By Andrew Wake: Former WBC super-middleweight champion Robin Reid returns to the ring this weekend when he takes on ex-England International footballer Lee Sharpe for charity.
The pair meet for an exhibition bout at the Oceana nightclub in Leeds on Sunday afternoon in aid of the Maddison Staveley fund.
Three-year-old Maddison was diagnosed with cancer late last year and her family hope to raise enough funds to send her to America for specialist treatment that is not available in the UK.
Originally former Leeds, Manchester United and Love Island star Sharpe, 38, was due to face professional light-middleweight and event organiser Lee Murtagh, but a knee injury sustained while training for a fight in Ireland forced Murtagh to the sidelines and Runcorn’s Reid was happy to step in.
Murtagh explained: “I had to find a replacement when I pulled out and I asked Joe Egan if he knew anybody who would do a few rounds with Lee as an exhibition and he gave me Robin Reid’s name.
“I called Robin up and he was happy to do it for a good cause. It’s nice when a former world champion wants to come back and help out.”
Murtagh hopes the event will bring in around £5000 for Maddison’s treatment, but he can’t take all the credit for the idea of raising money and awareness for the Leeds toddler’s plight.
“One of the lads I train, Andy Lynch, asked me if I could do something to raise money for this little girl with cancer but I didn’t realise how deep it was.
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“Basically she has to go to America to get treatment over the course of 18 months. So I said we’d either donate some money towards her or we’d put on a show and all the home fighters will fight for nothing and we’ll try and get enough stuff to auction off.
“Oceana have given me the whole place for nothing, so they’ve really helped out, and now we can donate every single penny towards her.”
More information on Maddison Staveley can be found at www.maddyfund.info
Tickets for Sunday’s charity show can be obtained by calling 07793 240535.
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