Johnny Nelson makes a comeback…as a singer?! by Ian McNeilly Jul 22nd 2008

Boxers from Brendan Ingle's stable face fighters from Glyn Rhodes' gym in what is being billed as a contest over 'Six Rounds of Soul' in their home city of Sheffield on August 7th. It's all for charity, of course. A high-profile role in Sheffield is that of the 'Master Cutler' - a historic position deriving from the city's world-famous heritage in the steel industry. Throughout his year of office, each Master Cutler seeks to champion the manufacturing industries and chooses specific charities to work with. This year's Master Cutler, Gordon Bridge, has chosen to support the fantastic work done by the staff and associates of St Luke's Hospice in Sheffield and Rotherham Hospice. An annual 'Master Cutler's Challenge' is issued - anyone can enter (there is an upper limit of 100 which is invariably reached) and is given £50 and has "six months to grow it by as much as is legally and ethically possible, all in a good cause," according to the rules of the competition. The success of Britishboxing.net is reflected by many people believing that we are the ‘official' website for the sport in the UK. Understandable, as a simple ‘boxing' web search on Google sees us on page one and another for ‘British boxing' sees us right at the top – above the British Boxing Board of Control. All well and good but the downside is that myself and Kevin Taylor have to field the most irrelevant and bizarre phone calls – recent highlights include discussions with puzzled African matchmakers; an American who wanted information on Blackpool Tower; and at 3am a drunken woman who had left her coat in a nightclub which must have appeared on our ‘venue search'. Mrs Taylor was particularly pleased with that one. One of my more leftfield calls this year came from a Sheffield singing teacher, Ali Heath Cook. At least she had the wherewithal to understand that hers was a somewhat unusual approach. After a discursive few minutes I realised that, yes, she really did want to teach boxers to sing and arrange some kind of harmonious cross-city gym war for the amusement of the general public. “I have two passions in my life – singing and boxing, so what better way to raise money for charity by combining the two?” said the disarmingly charming Heath Cook. “I am quite literally on my own in this challenge…all the other 99 participants are from large companies and have the resources and manpower behind them to put together their events. So for me this really is a challenge that is pushing me to the limit. It's like being down on points in the last round, so tired and knowing you have to knock your opponent out in order to win and on one in your corner to spur you on!” Now, Brendan has been getting his young charges to sing while they shadow box for years. Don't ask me – but you can guarantee there'll be method in his madness. I remember when he got one of his young uns to mumble through ‘I can sing a rainbow' whilst shadow boxing to showcase this ingenious and typically idiosyncratic training method. The thing is, we were on radio at the time. Heath Cook explains her take on the links between boxing and singing training: “I've found that the way that I teach my pupils to sing is not dissimilar to how a boxer trains for a fight. It's all mental preparation, visualization, strength, stamina, rhythm, timing, belief, confidence.” One of Brendan's former boxers – one whom the great man himself felt could have gone all the way with more dedication – Glyn Rhodes, now a successful trainer in his own right (John Fewkes being the starlet), is always up for a laugh. So, Ali Heath Cook has gone from teaching the likes of Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys fame and singing with luminaries such as Richard Hawley to trying to get a tune out of the likes of Ross Burkinshaw. The young bantamweight makes enough noise, so she's got something to work with anyway. “I've have great fun teaching all the guys,” said Heath Cook. “Some of them have found another string to add to their bow, but above all else they have taken this challenge seriously and have been so committed to turning up every week for their lessons. Some of them are asking for extra lessons outside of their camp's lessons and one of them wants to come every day for lessons!” Getting top billing is former WBO cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson who must have a head start in this type of thing seeing as he looks like he could step straight off the Sky Sports set into a Drifters tribute band. Other boxers involved from the Ingle camp are Adam Kelly, Naveed Younis and Lee Duncan. Glyn Rhodes himself will be setting a vocal example himself accompanied by the aforementioned Burkinshaw, Fewkes, Jez Wilson, Matt Mowatt and a 13-year-old nipper who simply goes by the stage name of 'Joseph'. A special hand picked group of musicians have been put together for the boxers to sing with and have aptly been named ‘The Corner Men'. The finale will see both stables singing together, in the ring, in perfect harmony for the knockout ‘Final Round', but they'll have to contend with ‘The All Sheffield Heavyweight Funk Champions' – Grey Cooper Love Party – an 11 piece original roots funk band. This intriguing sounding event takes place at the Holiday Inn Sheffield (Royal Victoria Hotel) on the evening of Thursday 7th August, 7.30-11.30pm. Oh, there'll be a boxing exhibition too and the obligatory auction. Tickets for an event of this kind are quite cheap - £30 – and remember, it's all for very worthy charities. Dress to impress – tickets available from Ali Heath Cook on 0771 3608464.

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