Fleming in Perth to reignite showtime
All things being equal, Paul Fleming might have expected to be appearing on Manny Pacquiao’s undercard in Macau next weekend.
The fast-handed 26-year-old was the first Australian to be signed by American promoter Bob Arum’s Top Rank organisation, the company behind the superstar Filipino boxer.
His last bout, which came at the Chinese gambling haven, saw him take his record to 18-0 and the talk then was of big fights with big purses for the 2008 Beijing Olympian.
But after that April 2013 victory over Japan’s Ryusei Yoshida, the Sunshine Coast super-featherweight had to put his career on hold.
“I was on the cusp of some big fights but unfortunately circumstances out of my control meant I had to take a step away,” the man known as "Showtime" told thewest.com.au. “My partner’s not a healthy person and her second pregnancy with my son really took it out of her, so I had to take the responsibilities of being a father.
“Now everything’s settled down and I’m ready to pick it up again.”
That return begins next Friday at the WA Italian Club in Northbridge, where Fleming takes on two-time world title challenger Angky Angkotta on the CDL Promotions’ Western Alliance 15 show.
It’s not the easiest of comebacks, even if Fleming will be the naturally bigger man. However, he is not expecting anything to be as tough as when he started camp two months ago.
“This has been the longest I’ve had off boxing and I tell you something, the first week I had back I felt like I had been run over and then reversed over. I have never been in so much pain in my life,” he said.
“But the muscle memory comes back in and as my trainer Billy (Hussein) says, ‘train smart, not hard’.
“This will be the fourth show of (Perth promoter) Ty Colman’s I’ve fought on. They go above and beyond for us over there. It’s also a good crowd over in Perth, I’ve got a good little following over there.
“Ideally, I want to get back to places like Macau – it’s the Asian Vegas, just amazing. But I’ll fight anywhere, you can put me in Macau, you can put me in the Italian Club, you can put me in a toilet in a pub, so long as it’s going on my record, I’m putting money in my pocket for my family and I’m getting a name for myself.”
Fleming will appear on the undercard of Perth lightweight Erin McGowan's WIBA title fight against Sydney's Arlene Blencowe.
Also in action are Nathaniel May, Brandon Ogilvie and David Letizia.
