Rob Norton tries to kick start stalled career

British cruiserweight champion Rob Norton turns back the clock to reignite his career next month.

Norton boxes on the championship bill at Walsall Town Hall on Saturday, October 8 put together by One Promotions and topped by red-hot Black Country prospects Lee Glover and Jamie Ball.

Back in September, 1993, Norton made his professional debut at the venue with a two-round knockout of Stuart Fleet and has gone on to win British and Commonwealth honours.

He has been out of action since drawing with David Dolan for the British and Commonwealth titles in January, 2010 and manager PJ Rowson hopes the 39 year-old Kidderminster-based southpaw will next year get the chance to win a Lonsdale belt outright.

He won the vacant title in Burton-on-Trent in October, 2008 with a landslide points win over Mickey Steeds and kept it in a five-knockdown thriller against Dolan before they drew their rematch. Jon-Lewis Dickinson, the ‘Prizefighter’ champion who outpointed Dolan earlier this year, could be his next challenger.

Glover, known as ‘The Tipton Slasher,’ looks to have the potential to bring more British honours to the Black Country.  Ranked in the country’s top 10 as an amateur, he has put together six straight wins and makes the first defence of his International Masters featherweight title in what could be the toughest fight yet of his exciting professional career.

Dai Davies, a former Welsh champion at featherweight and 9st 4lbs, last week shocked former amateur star Marc McCullough in front of his Belfast fans on the undercard of the Paul McCloskey v Breidis Prescott world-title eliminator and comes to Walsall planning another upset.

Jamie Ball, the Midlands Area light-middleweight champion from Coseley, looks set for more big fights after adding a knock-out punch to his southpaw skills. Ball has blasted out his last two opponents inside the distance and keeps busy with a six-round fight on the bill that also features Dudley ticket seller Zack The Ripper aka Saquib Amir, Grant Cunningham, Adam Corbett, Kyle Spencer and Steven Pearce.

Pearce is an exciting addition to the professional ranks. As an amateur with Cradley ABC, his powerful, non-stop attacks took him to the last eight of the ABA Novice championship at welterweight.