FOR almost 25 years, Glenn McCrory has been able to revel in his status as the North-East's only boxing world champion.

Some decent fighters have been and gone since the Stanley cruiserweight saw off Patrick Lumumba in the somewhat inauspicious setting of the Louisa Leisure Centre, but none has been able to emulate a piece of North-East sporting history that remains unmatched.

Perhaps until tonight. When Darlington's Stuart Hall enters the ring in Leeds' First Direct Arena to take on South African Vusi Malinga for the IBF World Bantamweight title, he will be attempting to write his name alongside McCrory's in the record books.

Unsurprisingly, there is a part of McCrory that would be disappointed to see his unique claim to fame disappear. After almost a quarter of a century, however, even the 49-year-old admits it is time for someone else to claim the limelight.

“If I'm honest, I've been happy to be the only world champion from this region,” said McCrory, who won the IBF world title via a unanimous points decision and went on to successfully defend it against Siza Makathini four months later. “It's quite something to be the only person to have ever done it, and I was always a bit anxious of somebody else following in my footsteps because then my record's gone.

“But I can honestly say, hand on heart, that Stuey's a good lad and I like him a lot. So I'd be very happy to see him become a success.

“We waited a long time for somebody to do it at all, and now 25 years is a long time to wait for another world champion to come along. It would mean an awful lot.

“I wasn't give much chance, but I did it, and Stuey has had a similar ride. I don't think many people would have given him a chance, but he's here now and I think the North-East would be very proud if he could do it.”

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Prior to fighting for the world title, McCrory had suffered five defeats in the space of a year, a record that led one boxing publication to label him a “human punching bag”.

He refused to throw in the towel though, and battled back to record a string of notable victories that propelled him to world level. Even so, when he entered the ring against Lumumba, few people outside of the North-East gave him much of a hope of victory.

“I was training up near Consett in a bit of a makeshift training camp, and I don't think it had all sunk in at that point,” said McCrory. “Then I read in one of the papers a headline that said, 'Glenn's a Goner!'

“It shook me a bit. It was happening in my home town – this world title fight – and even people there didn't think I had a chance.

“I started to get worried about letting people down and there were all sorts of things running through my head in the build up to the fight. Then a switch in me turned on, and I started thinking about what it meant to me, my family, my brother and the people of the North-East.

“I remember saying to myself, 'I'll die for this'. I don't think he (Lumumba) was prepared to do that. I don't think it meant as much to him.”

The parallels with Hall's position are obvious, with tonight's world-title contender also having followed an unconventional route to the top.

Hall gave up boxing during his teenage years and went on a five-year sabbatical in Ibiza before returning to England to resume his fighting career.

He did not turn professional until he was 28, with his first fight taking place in front of a handful of people in the Engineers' Club on Darlington's North Road.

Without an attachment to a major city or boxing club, his profile remains somewhat low key despite tonight's appearance on the world stage, something McCrory can relate to.

“Neither of us is from Sunderland or Newcastle,” he said. “I was in an unfashionable weight division, with cruiserweight being a new division, and never really got my just desserts, and I think Stuart's the same.

“I think the North-East is a poor relation in everything. We're kind of up in the forgotten area of the UK and England. People would probably say, 'I don't even know where Darlington is'. I'm from Stanley, and people in Darlington probably don't know where that is!

“If you're from Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool or London, which are all fight towns and have histories of fighters winning world titles, then it's easier than coming from somewhere like Darlington or Stanley.

“Not many people from the North-East have done anything in boxing, and I think we also suffer because this is a football-mad area too.”

All that could change if Hall wins tonight, and if the raucous scenes at yesterday's weigh in are anything to go by, there is sure to be an electric atmosphere once the real action begins in Leeds.

McCrory credits his home town support as a huge factor in his 1989 success, and while Leeds might be an hour or so down the A1 from Darlington, the convoy of coaches that will leave from the Dolphin Centre this afternoon should guarantee that Hall is not fighting alone.

Malinga might boast a superior pedigree to his opponent as he has fought unsuccessfully for a world title on two previous occasions and pushed the hugely impressive Leo Santa Cruz reasonably close when last challenging for the IBF title a year-and-a-half ago.

However, Hall will not be taking any backward steps tonight, and McCrory feels his bravery and desire could yet prove crucial factors in the final outcome.

“Malinga's operated at world level,” he said. “He's a good fighter, but I think Stuey, with the fans behind him, can pull it off. Obviously when you jump to world class, it's a big step up, and he's going to have to box the fight of his life because Malinga will want to win it as well.

“But I think Stuey has the grit and determination. He's got the qualities you need to become a world champ. He's got self-belief, he's tough, he can box and he can fight – now he has to put it all together and go out there and do it.”