Tommy Langford recognises his barmy army
Middleweight prospect Tommy Langford 11(2)-0-0 lives, trains and fights in the West Midlands, almost 200 miles away from his hometown of Bideford in Devon. Come fight night and a coach load of tipsy Devonians storm the venue with one intention – to make as much noise as possible for their local hero, Tommy Langford.
“It’s about an eight hour round trip and they often do in the one night!” Said the Devon born 25-year-old as he heads into his first ten round contest of his career against Wayne Reed 11(5)-9(5)-0 in the chief supporting fight to the Stephen Ormond v Terry Flanagan WBO European lightweight title clash at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on February 14th.
He continued to say, “They normally come to the boxing then shoot straight back, the trip up is part of the enjoyment for them.
“They’re all pretty mad really when you consider they have a three or four hour drive up there so they’re all pretty tanked up by the time they arrive! They are all good natured and love the occasion, they don’t get the chance to see a lot of big boxing shows normally in Devon. “I think for this fight we’re looking at 60 people coming up from Devon. There’s usually more, around 70 plus, they gradually gather a few more each time.
“My old boxing club in Bideford all come to support me, my best mate Richard Grigg runs the gym so he sells a lot of tickets from there and so does my dad at Hartland Football Club. My pal Dan Gifford, he’s the captain of the football club so he’s a big part of the organisation and he does a massive favour to my dad with helping to sell the tickets.
“There’s so many from down there in Devon that wish me luck and it’s such a long way, to be fair. If I ever got a fight in Wales or somewhere closer then I’m sure that double the amount would be coming in support.”
Langford moved from Devon to Birmingham to train with respected coach Tom Chaney who guided Frankie Gavin through a highly decorated amateur career to winning the British and Commonwealth welterweight titles.
“I’ve also got great support from the West Midlands. The Fighting Fit City Gym in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham and Hall Green Boxing Club both sell lots of tickets and support me in all my shows,” he added.
Langford is moving closer to a title shot and will use the ten round contest as a base to challenge for a substantial title in the next few months. This is the first occasion that Langford has been chief support to the headlining event and is relishing the opportunity to perform on bigger stages in the future.
“It would be nice to be able to headline a show down that way one day. Scott Dan, a British champion, was the last one from Devon to do really well. He had the Plymouth Pavilions rammed out back in his day so it would be nice to top a bill back in Devon, but then it’d be nice to top a bill anywhere really.”
Fellow Devonian, Scott Dann held the English, British and Commonwealth titles at middleweight between 2004 to 2006. He is one of very few boxers to own the Lonsdale belt outright securing it with a unanimous points decision over Wayne Elcock in September 2005 at the aforementioned Plymouth Pavilions.
The bout on Valentine’s Night is scheduled for ten rounds at middleweight and provides chief support to the main event between Irishman Stephen Ormond 17(8)-1-0 and challenger Terry Flanagan 26(10)0-0 for the WBO European title with the contest doubling up as an eliminator for Terence Crawford’s WBO World title.
Tickets are priced at £40, £70 and £100 are available from Team Langford on 07805 613757 or online here
Tommy Langford would like to thank his sponsors, MAN Commercial Protection, Panel Wizards, Strategy Plus Web Design, Atlas Pain Relief, Fighting Fit City Gym, Ringside UK and PR Manager Tim Rickson 7
To follow Tommy Langford on Twitter click here @Tommy_Langford1