Fed up Wilson taking break after Noble pulls out

Unbeaten Sheffield middleweight Jez Wilson is contemplating his future in the sport after cross-city rival Lee Noble pulled out of their scheduled derby contest on at Don Valley on Sunday.

Wilson (6-0), a firefighter, has suffered umpteen pullouts in his short career – Lee Noble (twice now), Kevin Concepion, Lee Murtagh and Michael Monaghan to name a few – and is so fed up he’s told trainer Glyn Rhodes he needs a break to decide if he wants to continue.

To make matters worse as regards this weekend, the Chinese whispers told Wilson that Noble had pulled out due to child care related issues. A more believable reason would be the fact Noble has a more lucrative fight against Billy Joe Saunders lined up for the Khan-Salita undercard on 5th December.

“Ah, Noble is a gobshite,” mused Wilson tonight. “He must be worried about something. I see a lot of mouth but no trousers.

“This is the second time he’s pulled out against me. First was last September when he said he was on a course or something. I ended up boxing Manoo Salari and Noble turned up at the fight!”

Having been a dedicated pro for two and a half years, Wilson is frustrated at only having half a dozen fights, mainly due to his opponents finding reasons not to fill the opposite corner. The biggest letdown was Kevin Concepion (then 14-1) who Wilson was preparing to square off against despite having only five fights. Concepion missed the weight.

“I was told that it was a great match and we’d do it in Dublin when things were back on track. Never happened.”

Concepion has since been beaten twice.

Further frustration came when he was supposed to box Lee Murtagh for the British Masters title in July. Not only did Murtagh pull out but his replacement, Michael Monaghan, pulled out on the way to the weigh in. Wilson ended up nicking a 77-76 win against tough Gambian youngster Patrick Mendys with nothing on the line.

“This was supposed to be my year – on Sky Sports, the lot. But it just hasn’t happened. It’s not as if I’m one of those fellas calling people out saying ‘I fancy this, I fancy that’. The thing is, it’s not my fault these fights aren’t happening. I just want to fight.

“I trained eight weeks for that Murtagh fight and I’ve been on it for six weeks for this one. I’ve been in the gym and running every single day apart from my rest days and when this happens you ask yourself ‘What’s the point?’ I train as hard if not harder than anyone in the gym and I’m just so disappointed.”

Wilson pointed out how difficult it is to maintain a career, especially one in the fire service with shift patterns, whilst trying to get fights.

“I can’t just take anything at short notice. If someone came up to me and said ‘You’re fighting Friday’ I might have to say, ‘Sorry, I’m on a night shift’. I’m getting on a bit now (30) and I am starting to ask myself if there’s any point in going on when these things keep happening. I need a break. Anyone would do at the minute. I need to reflect.”

In truth, I suspect he’ll find it very difficult to stay away from the gym and his second family at Glyn Rhodes’ Sheffield Boxing Centre. But let’s hope 2010 is a much more active year for Jez than 2009.

The lad needs a break in more ways than one.