trained for. He always brings the heat and he never comes to just make up the numbers. It’s going to be a very entertaining fight. My focus is solely on winning. Any way possible, that’s all I’m thinking about. I can see myself winning in any way. We will see what happens on the night. I just take things one fight at a time. I just focus on one fight at a time. That’s all that matters. After every fight we take a look to see which direction we’re going to go in. I think every fight that I’ve had has been a step up – especially my last few. I’m 29 next month and I want to keep pressing and pushing to see how far I can go and just enjoy the ride.”
Solomon Dacres – Birmingham, England – 5-0, 1 KO – fighting Robert Ismay for the vacant English Heavyweight Title:
“He was just giving it the usual at the workout – ‘you’re going to get knocked out, you’re going to get put to sleep, blah blah blah’. He’s giving it the large one now but it’s all just bravado. You can expect a great performance from me on Saturday. I thrive under these conditions. I train exceptionally hard all of the time. I’ve been sparring top guys like Tyson Fury – I’ve been in his camp. I like to get away and spar so I’m comfortable when I come to fight night. I go in a lot of people’s training camps to spar – top guys like Fury, Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker. It’s another day at the office for me and I’m just really looking forward to putting on a great performance. I don’t think the sparring partners will be the difference in this fight but they will set me apart. I think I have a lot more attributes that make me a level above him anyway. The sparring partners are just another edge to my game where I’ve got top level sparring from the amateurs on Team GB. I think I’ve got all of the advantages going into this. I’m ready for whatever the next progression is after this fight. English to British is a natural progression. I’d love to fight for the British Title, definitely in the next 12 months – that’s my goal anyway. Last year that was my goal, to box for the British Title within 18 months. It’s something I’m looking forward to. Whoever has it, if Fabio Wardley has it or it’s vacant – it’ll be a big dust up whatever it is.
Hopey Price – Leeds, England – 9-0, 3 KOs – fighting Thomas Masson for the vacant WBA Continental Super-Bantamweight Title:
“I’m feeling good and I’m ready to go. I’m chomping at the bit for Saturday night now. I’m in there with a former European Champion and a former World Title challenger. He’s been there and he’s done it, but he’s never been in there with anyone like me. I always say don’t let my baby face fool you. I look young, but this is what I’m in the sport to do. Fighting guys like these, these are the sort of steps that I need to take to get where I want to be. I don’t want to be a World Title challenger; I want to be a World Champion. This is a step in the right direction to fight this type of opponent. He’s 30-odd, he’s tough, he’s durable and he’s been there and done it and seen it all. I’m looking forward to it. It’s time to shine. I’ve been with Matchroom from the beginning of my career and I’m happy to continue working with them. With them behind me this year it’ll really push me on. I’m looking to be one of the best prospects in world boxing by the end of the year. Hopefully after this NXTGEN event here in Newcastle we can go to Leeds later in the year and I can top a NXTGEN show at the First Direct Arena. The future is bright for the Super-Bantamweight division, there’s a lot of young talent coming through. All that means is we’re all going to get paid well, there’ some big domestic dust ups to come in the future. I’ll fight anyone. I won’t call any of them out but I’ll fight every single one of them – that’s just how I am. It’s better for us to have so many options around the same weight. The belts will swap and change won’t they. I believe that the Leeds fans are the best in the world, they really get behind their own. It’s always bouncing there and I want to continue those big nights in Leeds. Get this belt won and then in the future we’ll look to have another big fight back in Leeds.”
Callum French – Gateshead, England – 3-0, 1 KO – fighting Jordan Ellison in an eight round Lightweight contest:
“I’m chuffed to be fighting in Newcastle – home sweet home. Today I’m back in Gateshead for the Public Workout at the Metrocentre and we’re at the Utilita Arena on Saturday. It has been a dream of mine to box there since I was a kid so I’m looking forward to Saturday night. Knowing that I’m fighting in Newcastle has given me that extra little push in training. Obviously all of my friends and family are going to be there so it’s a bit different to boxing in those sports halls in Romania and Uzbekistan. It’s going to be nice to box in front of a home crowd. I’d already boxed in the WSB which was 5 rounds, so I had five of them fights so I was straight up to six rounds for my debut. Now it’s 8 rounders and then we’ll push on. I want to build some momentum this year. I had a bit of a nightmare last year – I was meant to fight in December on the Josh Warrington card but that got pulled at the last minute. I want to build some momentum over the next couple of months. Graeme Rutherford is the man behind the magic at Birtley. Not just in the boxing sense but he guides us through life as well. As a boxing coach he has helped me in and out of the ring. He’s taken us all over the country and helped us improve as a person. He’s taken us to work with him. He’s been a father figure to us all and a massive figure in the community of Birtley as well. He’s taken kids off the street and given them an option and a chance.”
