By John Hannen

When Frank Maloney, the man who helped guide the successful career of Lennox Lewis, says that Sunderland could well be the next big boxing city in the UK it is worth sitting up and taking notice.

The City of Sunderland has undergone some impressive regeneration over recent years.  Visit Sunderland and you will find a vibrant city, with a promising boxing scene to match.  Tony Jeffries, also known as ‘Jaffa’ or the ‘Mighty Makem’, has an Olympic bronze medal success behind him, and is the highest profile member of this scene. 

It is definitely an exciting time to be a boxing fan in the North East of England, with the opportunity to follow Tony's career as he begins his journey to convert excellent amateur achievements into professional success.

Tony's third professional fight takes place at the Seaburn Centre, on the picturesque Sunderland coast, this Friday night.  As is characteristic of a man who is down to earth and happy to talk, Tony took a little time out of preparations to talk to Boxingscene about his career so far.

With the history of boxing littered with fighters given the wrong advice, matched wrongly, or who were not prepared properly, it is crucial for a boxer to have the right team behind him.  In his short career to date, Tony’s had some upheavals in terms of promoters and trainers, I was keen to find out what life is like with Frank Maloney promoting and Bobby Rimmer in charge of training duties. 

Feedback from Tony, 24, was glowing; you definitely get the impression that he finally feels he has got the right team.  “I'm really happy with Frank Maloney, he's a good bloke,” explained Jeffries.  “There's a great atmosphere in the gym (with Bobby), we're all mates, and I'm getting some really good sparring and one-on-one training.” 

With boxing being a case of 'you only get out what you put in', how serious is Jeffries about achieving within the sport.  “I'm 100% committed to the sport,” he confirmed.  “You have to be.  I’m living down in Manchester five days a week, away from family and friends, just focusing on training, and learning as much as I can.” 

Evidence that Tony is serious about his boxing career is highlighted by the fact that, before his last fight, he sparred with European light-middleweight champion Jamie Moore.  How did Tony find this experience? 

He said: “I did four or five rounds with Jamie, who's my favorite fighter in the UK at the moment.  He's a southpaw, a European champion, and a really strong fighter.  It was great to spar with him and I've been trying to put into practice what I've learnt.”

Since returning from the Beijing Olympics, Tony’s had a fantastic reception from people in Sunderland, this was translated into great support when he boxed in the City for the first time as a pro in his last fight. 

“It was a fantastic atmosphere,” Tony recalled.  “And probably the best night of my life, everybody in Sunderland's really proud of me, and it's great to be able to fight in front of my home crowd”.

Tony is keen to learn as much as he can about the professional boxing game.  The opponent for Tony’s upcoming fight was, at the time of writing, unnamed, whoever is in the other corner, Tony hopes his foe is durable [Editor’s note: Tony will take on Ilya Shakuro, 2-1 (1), over four rounds].  With his last two fights being stopped in the first and second rounds respectively Tony is itching for rounds, as he explained.  “I won't mind if it goes the distance so I can get a few rounds under my belt.  Since the Olympics I’ve only had three rounds, so in some ways the longer it goes the better.”

All in all the UK hasn’t had a bad history of super-middleweight fighters over recent years.  With the likes of Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank plying their trade during the 1990’s, I asked Jaffa who his favorite fighter was from this particular era.  “I remember Eubank entering the ring on a motorbike to 'Simply The Best' and would probably say that he was my favorite,” he said.  “It was a brilliant time for British boxing, it would be great to have that sort of thing again in the future”. 

Tony may yet get his wish for another golden era, one in which the elite UK super-middleweights face each other.  There is the potential for lots of exciting fights within the 168lb division in the UK, with emerging youngsters like George Groves coming through, fighters like Tony Quigley making their mark, and the iron-chinned Carl Froch currently ruling the world.  If and when the time comes, Tony Jeffries will be right there in the mix. 

Talking to Tony it is clear that he is very level headed; he knows that it is still early days as far his boxing career goes, talk turned to the future, and Frank Maloney's prediction that Tony will be fighting for the Commonwealth Title in just 18-months time.  “I'm not thinking that far down the line at the moment,” Jeffries explained.  “I just want to take one fight at a time, learn as much as I can, and put on a good show.  I'm really looking forward to the 10th of July.  Frank Maloney has promised that he'll keep me busy fighting, and that's just what I want”.

By the end of the conversation it was clear that Tony’s feeling settled and enjoying life as a pro.  “I'm happy and enjoying my work,” he confirmed.  “And like any job if you're happy then it shows in how you perform.”  Tony Jeffries isn't the kind to make bold future predictions – so I'll do it for him! 

The Mighty Makem to one day headline at the Stadium Of Light fighting for a world title – do not bet against it.

Sky TV are covering Tony's fight here in the UK this Friday, the bill will be topped by the British super-flyweight title between Lee Haskins v Ross Burkinshaw.