![\"Middlesbrough](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0_76305012-a337-4b80-a210-ff7b20af9f79jpeg.jpg\")
<\/p>\nJade Pearce boxes for the Commonwealth title on June 20 in Eston<\/p>\n
Middlesbrough boxer Jade Pearce with her coaches, including Dad John (left) and promoter Carl Greaves (right)(Image: Carl Greaves Promotions)<\/p>\n
Jade Pearce may have been a late starter in boxing. But the sport is in the proud Teessider\u2019s DNA – and later this month she has chance to make history.<\/p>\n
Jade challenges for the Commonwealth super featherweight title in Eston<\/a> on June 20, on a card which also features Redcar<\/a> prospect Bobby Dalton.<\/a> Her fight is the first pro boxing title fight in Middlesbrough<\/a> since 2007. And if she wins, she\u2019ll become Middlesbrough’s first ever female pro champion.<\/p>\n Jade, now 29, was only 18 when she took up boxing. In that time she\u2019s never shied away from a fight no matter the opponent. And after an amateur career that saw her challenge herself against far more experienced operators, she turned professional almost a year to the day.<\/p>\n She heads into her big title fight with four wins from four. Boxing for such a prestigious title in just her fifth professional fight is perhaps a fast-track. She\u2019s only been in boxing, after all, for just over ten years.<\/p>\n But grandad John Snr was one of the co-founders of Teesside\u2019s famous Wellington ABC, while her coach, and dad, John, is current Wellington head coach, and also a standout amateur who won Commonwealth Games gold in 1998.<\/p>\n It\u2019s little wonder then that, despite her dad trying desperately to steer her away from boxing and into other sports, including hockey, swimming and athletics – all of which she competed at a high level in – boxing was all Jade wanted to do.<\/p>\n \u201cBoxing is definitely in my DNA,\u201d she tells Teesside Live. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to explain why, but when I was doing other sports, they just didn\u2019t give me the same buzz. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I just enjoy competing, but there was always that desire to box.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I turned 18 it was basically the first and only time I played the \u2018I\u2019m an adult now,\u2019 card with my dad. I basically told him, either you train me, or I\u2019ll go elsewhere and train with someone else.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter three fights he asked if I\u2019d changed my mind, but I think he already knew the answer. There\u2019s something about boxing, and the build-up to a fight, that I just find really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Jade\u2019s enthusiasm for the sport is clear. The Wellington Gym, on top of Flares Nightclub on Albert Road is like a second home to Jade. Even before being allowed to box, she would accompany John to sessions and just skip. She just loved being in the gym. The buzz, the history, the smell… her face lights up when she talks being at the Welly.<\/p>\n Now, keeping her out of the place after fights, to allow her body time to recover and recuperate before starting to think about the next fight, is the biggest challenge for her dad.<\/p>\n Jade\u2019s love for boxing carries over into her view on opponents and testing herself too. She challenges for the vacant Commonwealth title on June 20 against Kirsty Hill – who Jade already beat in her third pro fight.<\/p>\n In many ways, it could be argued the Teessider should be walking to the ring as champion. Hill was reigning holder the night they fought. She wanted a non-title fight against Jade, and the governing bodies agreed that, because of Jade\u2019s lack of pro experience, there was no obligation for the York-born fighter to defend her strap.<\/p>\n Jade took the fight anyway, knowing how beneficial it would be in any case to beat the champion. She did exactly that, on points, and as a result the title was vacated, with the upcoming contest ordered to settle who should hold the belt.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a good fight first time,\u201d Jade said. \u201cI learned a lot from it and hopefully what I\u2019ve learned we can come into this one and be even better this time.<\/p>\n \u201cOver ten rounds, I think my engine will show. I\u2019ve always been able to last the distance, and I think the extra four rounds this time around will actually benefit me.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in the gym training constantly. I spar three-minute rounds, even though we only fight over two-minutes in the actual bouts. So I know I can last the pace.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued: \u201cI\u2019m so excited for this fight. It feels massive to not only be fighting for a title, but doing it in my hometown as well. It\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just the first step for me though. My target is the very top. I won\u2019t be happy with just the Commonwealth title. My aim in boxing is to become a world champion. This would be a good step towards that.\u201d<\/p>\n Jade’s title fight is part of the Shamrock Promotions show at Eston Leisure Centre on June 20. As well as Jade and Bobby Dalton’s bouts, Redcar amateur standout Ben Jarvis makes his pro debut, as does Catterick\u2019s amateur national champion Sophia Maycroft.<\/p>\n Doors open at 6pm, with the first bell at 6.30pm. Tickets start at \u00a350 and can be bought directly from the boxers or through the ticketline: 07563 769387.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jade Pearce boxes for the Commonwealth title on June 20 in Eston Middlesbrough boxer Jade Pearce with her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,132041,66274,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-632763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-eston-and-normanby","tag-middlesbrough","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}