Shayne Singleton forces the hand of the BBBofC following 20th triumph!

It seems Shayne Singleton’s destiny was pre-determined during the embryonic stages of his boxing career.
Shayne Singleton v Adam Jones - King George's Hall, BlackburnShayne Singleton v Adam Jones - King George's Hall, Blackburn
Shayne Singleton v Adam Jones - King George's Hall, Blackburn

In a pair of miniature boxing gloves, hovering below the rear view mirror of his parents’ car, two scraps of paper spelled out his fate.

The messages - taken from fortune cookies when the WBC International Silver welterweight champion was a 10-year-old amateur fighter at Sandygate ABC - read “You will get the recognition you deserve” and “You’ll become famous”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Karl Ince’s unbeaten pupil has done all he can to make that prediction a reality - winning all 20 of his professional contests accumulating four straps along the way. Now it’s over to the British Board of Control to play their part.

Shayne Singleton v Adam Jones - King George's Hall, BlackburnShayne Singleton v Adam Jones - King George's Hall, Blackburn
Shayne Singleton v Adam Jones - King George's Hall, Blackburn

“We stuck them in the little boxing gloves over my dad’s mirror in the car and a few cars later my mum mentioned it,” he said.

“I forgot about them. We got them out a couple of months ago after 15 years. I was at Sandygate then and I’d just had an amateur fight. There’s no Chinese meals for me now though!”

Singleton’s latest outing exacerbated the power he’s developed since stepping up from the 140lb division. His opponent, Adam Jones, was a 6ft Yorkshireman who naturally fought at middleweight. The pair met halfway, at light middleweight, to stage an exhilarating contest.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The 25-year-old hadn’t felt such sustained pressure since taking the English title from Curtis Woodhouse in March last year, but he took the challenge in his stride to take all six rounds.

Shayne Singleton v Adam Jones - King George's Hall, BlackburnShayne Singleton v Adam Jones - King George's Hall, Blackburn
Shayne Singleton v Adam Jones - King George's Hall, Blackburn

Singleton said: “His manager said to my promoter (Steve Wood) ‘I hope you’re not going to fall out with us when we upset the odds. We’re going to upset your golden boy’. They were up for it.

“I really enjoyed it. It was a good scrap and I like a bit of a scrap. I knew I was going to get that obviously with him being a bigger lad and fighting at middleweight.

“It was a good test to finish the season off. He’s never lost every round and I went in there and did that against a naturally bigger fighter.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“His guard was really tight and we knew it would be. I’ve been doing a lot of work on the body bag trying to drill body shots in. I’ve not really done that in a lot of my fights, just lately in the last three or four fights.

“I’ve been drilling it in to my make-up. It seems to be working. I brought the body shots in, his guard came down and I worked to the head. I felt like I was making him miss a lot as well, getting underneath his shots.”

Singleton added: “It’s 20 out of 20 now so we move on for a big fight early next year. I want that next whether it’s the British or the Commonwealth against anybody in the welterweight division.

“It’s great to get to 20 - I’ve counted up in fives so now I’m aiming for 25-0-0. I want the shots for the big titles. If the phone goes and I feel I’m ready to fight then I’ll fight. It’s going to be a big year for me in 2015.”