This week I had the pleasure of sitting down and chatting to Pearce Gudgeon to talk all things Steel City gym.

We started off by speaking about Thomas Essomba and his huge victory over Alessio Lorusso last month, a victory that crowned Thomas European Bantamweight champion. Pearce stated that he was over the moon to have coached Thomas to a European title after all the hard work Thomas had put in, and is excited to see what the future holds for Thomas after a career defining win.

We spoke about the big news that had hit Steel City Gym recently which was the news of Sunny Edwards and Jesse Rodriguez agreeing to fight for the unified IBF and WBO Flyweight titles. I asked whether Sunny would feel the pressure of having to go over to America and to fight away from home. Pearce actually thought that it will be Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez who feels the pressure more, as the fight will take place in his backyard. Sunny is currently out doing his ‘pre-season’ camp before he starts his 10-12 week training camp later on in the year. Pearce believes that the more pressure on Sunny the better he will perform.

The conversation moved to this week’s big event with Steel Cities Dalton Smith taking on Sam Maxwell to win the British title outright. With Pearce knowing Dalton from the age of 9 they are like family and Pearce knows that a win against Maxwell would mean everything to Dalton. If Dalton could take the title home to his Dad and Grandad it would mean the world to him. Pearce believes that a win for Smith would land him on the world scene, and that Dalton would be one step closer to becoming a World Champion.

We also chatted about Junaid Bostan who will feature on the Smith vs Maxwell undercard this Saturday. Pearce along with many more people in the world of boxing believe that Junaid is a special talent, and his fight against Ryan Amos on Saturday will bring out the best in him. Pearce believes that this will be the best Junaid Bostan we have seen in a professional ring up to this point. However, with the hype that surrounds Junaid I asked Pearce how you keep someone like Junaid grounded when they have the type of hype that he does. Pearce said that Grant Smith knows how to keep Junaid switched on. Junaid is currently working hard to become a World Champion and a win against Ryan Amos would put him on track to do that.