By Terence Dooley
Danny Randall’s tenacity and drive in the ring is echoed outside the ropes; he proved this recently when bagging himself a sponsor in order to support his drive up the boxing ladder; the 3-0 fighter is now backed by Cash Generator – Randall revealed that he had adopted a proactive approach when it came to securing funding.
“I wrote a list of about twenty local companies and then composed an email and started knocking the emails out. I gave a bit of history of Joe [Gallagher] and the lads at the gym, my pro debut and the fight on the MEN undercard, and just kept ringing the companies and sending it through in the hope that sooner or later someone would say yes. I kept trying,” revealed 24-year-old when announcing the deal.
Randall’s first season as a pro is drawing to a close; he is especially delighted to have featured on two major undercards during his short time in the sport. Randall turned over with a points win over then-undefeated Abul Taher on the underside of John Murray’s win over Jon Thaxton in October, his most recent win, a points victory over Daniel Thorpe, came on the David Haye-John Ruiz show at the MEN Arena, Manchester.
“It was amazing, I loved it,” enthused Randall when talking about the MEN experience. “It wasn’t filmed (by Sky) but I’ve seen bits of it on Facebook. I haven’t been able to study it because the quality (of the recording) isn’t that good. It was a good performance – I’ve been happy with all my performances so far.
“My debut performance was my best one, though. Taking into account the nerves, I think I fought quite well, I perform better under pressure. I had short-notice for the second fight and was a stone overweight a few weeks out so I learned a valuable lesson: keep your weight down. I boxed Carl Allen in that second one, didn’t box too well, and got the [points] win. I made sure I was spot-on when I fought Daniel Thrope at the MEN. (I) got my weight down and it was a perfect experience.”
Daniel, who boxes in and around the welterweight division, made quite an impression when defeating Taher, their fight was a seesaw battle backed by a stirring vocal performance from Danny’s fans, the majority of whom stayed on to support Murray.
“People still talk about it”, smiled Randall, “there was a good crowd and a good fight. That is a big thing for me because it was my debut and people found it memorable. The atmosphere was great and a guy compared it to the atmosphere at Eubank and Benn, which he was in the crowd for as well – that is a big compliment. I’m just trying to pick up experience on these local shows.
“Me and [stablemate] Liam [Cullen] will come through on the same shows, we’re on one in Broughton, Salford on the 17th of July [promoted by Oliver Harrison]. When John nrxt defends his titles, I try to get the undercard of and just pick up what I can. It is about selling tickets, promoters will tell you that is what it is all about. Because I’m local, you can put me on cards with John and our fans will make a good atmosphere, then throw Liam’s fans in and you have a great atmosphere.”
So far, so good, with only the odd injury niggle marring Randall’s first season in the paid ranks. “I’ve had a few injury problems, I perforated my eardrum in the second fight and also picked up shin splints, but it is nothing too serious and you just have to play it smart in training instead of trying to go mad,” he admitted before outlining his future plans.
“At the moment, I am just putting my trust into [manager] Mike Marsden to get me on when I can. I will keep my weight down, stay in the gym and make sure I’m always ten days away from being fight fit.
“I’m just learning my trade, getting the fights – my goal is to get a British title. I watch John, Joe [Murray] and the lads in the gym, those fights are personal to me – I love watching John. If I’m on his undercard it gives me confidence as I spar and train with a British and European champion.”
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