One Barnsley man is hoping to win the English title tomorrow and another is looking to keep hold of his on what could go down in history as one of the town's finest boxing nights.
An expected 550 people from Barnsley will bolster the crowd at the 1,500 sellout at the Doncaster Dome. Former junior stablemates Josh Wale and Robbie Barrett will hope to win English title fights on the same bill promoted by their manager Stefy Bull.
Brampton's Wale, 28, was in sight of an English title belt just a few weeks ago – but he refused to touch it. It was at his amateur club's show in Mexborough where his sparring partner Jason Cunningham had brought along his belt so youngsters could have their pictures taken with it. Wale passed up the opportunity because he reckons he will have his own very shortly.
He said: "I have never touched belts, only the ones I've won. It's just a thing that boxers do. They won't touch them until they have earned them. I might have earned it in every sense but I haven't got it yet. I will hold it come Saturday night."
Wale takes on Hayes' Ramesh Ahmadi for the vacant bantamweight title. Ahmadi, 22, who was born in Afghanistan, is a mere novice compared to Wale and has won five of his seven professional outings but was knocked out in his last contest. He looks like an easy target for Wale, but the Brampton man disputes that.
He said: "He will be up for it but I wouldn't care who it was in front of me. I'm at the stage in my career now where I have had so many kicks, bad decisions and injuries that coming back is second nature to me. I have come back from it all and I won't be denied no matter who the opponent is. That might be by knockout or however the win comes."
As much as being English champion would mean to Wale, the former two-time British and Commonwealth title challenger maintains he can do better.
"I don't see any point in staying around as English champion once I win it. We will push on but that's irrelevant for the time being because I have got to get Saturday out of the way before I can think about that. I have shown that I can operate at, at least, British title level."
Meanwhile, Barrett has grown so attached to his title that he has no intention of letting it go tomorrow night at the Doncaster Dome. The 25-year-old from Darfield made light work of winning the title as he outclassed Marcus Ffrench for the lightweight belt last year.
It ensured the softly-spoken southpaw's quiet ascent up the rankings continued. He knows a lot of the hard work would be undone if he lost to Grimsby's Kevin Hooper, who unsuccessfully challenged British champion Scott Cardle in his last outing. But Barrett believes Hooper, 32, will offer him a stern challenge as he bids to win back his former belt. He insists the fight will be determined by what he brings to the ring.
Barrett said: "All I can do is focus on myself. I don't know whether Kevin is going to be slow or look his age on the night. "I have just got to be fit enough for whatever happens on the night."
Barrett prepared for the contest by joining Norwich's unbeaten 'world-class' Liam Walsh on a training camp in Spain for sparring and training.
"Sparring with a world-class fighter like Liam and being in the warm weather is ideal preparation. I am really excited for the fight now. It has come about quickly and being English champion is my ticket to the top. I don't want to let go of it and I really can't afford to slip up."
Barrett is anticipating a 'mental atmosphere' given that he and Wale have sold at least 200 tickets each.
"A lot of the people who have bought tickets know us both so will be cheering us on. It'll be mental," he added.
