AN appeal for memorabilia from when Glenn McCrory landed the Cruiserweight title of the world has harvested an incredible cache.

With the 30th anniversary approaching in June, the former champion’s coach, Alan Walker, said he remembers it as if it was yesterday.

The 76-year-old, who lives in Castleside, near Consett, has a treasure trove of items from the days when the boxing world and the international media was focused on the Louisa Centre, in Stanley.

Despite being live on television, 1,500 people bought tickets for the match and crammed into the sports centre’s main hall.

Mr Walker said: “Glenn may have been the underdog, but he was well prepared physically and mentally for the occasion.

“He boxed like a true champion and was always in the lead.”

There are pictures of the pair in their makeshift training camp of portacabins on the Consett Moors, which they ran to every morning, a far cry from the luxury that title challengers are used to today.

There is also an image of the two of them with McCrory’s world champion’s belt.

Mr Walker has posters, programmes, leaflets and the jacket he wore for the occasion.

It is in pristine condition with the words “‘Gentleman’ Glenn McCrory” on the back.

McCrory’s rise to becoming the North-East’s first world champion boxer, aged 24, will be played out on stage in a new one-man play called Carrying David.

Penned by Ed Waugh, the play will tour the region in June, stopping off in Newcastle, Hartlepool, Whitley Bay and South Shields.

The show, starring Micky Cochrane, comes to Alun Armstrong Theatre, Stanley, on Monday, June 3, to mark the 30th anniversary of Glenn’s historic victory.

Another bit of memorabilia is a bell engraved with details of Glenn’s follow-up fight when he successfully defended his world title against South African Siza Makathini in Eston Sports Academy, Middlesbrough, on September 21, 1989.

Neil Kerr, 66, from Consett, who owns the bell, said: “It came out of the Louisa Centre. I suspect it was used for the world title fight 30 years ago and later inscribed to commemorate both Glenn’s defence of the world Cruiserweight title and Billy Hardy’s victory on September 10 when he won the British Bantamweight title against Brian Holmes in his hometown of Sunderland.

“That was a golden era for North-East boxing and the bell encapsulates that.”