Windle and Willetts land major fights in the Cayman Islands
Windle (right) and McCubbin after Wednesday’s spar
I’M seriously considering penning the Matt Windle story and peddling the script to prospective publishers.
Problem is, I fear they’ll find the work too far-fetched. “Rocky already cornered the market on boxing fiction,” I can hear them say.
On December 8, close to 5,000 miles away from the bustle and bleak weather of pre-Christmas Birmingham, another chapter in the near incredible Windle saga is written.
Under the beating Caribbean sunshine, Matt will make the first defence of his Commonwealth light-flyweight title…in the Cayman Islands.
That, for a fighter I’ve witnessed on a number of occasions in Birmingham small Hall scraps, is bizarre enough.
“Bizarre” becomes downright surreal when you consider tough Yorkshireman Craig Derbyshire will be in the opposite corner.
Windle said: “When I started boxing, I didn’t, in my wildest dreams, think I’d be fighting a man from Doncaster for a title in the Cayman Islands.”
None of us did, Matt. “But isn’t that just my story?” he added.
He’s not the only local fighter on the bill. Talented Sutton Coldfield bantam Tori-Ellis Willetts has also been given her chance to shine under the sunshine. I understand the bout will be her first 10 rounder.
The question on everyone’s lips is, why the Cayman Islands?
Windle was to have faced an unbeaten Canadian in the paradise setting – a bout he believed was “in the bag”.
When the intended opponent pulled out – and with the whole show in place, Derbyshire stepped into the breach.
He’s a solid, seasoned replacement who has faced the best at domestic level. Derbyshire took the English flyweight title by outpointing Joe Maphosa in 2021 and last year drew in a British title scrap scrap with Tommy. This year he lost on points to Connor Butler for the Commonwealth flyweight crown.
But Derbyshire has never made light-fly – and, at the age of 32, that’s surely going to be a struggle.
Mind you, Windle, aged 33, did it. After a career spent at flyweight, he shed those stubborn four pounds to stop Siphelele Myeza last October for the Commonwealth belt, breathing life into a division considered dead and buried in Britain.
“I think Craig Derbyshire is a very good fighter,” Windle said. “People may look at his record and poo-poo him, but go through his record. When he’s given a title opportunity, he takes it on and comes through.
“He’s strong, very physical, really fit and ready to go. Obviously, I imagine he’s going to be strong, but it’s a tough weight to make. If you could always lose four pounds every fight, every fighter would get down to light-fly.”
I spoke to Windle after he’d sparred former opponent Neil McCubbin on Wednesday.
“Training is good,” he said. “You’ll always have days when you’re tired, days when you’re sore, days when you’re hungry, sometimes a mixture of all three, but it’s going well.”
And if Matt beats Derbyshire, a world title shot becomes a reality, not a pipedream. That would be some final chapter to the Matt Windle story.
Tor-Ellis Willetts…faces tough Canadian on the bill
*Former decorated amateur Willetts faces Canadian Shelly Barnett on the show. Barnett, aged 40, has won five of 15 (two draws).
The Maple Leaf boxer faces, in Willetts, a 28-year-old who looks something special. She’s won three and dazzled last time, dishing out a painful boxing lesson to experienced Ivanka Ivanova.
Max McCracken, the man guiding Willetts’ progress, said: “The Canadian’s tough and Tori has to be switched on. Barnett can make you pay if you’re not on your game.”
Max has high hopes for his boxer. In a previous interview, he told me: “I’d be shocked if she didn’t win a world title, she has all the qualities.
“She come on loads and is a dream to train, always listening, always eager to learn. She’s up at five, in the gym at six, then goes to work, then back to me.”