Everyone loves a good ring walk, so settle back for what we reckon might just be the best fighter entrance we’ve seen so far in 2020.
While a host of events were canceled or postponed over the last few days due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, one event that did go ahead was a boxing card in Stoke-on-Trent, England, where local fighter Nathan Heaney fought in front of a packed – and raucous – crowd at the city’s Kings Hall on Friday night.
Heaney took on Maltese contender Christian Schembri for the IBO intercontinental super middleweight title in the biggest fight of the undefeated Brit’s young boxing career and he delivered a ring walk to match, as he appeared from behind the curtain to make his way to the ring as the Tom Jones classic “Delilah” blasted from the arena speakers.
The song, which hit No. 2 in the U.K. charts and reached No. 15 in the Billboard Hot 100 back in 1968, is the terrace anthem of Stoke City Football Club, and the arena was packed to the rafters with “Potters” fans as Heaney strutted his stuff on the stage.
It sounded like every man, woman and child in the arena was joining in as the entire building belted out the famous song as Heaney made his way to the ring for the fight.
Sure, you can perform choreographed dance moves or wear outlandish costumes (as long as they’re not too heavy, of course), but nothing gets the blood pumping quite like a good old-fashioned singalong, and Heaney and his fans turned the atmosphere up to 11.
Clearly, it inspired him, as Heaney claimed a unanimous decision win to secure the title.
We reckon “Delilah” probably got another airing during the afterparty, too.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
