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Noise in the hood
- Updated: October 18, 2016
Saturday night sees another scrap between fierce local rivals as Sam Eggington faces Frankie Gavin for Birmingham bragging rights, but what other fights have divided a city?
We are used to British boxers from rival cities squaring up in domestic showdowns, but everything is taken up a notch when two fighters, who live only a few miles apart, settle their differences in the squared ring.
Here we look at some local match-ups.
Sam Eggington v Frankie Gavin
Eggington and Gavin will finally meet in an all-Birmingham welterweight clash, a year after they were originally scheduled to meet before injury to Gavin set their careers on different paths.
Both men have had career highs and their subsequent opposing lows and now Smethwick-born, Stourbridge-based Eggington and Small Heath’s Gavin meet in a local derby that has got the whole city talking.
Gavin was halted for the world title last year, while Eggington was outfoxed for his domestic crown in March and now the stakes have been raised even higher. It is the boxing equivalent of Aston Villa against Birmingham, a game that unites and divides the West Midlands.
It will certainly be a long way back for the loser and, in reality, there may be no way back.
Gavin, 31, upped the ante by saying some personal comments about his younger rival that got Eggington’s back up and now the pair have both vowed to meet fire with fire on Saturday night.
Luke Campbell v Tommy Coyle
Hull is not the biggest city in Yorkshire but when east meets west, it is an intense rivalry that can split it in half. In rugby league, Hull FC and Hull KR do exactly that, and Luke Campbell and Tommy Coyle did the same.
Coyle is from the east, Campbell the west and they both boxed at the famous St Paul’s ABC, the neutral territory that spawned an Olympic gold medallist.
They sparred thousands of rounds as amateurs, shared a room travelling the world and, as friendly as they were, as soon as Campbell labelled Coyle “an acquaintance” any …
