THEY have been around for over a century, and Lambton Street Amateur Boxing Club are set to celebrate their considerable heritage with a major show on Friday night, writes Peter Mann.  

Having appeared at the Stadium of Light in February, Lambton Street's fighters will return to the ring at the Rainton Meadows Arena, in Houghton-le-Spring, as their club celebrates a hundred years of history in one night.

Lambton Street, who are one of the oldest amateur clubs in Europe, were formed in 1901, and following the recent return of secretary Gary Bunting, the Sunderland-club continue to go from strength to strength.

Bunting said: "We are hoping to have a cracking turn out on the night and usually the last week or so sees ticket sales soar.

"I’m definitely looking at a thousand plus sales beforehand and then the added footfall on the night itself. There’s also the reunion aspect of it, which will see people from across Wearside, and further afield, attending the show.

“The bigger and better these shows are then the more reinvestment the club will receive. The busier the fighters are, and the more experience they get, then hopefully the better they will become as we are trying to bring both the club, and the sport of amateur boxing, forward. We need to be able to compete not only with ourselves in boxing but with other combat sports.”

The 'Big Reunion’ will see approximately 14 bouts on the night with Lambton Street’s five seniors all fighting in contests of three, three-minute rounds.

Bunting said: "Warren Cassap is a seven-time national champion, Jordan Rought is a three-time national finalist, Anth Mackintosh is in his warm-up, comeback season ahead of an assault on next year’s ABAs, Ryan Daley lost in this year's to the eventual champion and we’ve Curtis Todd as well.

"It’s a good warm-up for them as they’ll be heading to the Haringey Cup not long after this show as well.”

Cassap has plenty of experience as an amateur and, with those seven nationals neatly tucked away at home, is adamant he can add more, arrowing in on the Haringey Cup as one for the trophy cabinet.

He said: “It will be a great experience and I know what to expect so I‘m putting the hard graft in and will go there to win. It’s a massive achievement to win that tournament.”

It’s also a tournament Rought is looking towards as he targets next year’s ABAs. He added: “This show sets us up nicely for the Haringey Cup at Alexandra Palace which is going to be a great experience for us all.

“It’s definitely like a pro-setup here and turning professional is something I’ll look at in the future but not yet as I am wanting to learn my way around the ring, my ring craft a lot more as well as taking another shot at the ABAs next year.

"I lost to the second-ranked fighter this year but I’m hungry for it and gave it a go so, if I keep going and fighting regularly then I know my time will come.”

* Tickets are available via the hotline 07541667679 priced at £15, £20 and £30 for VIP/Ringside for ‘The Big Reunion Show’ at Rainton Meadows on Friday, June 5.