Parades, top brass… Ginge from Shard End is hailed as a star in Sierra Leone
Ginge makes a splash in Sierra Leone. He beat the military champ
WHILE the world eagerly awaits Tyson Fury’s tussle with Oleksandr Usyk, Sierra Leone is still buzzing following its own superfight – featuring Brummie heavyweight “Ginge from Shard End”.
The YouTube brawler has made unlicenced boxing history by travelling – all expenses paid – to the west African country to face its military champ Tommy Lee.
Ginge, who runs a café in Shard End, received a civic reception, was paraded through the packed streets of capital city Freetown in an open top vehicle and sparked a media frenzy.
That’s heady stuff for a 34-year-old whose fighting career began when a video of him slinging punches on a pub car park went viral.
Incredibly the Sierra Leone package included business class flights and accommodation for Ginge, who was born plain Liam Smyth, and three mates.
Money-wise, it’s peanuts compared to the fortune shared by Fury and Usyk in Riyadh on Saturday.
But the cash splashed and the fanfare surrounding Ginge’s six rounder is a very big deal on Britain’s white collar boxing circuit.
The father-of-four – soon to be a grandfather – emerged victorious from the April 27 scrap, organised by Sierra Leone’s boxing federation. At Lumley Beach, Freetown, Ginge dropped his opponent in the fourth and won by split decision.
Ginge from Shard End is paraded through the streets
“It was the best experience of my life,” he said. “They treated us like kings, I was on all the news outlets, there was a parade, I met the sports minister.
“We fought on the 63rd anniversary of country’s independence and all the important people were there.
“It was the best fight of my life. I put him down in the fourth round, I gave him the best punch of my life. He was out, but they gave him about five minutes to recover and sent him back out.”
Ginge says his YouTube videos caught the eye of boxing officials in Sierra Leone and the bout has been two years in the making.
It’s the stuff of dreams for a man who admits to brushes with the law in his younger days.
Ginge first took the internet by storm after the unsavoury footage of an altercation on Birmingham’s Hunters Moon pub car park went viral in 2019. He and others are seen throwing punches at an individual.
“It made me look bad,” Ginge admits. “It’s out there, it’s history.”
Armed with that slice of notoriety, he began an unlicenced career and has lost only one of 10 contests.
Ginge is aware of his limitations. “I don’t think I’d ever make a British champion,” he admitted. “I can handle myself. I’m a man with the will to win and I have a lot of bottle. I’ve always been a popular guy in my area.
“Do you think I would’ve had the opportunity to do what I’ve just done if I was professional?”
Ginge (centre) mixes with fans…and is now looking for a re-match
He has become an anti knife crime campaigner, but moans: “Birmingham City Council won’t talk to me.”
And Ginge is now fundraising for his patch. On August 4, he hopes to stage a charity day to help pay for AstroTurf at Shard End Boys Club.
The grand finale will be the rematch with Tommy Lee, Ginge hopes.
He’ll be hard pressed to repeat the razzmatazz of their first encounter. Parades and politicians are unlikely.