AN amateur boxer is throwing in the towel in a national competition – because his next big fight clashes with his big day.

Stuart McCrone wisely chose wedding rings over the boxing ring by bowing out of the Amateur Boxing Association’s senior championships.

Mr McCrone made it to the last eight of the light heavyweight class by securing the Tyne, Tees and Wear area title last weekend.

But hours after his victory, he saw the date for the quarter finals and realised he must give up his dream of a national title to fulfil a bigger dream and marry his partner of 12 years, Lesley-Ann Hewitt.

The couple travel to Manchester on May 1 to fly to the Dominican Republic with son Spencer, six, and eight other relatives the next day – the same weekend as the next round of the ABA contest.

They are to marry on the beach on Monday, May 11.

Mr McCrone, a classroom assistant at Darlington’s Education Village, said: “I try to focus on one fight at a time, so I didn’t realise until after I’d won that the dates would clash.

“I was over the moon with the win and thought this was my chance to go further in the competition than I have before.

“But I’ve got my priorities right – I love boxing, but love Lesley-Ann more.”

Miss Hewitt, manager for bookmakers Ladbrokes, added: “I would have loved him to progress in the ABAs.

“But we cannot change our plans, as we’ve other people travelling with us – and it has taken ten years to plan our wedding.”

Mr McCrone, 32, has gone close to landing the national title before, but luck was rarely on his side.

He had his first fight in 1990 when his club, Spennymoor Boxing Academy, travelled to Canada and has since won 90 of his 128 bouts.

But it is the ABA title he most covets, having made it to the semi-final three years ago, only to be beaten by Olympic gold medalist James DeGale.

The unfortunate timing this year means Mr McCrone has just one season left to challenge for a national title, as he must retire at 34.

Spennymoor academy director of coaching Robert Ellis said: “Stuart is a real role model to our younger members and we’d love him to win a national title, but it wasn’t to be this year.

“He’s been to the ABA quarters four times and always gone out to the eventual winner.

Maybe in his last year he will go out on a high.”