THE North-East boxing scene is gearing up for one of its biggest ever weekends as Rainton Meadows Arena prepares for sell-out shows on consecutive nights.

Birtley fighter Jon-Lewis Dickinson will make the second defence of his British cruiserweight title against Mike Stafford on Friday, April 19.

Dickinson impressively brushed aside fellow North-Easterner David Dolan in February, and is hoping to win the Lonsdale Belt outright before stepping up to European level.

A packed crowd is expected for a night that will also feature Sunderland's Prizefighter champion Glenn Foot, Danny Hughes, Kirk Goodings, Paul Truscott and Shafiq Asif.

However, the Frank Maloney-promoted bill is only one half of a stellar weekend of boxing as a rapid turnaround will see Rainton Meadows, which is in Houghton-le-Spring, stage the Senior ABAE Championship finals on Saturday, April 20.

The finals, which are historically known as the senior ABAs, are the biggest tournament on the amateur scene, and generally regarded as a crucial staging post for future competitors at the Olympic Games.

The likes of Bradley Saunders, Anthony Joshua and Luke Campbell are former senior ABA champions and with a number of North-East competitors through to the semi-final stage, the region's fight fans could be able to witness some local talent setting out on the road to the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

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THERE has been a lot of speculation about Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United line-up at the Stadium of Light this afternoon.

With the champions-in-waiting due to face Chelsea in an FA Cup quarter-final replay on Monday, it has been suggested that Ferguson will opt to rest players given his side's 15-point advantage over Manchester City.

However, The Insider cannot forget Ferguson's fury on the final day of last season when a large number of Sunderland supporters mirrored City's Poznan dance to celebrate Sergio Aguero's last-minute winner against QPR.

Back then, Ferguson vowed to extract his revenge. Might he hit back today by naming an unexpectedly strong team?

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TODAY'S game at the Stadium of Light has been designated 'Nelson Mandela Day' to celebrate the recent tie-up between the Black Cats and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Sunderland's players will wear special t-shirts for the pre-game warm up, before both teams take the field through a guard of honour of young fans wearing Nelson Mandela Foundation t-shirts, along with 11 specially chosen mascots.

A flag bearing the foundation's logo will be displayed pitchside and African musicians, the Abatimbo Drummers of Burundi, will play before the match and at half-time.

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TWO of the north's most famous ex-jockeys will return to the saddle when Aintree stages its Grand National meeting next Saturday.

The opening race of the day is the John Smit's Aintree Legends Charity Race, a 1m 5f flat race that raises funds for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust.

This year's race will feature Kevin Darley, who was the British flat champion jockey in 2000, and George Duffield, who rode more than 2,500 winners on the flat from his base in North Yorkshire.

Former Grand National winners Jim Culloty, Tony Dobbin, Carl Llewellyn, Marcus Armytage, Jimmy Frost and Hywel Davies are also involved, along with Michael and Richard Hills.