Shropshire boxing show is a family affair

Rob and Brydie O'Keefe, both from near Baschurch, are lined up to box at Shrewsbury & Severnside ABC's first dinner show of the season at the Lord Hill Hotel on Friday, November 2.

It will be 12-year-old Brydie's first contest while Rob will be making his return to the ring after a 13-year absence for what is likely to be a one-off outing.

His boxing career appeared over after he won three of his 10 bouts for Shrewsbury & Severnside back in the late 1990s.

But a new Masters category has been introduced by amateur officials extending the age of boxers from 34 to 40, which Rob turns exactly two weeks after the show.

"It's one of those things I want to do and if I don't take the opportunity then I will regret it in the future," said O'Keefe, who opened the Bodyworks gym in Wem in May where boxing classes are run on a Tuesday and Thursday night.

"It's also the chance to do something with my daughter and hopefully it will be a special night. I've already been the read the riot act by Brydie telling me I must win, but I will be more nervous about her than myself."

Brydie, a pupil at The Corbett School, is due to take on Patsy Smith from the March club in Cambridge, while Rob is scheduled to take on Lee Hargreaves of the Castle club in Doncaster.

And Shrewsbury & Severnside head trainer Colin Hough is hoping there are no late hitches to deny the club a unique double.

"I've been in boxing in 1947 and I don't think this has happened anywhere else in the county or even the country," he said.

Tickets for the show, priced at £30 to include a four-course meal, are still available from the hotel.