Interview with Scott 'Ding Ding' Belshaw by Steve Wellings Jan 21st 2008

Northern Ireland heavyweight prospect Scott “Ding Ding” Belshaw made quite a stir entering the pro game with a ten-second knockout win followed by five further stoppages in six fights thus far. A promising career hit the buffers in the summer of 2007 when a bad car crash left Scott wondering it he would still be able to walk let alone fight again. After months of rehabilitation to get back into shape and contention, the unbeaten Aghalee man is ready to return to the ring on Saturday 26th January at the Neptune Sports Complex, Cork when he meets Latvian veteran Alexandre Borhovs. I caught up with Scott to ask him about the ongoing recovery from serious injury, a mouth watering clash with Martin Rogan and the origins of that nickname. Welcome Scott and firstly could you tell us a little bit about your amateur background and the reasons behind turning professional? I started amateur at 14 but couldn't get a fight until I was 16. They couldn't get me a match so I had to fight for the all Ireland's but there was only one other super-heavyweight in it and I won. In my second fight I went straight into the intermediates and I was fighting Ryan Corbett (brother of former crowd pleaser Darren) who had more fights than me but I won by stoppage. I didn't have many amateur fights and was only fighting on average two or three times a year with Lisburn ABC before moving to Eastside ABC and I won everything I went for except the seniors. I got outpointed by (Cathal) McMonagle in my first try at the Ulster seniors before I left Lisburn because I wasn't getting much sparring at that club. I ultimately turned pro after a final shot at the seniors in Dublin having been disqualified against a local fighter in the quarter finals for holding. I was ten points clear in the second round and this type of politics made up my mind to make the switch. You had a bad car accident at the end of June. How is the recovery coming along and what can you expect in your return bout? I've been training very hard and even though some people think I'm rushing back after a broken kneecap I know the bone's healing up really well and there's obviously some pain but that's to be expected. The doctor is happy with my recovery and I'm really focused having been running up mountains and sparring in my first session back with Cathal (McMonagle) which felt good. I‘ve been sparring John O'Brien (also featuring on the Cork show) and Mike Perez (Cuban Heavyweight exile) who is a very good southpaw and his coach was impressed with me. What are your professional aspirations for the game and what would you like to achieve from the sport? I believe in not making too many predictions and continue training hard, keeping my feet on the ground and I don't see why I can't keep progressing on to do well at domestic level, if not further. You never know what's around the corner and I'm not stupid enough to say I'm going to be a world champion but I do my believe I've got a future and a career in this sport. I may not be the most technical fighter in the game but I know what I'm good at and the attributes that I do have are my height, strength and punching power. The next question was one Scott had no doubt heard a few times recently. What are your comments on a proposed showdown with fellow unbeaten Ulsterman Martin Rogan? To be honest I would like that match to happen, but this year will be one fight at a time and sometime in the future, if Martin wants it I think it would be a great showdown. It's on the lips and minds of everyone around Belfast and if me and Rogie can keep busy this year it could be built up in such a way as to become a big show for both of us. It wouldn't maybe be big enough to fill the King's Hall on it's own but could be on the undercard or maybe at the Ulster Hall when It's finished with renovations or perhaps Andersonstown. And what of Colin Kenna…..? Yes there is Colin Kenna but definitely Rogan first because it's going to be an explosive battle and you know with the way we both fight it's not going to last the distance! It's what people want to see and why not? Boxing has only started coming back to Ireland recently with John Duddy, Andy Lee and Bernard Dunne who got beat by Kiko. Tell me a little bit about your day to day training regime. Just what the average boxer would do in that I'm up in the morning and off for a good long run then I come back and have breakfast which consists of porridge, egg whites, a couple of pints of water and then back to bed for a couple of hours rest. I sometimes train in the afternoon with some weights and then rest before skipping, shadow boxing, sparring and a bit of bag work at night. I train very hard doing the circuits although sparring can be hard to get and I try to do a couple of really tough hill runs a week in Holywood to get the heart rate going and build up stamina. It's the only way for us heavy guys to get fit! You have only had six pro contests (five knockouts). What have you learned from your opponents so far? I would say in the past year and a half I have learned a lot more from sparring which is pretty much what (manager Frank) Maloney told me at the start. Not having much of an amateur background it's a learning curve and the fight I probably got the most from was against Paul King who was a very cagey character (well, he's certainly cagey now - Ed.) and the only one on the record that I didn't knock out. Sparring with the likes of John McDermott, Derek Chisora and some top amateurs has helped bring me along and I've even sparred Tyson Fury and Rogie (Martin Rogan) before as well. Since turning professional I would say I've come on an awful lot and I know there is still a lot of improvement to go. Where did the nickname “Ding Ding” come from? (laughs) Team Alio said if I wanted my pro debut on their show I would need a nickname and I didn't want one but they wanted a home crowd at the Holiday Inn for the first fight with all my family and friends there. He got the poster done and kept calling me “Ding Ding”; it's not a name I like but it was on the pre-fight poster and just stuck ever since. Are you looking forward to your return bout in Cork next Saturday (26 January) and has an opponent been named yet? I am really looking forward to it as my accident happened just three days after my last pro fight when I ploughed into a lorry upwards of 65 mph and they took me away on a stretcher with a neck brace as they thought my neck was broken. All sorts of thoughts were running through my head and not just boxing obviously but whether I was going to survive and for weeks I really believed I may never box again. Two weeks later they cut the cast off and asked me to move my leg and when I couldn't they did scans which revealed all the ligaments had been twisted and stretched. It seemed the leg might not be right again to run on so I'm very grateful and cannot wait to get the buzz of the ring back and have an explosive night in Cork. I do have an opponent but I'm not too sure of the name (Alexandre Borhovs) although he is a Latvian after we had problems getting journeymen over from England. They have this fighter secured from Europe now and those guys are tough and I'll be ready. Brian Peters will have a good few shows this year and I'm looking to get myself on a few of them so keep an eye out. We will certainly keep an eye out and if Scott's previous bouts are anything to go by, it may well be another “blink or you'll miss it” affair.

Go back Comment on this article | Send to a friend | Print

There are no comments. Click here to be the first who comment on this article.