The Contenders: Langford, Speight & Day – Enjoying Downtime
Picture of Tommy Langford (c) Queensberry Promotions; Picture of Jamie Speight (c)Sport South Devon/Matt Green
There are three championship boxers from Devon, all flying the flag for the home county – Bideford’s Tommy Langford, Kingsteington’s Jamie Speight and Teignmouth’s Ben Day.
All three Devonians have moved away from home to further their boxing careers and each one has achieved title glory by doing so and plan to challenge for more belts this year.
The Contenders will keep you updated with a monthly column exclusive to Sport South Devon on their respective journeys to the top of the world.
Bideford’s Tommy Langford:
TOMMY LANGFORD
“This last month has seen me having the longest rest from boxing that I’ve ever had since I was 11-years-old!
“The rest is more than just the physical side, it’s nice not to be thinking about boxing and having it on my mind constantly.
“I had a full three weeks without doing anything and, to be fair, I needed it. I found that I was tired and perhaps a little burnt out for my last fight on March 12th. I gave the opening rounds away to the English champion Lewis Taylor but still won unanimously and took home the Commonwealth middleweight title.
“My next fight will be another big step up in class. One more win could see me become mandatory for a world title shot!”
“As much as I’ve enjoyed the time off, I’m now back in the gym with my trainer Tom Chaney and firmly back to business.
“My next fight will be in July time, although nothing is confirmed yet: I am eyeing the July 9th Frank Warren show in Manchester which has Tyson Fury and Wlad Klitschko headlining. It will be a huge show, one of the biggest of the year so to get on that will be brilliant for me.
“My next fight will be another big step up in class. One more win could see me become mandatory for a world title shot!”
Kingsteington’s Jamie Speight:
JAMIE SPEIGHT
“I’ve been having some well-deserved time off lately, the first time in four years!
“Being the away fighter for the past few years means that I’ve been in training camp constantly so it’s been time for a little rest, to take a back seat for a bit and to let my body recover for a while.
“I have enjoyed the time off but I have been back in the gym already. I got a call to help Lee Haskins prepare for his world title defence on May 14th so I went up to Bristol on Friday and sparred eight rounds with the IBF world bantamweight champion and was surprisingly sharp after my recent layoff!
“I went up to Bristol on Friday and sparred eight rounds with the IBF world bantamweight champion.” – Jamie Speight
“I’ll be looking at getting back in the ring on September 24th, hopefully, so I’ll start training in July so that I’ve got a clear ten weeks to prepare.
“Then, hopefully, I’ll be back out again in December, campaigning at featherweight from now on.”
To follow the contenders’ progress via Twitter, click the relevant link:
@Tommy_Langford1
@boxerjayspeight
@benday32
