Sheffield boxer Leon Musson is gearing up for his first professional fight this weekend at just 22 years old.
He has achieved a lot in his amateur career since he began boxing at Sheffield Boxing Centre where he has had 41 fights over a 10-year period.
Speaking about his time at Sheffield Boxing Centre, Musson said: “They were the start of my boxing journey. I had a lot of fights for them, I was with them for a long time.
“The training there gets you very, very fit and a lot of my fitness now I do myself and I’m not doing as much fitness in the actual gym. What I’ve found is that I can take everything SBC gave me and I’ve still got that.”
Now he is hoping to take the professional boxing game by storm when he fights at Gateshead on Saturday night.
“It’s been a long time coming. Since I was 10,11 I’ve been looking forward to this. I’m massively excited.
“I want a British title and then once I’ve got that I’ll set another goal. I’d love to be a world champion, obviously everyone wants to be world champion.”
Although Musson, like all boxers, wants to win big titles, his main ambition is to be financially secure after all the effort he has put in to make it to the fringes of the professional boxing scene.
Musson talked openly about the way that he has adapted his game as he adjusts to the switch from the amateur game to the more tactical nature of coming up against professionals.
He said: “I’ve done well at the amateurs, it didn’t suit me completely. I feel like now I’m adapting my style and skillset to the pros.”
The Yorkshireman came up through the ranks in Sheffield but moved to study at Northumbria University when he was 20 years old. Fighting out of Tyneside Boxing Club he has developed his skills to be ready for his new venture into the big leagues.
Musson described how his role has grown within the boxing club since meeting his trainer and manager, Ross Wilkinson, and how he gets involved in helping the younger fighters.
He said: “I really like working with them. I’m a massive part of the gym. I take kids to fights, we’ve got a home show coming up on Wednesday and I’m cornering for that. I regularly coach in the gym, it’s got a great community feel just like SBC.
“So far, so good with the team.”
