Kirk Goodings relishing title fight on Boxnation TV

Sunderland’s welterweight prospect Kirk Goodings is the main support fight on the David Price undercard on Friday night as he fights Steve Williams for the vacant British Masters title.

Goodings, who is unbeaten in his first seven outings, won the camp 24 competition in January 2011 earning him a promotional contract with Frank Warren and as a result trains and is managed by world acclaimed coach Tunde Ajayi at the famous Peacock gym.

Goodings is stepping in at the 11th hour against Williams, who was due to fight Darren Hamilton for the British light-welterweight title but Hamilton was forced to pull out due to injury.

The fight will take place at Aintree Racecourse on the Price/Skelton undercard and could feature on Boxnation TV, although it isn’t certain with the broadcaster televising Andrew Flintoff’s professional debut show at the same time.

Merseyside fighter Williams, who is still mandatory challenger for the British title, will prove a real test for Goodings and will be the Sunderland boxers first opponent with a winning record. For Goodings it is also his first fight since March of this year, but that shouldn’t be a problem because Williams has not fought since winning his British title eliminator last December.

Kirk said of the fight: “I was at work when Tunde [Ajayi] phoned saying I’d been offered the fight. I was shocked at first but this is an opportunity that I can’t turn down as this could offer more opportunities in the near future. I am a fighter and this is my passion so I think you can imagine how excited and relieved I am.”

Kirk may not go in as favourite but this is a huge opportunity for him and he is still confident.

“This is a huge opportunity in front of thousands of people and it could be my first fight on TV, so I am very excited. This is very important as it will open many door in the boxing game, the last time I fought was March 10th which is over half a year ago but this is boxing and sometimes it’s hard to get regular fights unless you’re a journeyman. It’s going to be difficult but I’ve seen videos and have a game plan put together,  and the good thing is this kid doesn’t know much about me, so he has been phoning people asking my weaknesses. I wouldn’t take the fight if I didn’t believe that title is coming home to the North East this weekend!”

Kirk had been living in London training but has had to move back up to Sunderland to work because he says his boxing can’t support him yet without a job. Kirk has still been training in Sunderland though with Barry Gibson and Dave Christie but winning this fight could be a step towards becoming big enough in the sport to not need to work.

Promotor Frank Maloney told Sky Sports News of the fight: “All credit to Steve he wanted to box on and I am sure the fight against Goodings will be full of action. Hamilton still has to defend against Steve, but he cannot afford to slip up against Goodings who jumped at the chance. Several decent names were also approached but they either refused or had fights coming up.”

All the attention might be on Steve Williams before the fight but he cannot afford to underestimate Kirk, who will be looking to kickstart his career with a win on Saturday.

Kirk also added that he wished to thank everyone who is behind him and supporting him and also his family and girlfriend for being there. His sponsors Benfield Motor Group and David Allen of Alldec Northern ltd and last but not least Barry Gibson for all his strength and conditioning work and Dave Christie for his work in the gym.

Best of luck to Kirk for this massive fight!