Callum and River - a tale of two fighters

Callum Singh…put forward by the Board for a title fight

CALLUM Singh and River Wilson-Bent are two men at different ends of the boxing spectrum.

And for that reason, they present trainer Brendan Norman and manager Jon Pegg with very different problems.

Both fighters, who train out of the Bulkington gym, are currently awaiting a call to arms – it’s merely a case of finding the right bouts at this stage in their careers.

For unbeaten Singh, the future looks very bright. The 23-year-old wants a title fight next and is in line to get it. The Midlands Board of Control have called for Callum and Leicester’s Brandon Potter to meet for the vacant area bantamweight crown, with purse bids currently being sought for the clash.

At 31, River – one of the game’s true gladiators – is on the final leg of a fine, exciting career spent at top level.

The former Midlands middleweight champ is not yet ready to hang-up his gloves, but that day beckons. After a succession of tough fights, River needs to be matched sensibly, perhaps even carefully.

It is a tale of two boxers: one at the beginning, one near the end.

Singh, who has peeled off seven wins, is a smooth punching operator who showed his true ability last time out by dropping and outpointing Midlands super-flyweight champ Sean Bruce.

It was a bitter-sweet experience for the quiet man of Norman’s gym. The October bout should’ve been for the title, but Callum came in overweight and, instead, it went ahead over eight rounds. Only one stubborn pound prevented him from being a champ.

How Singh, who stands 5ft 8ins, managed to squeeze his long frame into the super-fly division is beyond this writer, frankly. It must have been an ordeal.

He and his team have now bowed to the inevitable and stepped-up a division. I don’t see Callum remaining at bantam for too long: he’s still growing and may one day even move to junior-lightweight.

“It’s a matter of getting the right fights,” Pegg said. “We’d like a title fight for Callum, either Midlands or English – he’s good enough.

“He’s a bantam, he tried to make super-fly but couldn’t quite do it. People talk about the weight advantage in his win over Sean Bruce, but he must’ve really punished himself to get down to that and still produced a great performance.”

River Wilson-Bent…one of the game’s true gladiators

River has never been in a bad fight – he’s given fans their money’s worth and then some. And he’s mixed it with the division’s real iron, facing such formidable opposition as Tyler Denny, Ammo Williams, Ryan Kelly and Hamzah Sheeraz.

Last time out, it appeared the wars had caught up with the brave contender. Big-punching Shakiel Thompson stopped him in three.

Pegg said: “River has had a superb career and is sensible enough to know he’s reaching the end of it. He still wants to compete, still wants to be in good fights so it’s a question of picking the right ones.

“The problem is, River’s so game and brave. It doesn’t matter if they can really hit, he’ll still go straight at them. That’s the way he is, that’s the way he will always be.”

And that’s why caution needs to be applied.