Jeffries to spar with the Black Cats

Oct 8 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

OLYMPIC boxer Tony Jeffries has been asked to knock Sunderland’s footballers into shape by sparring with them.

The 24-year-old is an avid Black Cats fan, and previous manager Ricky Sbragia invited him to the Academy of Light to chat to the players over breakfast last season. But his successor Steve Bruce has gone a step further by asking Jeffries to get into the ring with some of his players.

Sky TV suggested the idea as a publicity stunt to promote Jeffries’ next fight, and Bruce believes it could be beneficial to his squad.

"Sky have asked me if I’d go and train with the football team or take them for a boxing session," revealed Jeffries, who won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics.

"I mentioned it to Steve Bruce and he told me he’d love it if I went in, had a bit of a spar with them and bashed them up!

"Sky want to arrange something before my next fight, at the Seaburn Centre on October 16, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to fit it in before then, unfortunately."

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn was ringside when Jeffries fought for the first time in his home town earlier this year, and a number of the club’s players were when he returned in the summer. The boxer, who

signed his first professional contract on the Stadium of Light pitch, has become a regular at Sunderland games and has worked hard to promote the club’s charity, the SAFC Foundation.

Jeffries insists the link-up will not be a gimmick, however. Boxing work-outs form an occasional part of football training sessions and he thinks they will do the Premier League footballers some good.

"I’ve spoken to all sorts of athletes and they say boxing training is the hardest thing they’ve ever done," said Jeffries, who writes an exclusive blog for The Journal’s website.

"One session would just make them sore so it would be better to do a few." Jeffries is friends with a number of Sunderland players and as The Journal recently reported, has entered into a bet with Darren Bent over who can attract the most Twitter followers. It has allowed him to gauge the mood at the Stadium of Light, which he believes Bruce has improved.