Professional boxing will soon return to the heart of Newcastle courtesy of Steve Wraith and Wraith Promotions, Sodexo, and Newcastle United after the Tyneside boxing promoter announced a 12-month deal at the Premier League football stadium.
Steve, as a lifelong Newcastle United fan and boxing aficionado, is understandably delighted to be able to pull off such a coup and with it every marketing brands dream. The guaranteed exclusivity meaning that the mammoth move was all worthwhile following years of hard graft by an increasing team.
Not since the days of St. James Hall, in the Gallowgate shadow of the ground, has professional boxing been so eagerly anticipated.
Back in 1901 a pair of debutants jousted the first contest in a December tussle which saw Bill Kyne stop Checker Ovenden; the last contest there was in September 1949 as Mickey Tollis, of Newcastle New South Wales, inflicted a TKO3 on Billy Rattray in one of three stoppage wins on the night.
By the time New St. James Hall had emerged, in July 1923, when Bishop Auckland light heavyweight, George Hetherington, scored an eleventh round retirement (of fifteen) on Belgian heavyweight Pierre Charles, boxing was enjoying a boom in the region.
Bouts at the venue, known as ‘The Graveyard of Champions,’ continued until 1967, the building, and the fighters, well the home ones at least, withstanding the test of time.
St. James Hall was then the spiritual home of boxing on Tyneside for many a year and, now that Newcastle United, St. James Park, Sodexo and Steve Wraith of Wraith Promotions set to combine it’s hoped that this will be the new home.
Previous promotions, all sponsored by Grosvenor Casino Newcastle, have been held at the O2 Academy, Gateshead Leisure Centre, The Lancastrian Suite, and Temple Park (South Shields), even putting together the undercard for Matchroom’s ‘Geordie Roar’ at the Metro Radio Arena which saw Anthony Nelson claim the Commonwealth title and Jeff Saunders make his professional debut.
The striking of this deal, which will see three-four shows held in the Bamburgh Suite at the Premier League football stadium beginning later this year, tap into the corporate market of professional sports and takes Steve, and his Wraith Promotions brand, to a whole new level.
“I’ve been thinking about doing something like this for some time and, with the corporate angle, I’m pleased there is interest there,” began Steve.
“I’m a lifelong Newcastle fan myself so to be able to match the two (boxing and Newcastle United) is perfect for me. The meetings with Chris (Reed) from Sodexo were very productive, as has been visits by David Venn and the Northern Area Council who we continue to work closely with, and I’m glad we have a 12-month exclusivity with the club.
“It’s a prestige thing which benefits everyone be it the club, the sponsors or the fans – we all win.”
Conversations with the club and Sodexo, which includes all Wraith Promotions events moving to the ground, have been ongoing for a few months and Chris added: “I’m delighted that we are able to host professional boxing events in the Bamburgh Suite.
“The facilities we have, and these types of shows, go hand-in-hand so it’s a perfect fit as far as we’re concerned. Not only that but we are looking forward at getting the ball rolling with the Riddick Bowe evening in the Terrace Bar next month.”
With Steve Wraith’s next outing being at the Dolphin Centre in Darlington on May 13, headlined by a Northern Area title clash, the first showing at St. James Park will be in the autumn, a dinner show of which he has been trialling recently and which was successful in Dunston last time out.
Anybody interested in sponsorship or advertising opportunities with Wraith Promotions and Pro Boxing Newcastle Gateshead please see the attached promo advert; alternatively visit the page on our website for more information – http://www.proboxingnewcastlegateshead.com/advertising-sponsorship/
Details of shows will appear on www.wraithpromotions.com and www.proboxingnewcastlegateshead.com in due course, in the meantime though – it’s timmmeeee!!
