Noakes Goes From Railways And Roofing To Riyadh Title Shot

Abdullah Mason v Sam Noakes

Venue: ANB Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Date: Saturday, 22 November

Coverage: Follow power commentary from 23:00 GMT connected BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra & BBC Sounds earlier switching to BBC Radio 5 Live from 02:00 connected BBC Sounds, BBC Sport website & app

Sam Noakes has gone from moving connected nan railways and moving marathons connected a whim to a world title shot.

And it is each down to mum Sharon for starting nan travel by sending him to nan gym erstwhile he was an unruly teen pinch power to burn.

Maidstone's Noakes, 28, takes connected unbeaten American Abdullah Mason for nan vacant WBO lightweight title successful Saudi Arabia this weekend.

It is nan Kent boxer's chance to fulfil his ambition of becoming a world champion - but Noakes hopes that, should he widen his ain unbeaten tally and manus Mason his first loss, his mother will not beryllium getting successful touch pinch nan Ohio southpaw.

Noakes, whose older relative Sean is besides a master fighter, has fewer bigger fans than his mum - but she besides looks retired for his opponents.

When he hit Chris Adaway connected his master debut, Sharon took to Facebook to find nan Plymouth journeyman.

"I retrieve astir my 2nd aliases 3rd conflict I bumped into Chris again and he said 'your mum messaged me'," Noakes tells BBC Sport.

"I didn't cognize what he was connected about, but I rang my mum and told her 'You can't beryllium doing this'. She went to spot his past fight.

"They've go bully friends, she's decidedly a Chris Adaway fan. Maybe bigger than she is simply a instrumentality of me.

"Thankfully she's stopped doing it. Even if I triumph nan world title against Mason I don't want her messaging him."

It was his mother's maternal small heart to make judge nan man her boy had conscionable beaten was doing OK.

Sharon - who will beryllium ringside successful Riyadh alongside Noakes' dada John - encouraged her sons to return up boxing. Noakes soon became a talented amateur astatine Westree Boxing Club successful Maidstone and went connected to triumph nan ABAs successful April 2019.

A period later he was invited down to Billy Joe Saunders' WBO super-middleweight title conflict pinch Shefat Isufi successful Stevenage and Francis Warren, nan boy of hallway of fame promoter Frank, told him he wanted to negociate his career.

Noakes turned his backmost connected nan moving life wherever he had jobs successful a telephone centre, fast-food edifice and arsenic a roofer, to move professional.

"Thinking astir those jobs is what keeps maine moving difficult successful nan gym," said Noakes. "I don't want to spell backmost to that.

"The roofing was difficult graft, but I was a fair-weather roofer. If it rained, you wouldn't spot me.

"You can't get retired of nan ringing erstwhile it is reliable - but you tin get backmost successful nan van erstwhile you're connected a tile and it starts raining."

Noakes had 3 master fights earlier nan Covid-19 pandemic deed successful 2020 and had to concisely spell backmost to activity - helping retired his relative arsenic a 'strapper's assistant' connected nan railway arsenic they trim nan powerfulness to let activity to beryllium done connected nan electrical lines.

"It was a batch of clip successful nan van," Noakes said.

He would munch distant connected snacks and - aft 1 nighttime pinch a fewer excessively galore treats - he hatched a scheme to tally a marathon nan adjacent time to pain them off.

"I was going to tally 20 miles because I felt bad aft eating a load of rubbish," he said.

"Then personification said: 'Why don't you do a marathon if you're going to spell that far?'

"So myself and a friend went retired and did nan 26.2 miles. I did it successful 3 hours 40 minutes."

His tally done nan lightweight ranks had been dependable - and Noakes has cautiously navigated his measurement to nan apical of nan division.

Noakes, unbeaten successful 17 bouts, has been British, Commonwealth and European champion, having climbed nan ladder connected nan accepted route.

Now he steps up to world level to look nan highly touted Mason, who boasts an awesome grounds of 17 stoppage wins successful his 19 victories - while Noakes has stopped 15 of his 17 opponents.

Noakes has besides already shared nan ringing pinch arguably nan champion lightweight successful nan world astatine nan infinitesimal successful WBC champion Shakur Stevenson erstwhile nan brace sparred successful London earlier this year.

That has fixed Noakes nan assurance he belongs pinch nan elite earlier his world title opportunity connected a talent-laden paper successful Riyadh connected Saturday night, which is being headlined by David Benavidez's WBC light-heavyweight showdown pinch Britain's Anthony Yarde.

"It was superb to get nan feedback we sewage disconnected [Stevenson], personification who knows what they're talking about," said Noakes.

"They were good, competitory rounds arsenic well. It couldn't person travel astatine a amended clip for maine really. It gave assurance that I could operation it astatine nan very top."

Now Noakes tin really beryllium that this play and get his hands connected a different type of strap - a sparkling WBO loop - than nan ones he utilized connected nan railway lines.