twenty six wrote:Darren didn't get special attention at Wincobank - fact is, no one does or ever has !
He always struck me as quite a reserved lad. He was quite shy when he first came over, but as is usual with gyms, particularly in the North, he began to come out of his shell.
What I meant by the sparring, is that at his time there, he was working with Witter, Rhodes, Nelson, Pickering, Keaton and maybe even Thaxton for a while.
Everyone got to spar with everyone else - that's the way at Wincobank.
I did however note that he had retained some defensive frailties, often a trait of the Sheffield lads but often made up for by speed of reaction and head movement in his latest fight.
Everyone that I know never had a bad word for him.
Sorry with the questions…. I’m just intrigued with this boxer. He’s now extremely confident, at the National Stadium in February last he got booed when he made his winning speech, granted he did go on a little!! He beat a very popular fighter over here called Darren O'Neill who has got lots of support. It was a cracking fight which Darren started off slow as he normally does but came back into with a bang and won, it was easily the fight of the night.
Did Darren come off well in the sparing sessions with those big name fighters, did people expect big things from him if like he was expected to turn pro? Why did he leave the Sheffield set up?
It’ll be interesting which promoter signs him up. As I’m sure you are aware Pro boxing all over Ireland is really kicking off and he could make a bit of money here, but a fighter like Darren who be suited to Friday Fight Night on Sky, they would love him on there.