Lee Gormley: “I suppose it’s a symptom of the age we live in. There’s just no patience anymore. But I hope it [written content] doesn’t go away completely. Boxing has led the way in great sports writing throughout history.”

Lee Gormley: “I suppose it’s a symptom of the age we live in. There’s just no patience anymore. But I hope it [written content] doesn’t go away completely. Boxing has led the way in great sports writing throughout history.”

By Garry White

‘Fighting’ and ‘writing’ may fit together in one easy rhythmic sentence like a copywriter or ad-man’s dream, but rarely are they contained under one skin in the world of boxing. Pugilism has its ‘writers’ [an ever-dwindling band, since you ask], and it has its fighters. True, Hemmingway fancied himself as something of a fighter, but this notion rarely extended itself beyond his own fanciful notions of false-machismo fantasy. Even the great fedora-wearing, cigar-chomping, walking encyclopaedia that was Bert Sugar had to confess that in his short-lived outings to his local gym, he was referred to as the ‘Great White Hopeless’.

Even my old muse, the booze-soaked and brilliant Jonathan Rendall, only managed one amateur fight – he was stretched out in two rounds before permanently forsaking his gym routine for a notepad and 20 B&H.

Lee Gormley, who recently won his first contest as a newly minted member of the pro boxing ranks – has his own plans to make a better fist of combing the two disciplines. The writing part is already secured. The 31-year-old has so far seen his name appear on by-lines in the hallowed pages of Boxing News, as well as the much-missed Boxing Monthly, and a plethora of other online mediums.

Over the years he has crafted features on big names and rising talents within the pro game and admits to having just interviewed Teddy Atlas for a piece he plans to write on the age-old topic of corruption in boxing. This is just a regular day at the office for the Bolton-based Northern Irishman whose fledgling pro career is predominantly financed by his role as a Boxing Content and Social Media Specialist for the boxing equipment firm BOXRAW. “Everything in my life revolves around boxing, really,” admits Gormley. 

“I train every morning as a pro boxer, then I go home and work full-time writing about boxing as well; it really is the best of both worlds. With BOXRAW I do all the written content that focuses on all the products. But I also enjoy writing the blog where I’ll preview fights and cover boxing history and stuff.”

Gormley admits to being relatively late to the sport, only having had his first amateur fight in his mid-20s. But he is confident that his late entry represents a boon to his future prospects rather than a hindrance. “You see guys slowing down and retiring at my age because they’ve been doing it so long. Some of them have had hundreds of fights in the amateurs before turning pro and are already worn out by it all by the time they hit their 30s,” he comments.

“I have only had 40 amateur fights – which may be less than many others – but I think it’s all about mileage over age; physically and mentally, I am all there. I live the lifestyle, and I think that will give me longevity regardless of my age.”

For Gormley, whose development from novice to professional has taken place under the direction of Alex Matvienko and Phil Robinson at Bolton’s Halliwell ABC, turning over was beset by the usual frustrations and punitive financial costs. “The process was quite a long one,” he says with a wry smile. “The forms and stuff took six months to complete in total. I just don’t think people outside of the sport get that aspect of it. They see these YouTube guys and assume it is easy to get a licence. 

“If you are a big name, it probably is quite easy, but if you’re working your way up, it’s a really slow process. You’re placed well down the pecking order when it comes to getting forms signed and things.

“I had to have an interview with the Central Area Board,” explains Gormley. “Then they pass all your forms, documents, and medical tests to the British board to sign off. It’s a real waiting game, as you have to have brain scans and stuff, and all-in-all you are looking at about a grand [in costs] before you even step in the ring. And then when you are finally there, you have the added challenge of selling tickets.”

But for Gormley, these trials and tribulations are just part of the journey; one he is determined to enjoy. “I embrace it all,” he says. “If you can’t take enjoyment out of the whole process, then what’s the point in doing it!”

The Armagh native completed his first mission in the pro ranks back in June on the Steve Wood [VIP Boxing] promoted show at the Bolton Whites Hotel. Among a card of four and six rounders pitting mostly local fledgling pros against teak tough travelling journeyman, Gormley acquitted himself well winning every round against the rugged John Spencer at lightweight. Despite having a then 35 losses on his record, Spencer had only failed to hear the final bell five times in a dizzyingly active ‘Have gloves, will travel’ two-year career.

“I’m happy enough with it. It was a solid enough performance,” says the now ‘unbeaten’ pro of his debut performance. 

“It was all about getting the ‘win’ really. You see a lot of debutants go in rushing their work, trying to get the stoppage and stuff, but things can go wrong, and you can get caught or injured or whatever. I just went in and boxed; stuck behind the jab, and did four solid rounds against a very durable opponent who has only ever been stopped by top guys.

“I knew I wasn’t going to go in and blast him out. Maybe I could have pressed the action a bit more towards the end, but over six rounds I reckon I could’ve got him out of there at some point – but I enjoyed it and I’m happy with what was a solid enough start.”

Booked to fight at the same venue next month under the same promotional banner, Gormley’s latest opponent is currently unnamed. Heading that bill will be a showdown between Dan Catlin and Jack Kilgannon for the Central Area 160 lbs crown. For an old-school boxing purist like Gormley, that is a path that he would also like to follow. But he knows that firstly, he needs to navigate his way through the foothills of four and six-rounders before tasking himself with the loftier peaks. “Yeah, being based in Manchester the Central Area is one I would love to start with,” he readily agrees. Before adding: “I’d also love to win an Irish or Celtic title as well. But, right now, it’s all about taking each fight as it comes and continuing to work hard.”

To bring that aim closer to fruition, he hopes to have at least one further fight post-September and before the year is out. Such things are, of course, dependent on selling his share of tickets and continuing to get the right sponsorship in place. Gormley’s progression through the domestic ranks will not be a cossetted, re-carpeted one, lacking as he does the kind of gold-plated amateur form or familial name recognition that can smooth his way past the sport’s usual potholed terrain. But for a fighter (and writer) who can speak as knowledgeably and animatedly about Jimmy McLarnin [Northern Ireland’s greatest boxer, since you ask] and other once marquee names from boxings black and white yet golden era; this is perhaps fitting. “I prefer watching the older fighters even above most of the current ones, he admits. “I could list so many that I admire. Sugar Ray Robinson has to be as close to perfect as you can get. 

“Then there’s the likes of Archie Moore, Ezzard Charles, Willie Pep, Jack Dempsey – they all have their different styles, but there is something that you can take from each of them. Even little things you can take to the gym the next day and try and jell them into your own craft.”

So, what has the one-fight novice Gormley learned from these past greats? “Well, I am a tactical boxer,” he says. “I wouldn’t say defensive-minded as such, but I do focus a lot on defence at the gym. I think I am versatile as well. I am capable of fighting up close on the inside. That’s a bit of a lost art these days. One I can a lot about from all those old guys.”

With the fighting part covered, it is hard not to ask the writing half of Gormley for his thoughts on the modern boxing media landscape. Not surprisingly, he speaks highly of Boxing News, Don McRae’s intermittent features in The Guardian newspaper, but is less enamoured with the recent domination of the terrain by video content and its accompanying staccato click-bait wordage. 

“You are only the second person that’s spoken to me for an actual written article,” he reveals. “There’s just not as much about these days, which is a bit of a shame because that is where I came from, and so it is something I still like to see. 

“But I suppose it’s a symptom of the age we live in. There’s just no patience anymore. But I hope it [written content] doesn’t go away completely. Boxing has led the way in great sports writing throughout history.”

Maybe the way things are going, Gormley will soon have to write his own fight reports!