Debate rages on over Tony Jeffries Wearside roots
Dec 7 2009 by Graeme Whitfield, The Journal
DEBATE has been raging over the weekend about whether Olympic boxing medallist Tony Jeffries should tone down his Wearside roots.
The boxer currently fights under the name the Mighty Mackem and wears red-and-white shorts to show his support of Sunderland football club. But he is pondering a move to play down his Sunderland background after former world champion boxer Steve Collins said he should try to appeal to the North East as a whole.
Writing on his Journal blog last week, he said: “My nickname is the Mighty Mackem, I always fight in red-and-white shorts with Sunderland logos on them. But loads of different people are telling me I should stop doing those things, and stop always mentioning Sunderland in interviews too.
“The reason they say that is because I’m ignoring other areas in the North East, like Newcastle, Durham and Middlesbrough, and their boxing fans.”
Fans have the chance to have their say on the issue on The Journal’s website, www.journallive.co.uk Around three-quarters of those voting so far have advised Tony to widen his appeal.
Among the comments left on the site is: “There is life outside of Sunderland, but you can still be proud of your area. Ant and Dec are disliked by the Mackems, but it hasn’t held them back.”
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