By Robert Wassell
Stoke favourite Nathan Heaney is relishing the chance of fighting on Frank Warren’s Queensbury Promotions’ card on 27th of February, The Potteries based middleweight has had a taster of the big time when he fought Nicaraguan Nelson Altamirano on the undercard of Sam Bowen vs Anthony Cacace in November 2019 and is looking forward to a return to big time boxing.
However, on this occasion the opposition comes in the form of Lancashire’s Ryan Oliver. The 26 year-old has won 7 of his 9 fights to date, losing only to Nathan Hardy and Bermuda’s Earl Bascome.
“I can’t wait,” The Hitman told bcb-promotions.com. “He’s had virtually the same amount of fights in the pro game as me and he will be looking to beat me to propel his career further. However, I know I have the attributes to get the job done come fight night.”
The 31 year-old has risen to prominence with a partisan following of supporters who also support his beloved Stoke City Football Club. His ringwalk, to the Stoke anthem ‘Delilah’, is already the stuff of legend. A number of these ringwalk videos have already gone viral but, with boxing currently behind closed doors, Heaney won’t be able to feed on the energy of his devoted fans; something he is working on in the build-up to his appearance on BT Sport.
“It’s one of them really, if you have over a thousand Stokies chanting and singing it’s always going to spur you on and help bring the best out of you. I wish the supporters were there as they love it, but it won’t affect my performance. We have been sparring in a silenced gym today just to get used to the lack of atmosphere
“Yes, it puts a target on my back, other fighters see the support and want to get involved because they know they’ll be in a well-supported fight against a meaningful opponent. Plus, there always seems to be a bit of needle when it comes to people fighting Stoke lads.
“The middleweight division is stacked with very good fighters, some in the rankings which are well above British level. In the top 10 there’s some great fights to be made and by the end of 2021 we want to be pushing for that British title no doubt.”
You can watch Heaney vs Oliver on BT Sports on 27th of February on the undercard of a great night of boxing featuring Belfast’s Carl Frampton’s bid to become a 3 weight world champion vs Jamel Herring.
