BURY, the town that banned boxing, has a British champion.
"Mighty Atom" Ady Lewis, 4ft 10ins and just eight stones, became Bury's first holder of a Lonsdale Belt when he won the British Flyweight title with a points decision over Scotland's Keith Knox.
And within hours of clinching victory in Glasgow on Monday a proud Ady declared: "Now I want to defend my title in my home town of Bury."
But that won't happen while councillors stand by their ban on professional boxing, imposed in October 1995 following the death of bantamweight James Murray.
Ady's management team of Jack Doughty and Stuart Andrews of Tara Promotions say they will to press Bury Council to lift the ban so that they can stage a British title defence in the town. Ady currently has to fight in Shaw, Oldham.
Twenty-one-year-old Ady, a former St. Gabriel's pupil from Windsor Drive, has won all twelve of his pro fights and is tipped as a future European champ and world title contender. Said the new champ: "When they announced the result on Monday night I just felt proud, proud for my family and friends and proud for Bury.
"I was born here and it really means a lot to me."
This week council leader John Byrne confirmed that the boxing ban is still in place, although the authority have no official written policy.
"We decided to impose a moratorium after James Murray's death. We do discourage boxing in council-run facilities," said Coun Byrne. At the time of the ban, the council's Contract Services board said they wanted to await the outcome of a medical inquiry into Murray's death.
The policy has not been reviewed since.
The Mayor of Bury, Coun Trevor Holt, joined friends and family at a celebration party for Ady in St Bede's Social Club on Tuesday night.
For the full story of Ady's glory night see our on-line sports section.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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