STUEY HALL will be bidding to win a Lonsdale belt for keeps when he returns to action on April 9.

The popular Darlington fighter (10-0-1) will make the third defence of his British bantamweight title against John Donnelly at Rainton Meadows Arena, Houghton-le-Spring on Saturday April 9.

Hall, 31, shocked Ian Napa last June to become domestic king and showed great promise in subsequent defences against former champions Martin Power and Gary Davies.

A few years ago Hall was living a playboy life in Ibiza after growing disillusioned with amateur boxing, but regained his appetite after joining trainer Michael Marsden.

He said: “It is just down to hard dedication and Mick. I went off one life and come onto another.

“Mick has changed my life. I got lucky meeting him and he is one of the most straight up persons you’ll ever meet. He is a really nice bloke and knows so much.

“I turned pro and spoke about a Lonsdale belt. That became the target and nothing else mattered.

“Mick was able to give me one-to-one attention and so much of my success is down to him.”

Liverpool’s Donnelly, 26, has been beaten just once in 13 fights and will start an underdog, but he and trainer Dave Tonks are confident of causing an upset.

The battle of the little big men will be screened live by Sky Sports and is expected to draw a 2000 sell-out crowd.

WALSH DEFENDS TITLE AGAINST KAYS

 

Hot-shot Liam Walsh will defend his Commonwealth Super-Featherweight title on Saturday 19th March against John Kays.

 

The Norfolk star will travel into Kays' backyard for the fight at the Robin Park Arena, Wigan.

 

And the 24-year-old aims to put on an impressive display that could put him in line for a shot at WBO World Super-Featherweight champion Ricky Burns.

 

Promoter Frank Warren will stage the show in association with Steve Wood at VIP Promotions, the north west's number one boxing outfit, live on Sky Sports 1HD.

 

Walsh won his title against in a thriller against tough Ghanaian Maxwell Awuku at York Hall, his first 12 round fight.

 

It stretched the slick southpaw's unbeaten record to 10 fights, and he is now aiming to make it 11 from 11.

 

"I learnt more in that title fight than I had done in my nine previous ones," said Walsh.

 

"It's definitely made me into a much better fight, and my confidence is really buzzing now.

 

"I can't wait for this fight against Kays. I'll silence the crowd pretty quickly because I really can't see how he can beat me.

 

"At the moment it's all about sending out statements because the super-featherweight division in the UK is a hot one.

 

"Obviously the man I want is WBO champion Ricky Burns. But if my promoter Frank Warren gets me the likes of Stephen Ormond or Paul Appleby, I'll be more than happy."

 

Kays, 27, has a 13-1 record and comes into the fight off the back of a stoppage victory over Dai Davies.

 

The show has an action paced undercard featuring top prospects Kevin Satchell, Rick Godding, Stephen Jennings, Ryan Farrag, Stephen Harkin, Rob Beech, Mark Evans, James Burke, David Pryce and Chris Johnson.

Ilford Amateur boxer Umar Sadiq started the year in knockout fashion last week, by winning the 81kg class at the British University and Colleges 2011 Championships held at the Coventry University Students' Union facility.

23 year old Umar secured his place in Sunday’s final in stunning fashion, after knocking out Northumbria’s Chavez Pattison in just 42 seconds of the first round. Umar then followed this feat up in the final, against Coventry’s Alex Mellor, with a second round stoppage finish.

The perfect start to his season came at just the right time as Umar will be taking part in the ABA North East London championship, which are held in Hainault, Essex, and start this coming Thursday.

Umar, who fights out of Repton Boxing Club, spoke about his Golden performance following a work out session at the Ultrachem TKO Gym in Canning Town,  “It’s the second gold I’ve won, I’ve been quite inactive.

The last competition I was in was the novices, but I got beat in that. I was a Middleweight, struggling to make the weight. Before that I was in the Haringey Boxing Club competition and I got Gold in that.

I got a bye to start with then two fights, the semifinal and the final. In the semi-finals I stopped the opponent in 42 seconds and in the final I countered the guy in the first round and stopped him in the second.

Obviously those opponents will not be the same level as I’ll be facing in the ABAs later this week. It’s confidence boosting stuff, but I’m not going to let it get to my head and think that I’ll stop people. I’ll go out there and try and box my way to victory.

Hopefully now I’ll be a bit more active since I’ve moved to Repton. I’m a lot stronger at Light Heavyweight. I’ve put a lot more work on in the gym. Good things to come hopefully.”