Ingle still the man to find serious talent

Sheffield Star Bob Westerdale12th June, 2009

Despite having clocked up over 60 years in boxing Brendan Ingle's infectious enthusiasm for the sport shows no sign of diminishing.

The Ingle name has become synonymous with the careers of renowned champions such as 'Prince' Naseem Hamed, Junior Witter, Johnny Nelson and Herol 'Bomber' Graham and the conveyor belt of champions from the legendary Wincobank gym in Sheffield shows no signs of slowing down.

Two of the gym's brightest talents will see action the Robin Park Arena in Wigan on Saturday.

Ingle believes that lightweight contender Nadeem Siddique and 18-year-old featherweight protégé Steve "Super Bad" Barnes, are two to look out for.

Reigning Central Area Champ Siddique will be looking to bounce back from the first defeat of his 23 fight career when he takes on Southern Area title holder Tom Glover.

Ingle has no concerns about the 31-year-old. "All fighters have setbacks and its how you come back from those setbacks that matter. He's a big family man and he took some time out after the defeat to spend some time with them and to rest a back injury but he's been back in the gym a while now and he's been training hard.

"He's a very exciting lad and I expect him to be back to his best on Saturday night."

Ingle will also be on hand in Wigan to check on the progress of Barnes who despite only turning 18 last month has already racked up two wins in the pro ranks.

"People should look out for this kid because trust me, he can fight," enthused Ingle. "He's something else and one of those young lads you see coming through and think to yourself, 'he's that little bit special'. He won four National titles as an amateur and I think he'll finish up in the pro game having won everything out there. He really is that good.

"He can do it all, he can box orthodox, southpaw and switch from one to the other but he just loves to get in there and have a fight as well. He's a very quiet, serious kid."

Siddique and Barnes feature on the undercard of the Hennessy Sports' Rule Britannia event, live on ITV4 . The main event sees John Murray making the second defence of his British Lightweight title against reigning English Champ Scott Lawton

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