Leon Brown wants to hit the ground running
There's no time to waste for Leon Brown as he looks to pull out all the stops and make his mark in the world of professional boxing.
'The Train' will get his paid career rolling with a tough debut against hard-man Mitch Mitchell at Walsall Town Hall tomorrow night,
His first punch for pay will come at the age of 33, so the light heavyweight will have to get busy quickly if he's to realise his ambitions.
His fighting family saw Jamaican-born dad Alex box 11 times as a pro, winning as many as he lost over two years from 1982 to 1984.
Now his son has followed him into the sport, after years of toying with the idea before finally taking the plunge and obtaining his licence.
Battle-hardened Mitchell will be completing his half-century, with his 50th paid bout, and the gate-keeper won't make life easy for him.
But Brown, who lives in the Tettenhall area of Wolverhampton, is confident he has the grounding and the natural skills to be a hit.
He said: "I used to box as a kid and I've always been around gyms growing up. He retired when I was about three and got into the coaching side of things.
"I never really took it seriously but then, as I got older, I got into weight training and got too big. I was overweight, so I got into boxing again purely to lose weight and fell back in love with it.
"I found out I've got a good talent and everyone reckons I should give it a go. I did a bit of amateur for a couple of years.
"I only had five fights and I won all of them but I didn't really like the amateur game - I should have had eight to 10 fights, there were a lot of pull-outs and all that nonsense.
"I've thought about going pro for a couple of years. Obviously, because of my age, I've been really indecisive but I kept training.
"I loved sparring with professionals and even they told me I've got a gift there, with power and a good jab, so I thought I'd give it a go.
"You never know where it might take me, over the next five years or so. I could be in a good place.
"It's now or never. First things first I want to get the stoppage and impress on my debut."
Birmingham's Luke Walker also turns over on the card, stepping in with fellow debutant Bryn Wain for four rounds at light middleweight.
Brummie Paul Holt, in his first since gamely challenging for the Midlands featherweight title, tops the bill against Swindon's Joe Beeden.
Tom Stokes also appears as he travels up to middleweight after 19 months out of the ring, with Telford's Kieron Gray in the other corner.
Big heavyweight Matthew Gordon is in action, with promising super feather Jack Summers completing the trio from West Bromwich.
Gordon outpointed James Oliphant on his paid bow, while Summers impressed by comfortably seeing off Qasim Hussain over-the-distance.
The former now steps through the ropes with experienced Czech Jindrich Velecky, while the latter goes up against Leeds' Russ Midgeley.
Tickets, priced at £30 and £60 ringside, are still on sale from the Town Hall Box Office on 0845 111 2900 and on the door tonight.
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