Late defection fails to spoil Mansfield’s first professional boxing show for ten years

Crowd-pleaser Jev Blake, of Warsop, who is a familiar face from his days on the unlicensed scene with the Body And Soul gym, was due to top the bill on his pro debut.

But only two days before the Notts Nxtgen show, Blake was told that the chief medical officer for the British Boxing Board of Control could not sign him off for the fight.

To add insult to injury, the organisers, Robin Hood Promotions, learned, hours before the show, that another home fighter, from Nottingham, had pulled out.

Matt Scriven, of Robin Hood Promotions, said: “It left us in a very difficult position. But due to the commitment of two of our other fighters, Donte Dixon, from Sheffield, and Regis Sugden, from Newark, we could not let this spoil their night, so the show went ahead.”

The crowd at The Civic Quarter were treated to masterclass displays from Dixon and Sugden, who kept their fans happy with cracking points wins.

Sugden defeated William Warburton, a veteran of 200 fights and a boxer who has upset many in the past, including world title challenger Jason Welbourn, while Dixon producing an outstanding display to beat Naheem Choudry.

The organisers were full of praise for the show’s main sponsors, Bowring Butchers, of Mansfield Woodhouse, B and B Tractors, of Warsop, and car dealership Prestige Vehicles. The next show will be in December when Blake should be fit to take part.