ON August 3, 2024, Callum Simpson fulfilled a promise he made last year to his manager, Kevin Maree.
The vow came when Maree Boxing’s Mark Heffron lost his British super-middleweight title to Jack Cullen at the Manchester Arena. Cullen ended the champion’s 14-month stint with a textbook left hook in round three.
Maree had been “chuffed to bits” when Heffron beat Lennox Clarke to win the Lonsdale belt but had to wait two years to see another one of his fighters win the famous old title.
“When he [Heffron] lost, that night Callum said to me, ‘Don’t worry boss, I promise you, I promise you I’m getting that back,’” Maree recalled when Boxing News recently spoke to him.
Simpson did get it back after a night to remember for the Yorkshireman at Oakwell, the home of Barnsley Football Club. Simpson had several thousand fans supporting him and one man in his way – Zak Chelli. While the fight didn’t turn into the barnburner many had hoped, the 6ft 3ins challenger got the job done, winning wide on all three scorecards.
The success carried on Maree’s affection for a weight class which was his favourite to watch when he was younger because of one fighter, Steve Collins.
“I love Steve and I love the era of him boxing Eubank and Benn and I loved the super-middleweight division,” Maree said.
“Then I was lucky enough to have Kenny Anderson at super-middleweight and he got the British title. That really meant the world to me that he’d got his hands on that because I’d grown up watching that division and he won.
“We’ve now got it back in the camp again. I do enjoy looking at that belt and seeing the names of fighters that we’ve had fighting and winning that belt. It means a lot to me so I was chuffed to bits that Callum got his hands on it.”
Maree’s relationship with the division continues on October 5 at Oldham Leisure Centre, when Ryszard Lewicki and Reece Farnhill, two of his fighters, will meet for the English title.
Business has arguably never been better for Maree with the feel good factor of Simpson’s win in Barnsley still rippling through the team. The British champion spent a week in Spain after beating Chelli but the necessary downtime was interrupted by… boxing.
“He was in a boxing gym over there,” Maree said. “He’s just one of them. You just can’t stop him. He’s the ultimate Duracell bunny. He’s just got fantastic energy in and out of the ring, and that’s why he’s so popular, because he’s always got time for everybody.”
“He wants to box soon,” Maree added.
“If it was in Yorkshire, we like the look of the Liam Cameron fight. We think that would be a good fight. Manchester, you’ve got Brad[ley] Rea, Birmingham, you’ve got Steed Woodall.
“He wants to fight regularly, and he wants to fight whoever’s next in line, so he’ll fight any of them, and he’s ready to go. So he’ll certainly be out in the next few months.”