Fraser Wilkinson chasing Celtic title vs familiar foe Dean Sutherland

The Aberdeen-based southpaw will step into the ring this evening for what he concedes could be a life-changing occasion.

Victory over Dean Sutherland at a sold-out Beach Ballroom will see Wilkinson take the Celtic super-welterweight belt into his possession and move him a step closer to competing for both the Commonwealth and British titles.

The 24-year-old is enthused by that prospect but has already experienced enough in life to know that it's not the only thing that matters. Originally from the village of Hopeman near Elgin, Wilkinson credits a month-long visit to Mexico last year – after his only professional defeat - for helping him to keep things in perspective.

He remains as driven as ever to achieving all he can in the sport but knows that happiness and personal worth matter just as much.

“I’ve been around long enough now to know that boxing is a business and not just a sport,” he offers. “You can get hurt physically and mentally. My goals are just to be happy and to be able to box. What comes off the back of that is just a plus.

“Going to Mexico last year helped get things into perspective. I came into the pros quite a raw novice as to how the game works. Other guys have maybe shared a gym with pros before they turned professional themselves. They knew the burns and stings that come with it.

“But being up in Elgin when I first turned over [as a professional] I had no idea. So, I took that loss and went over to Mexico. Jay [Jamie Robinson, former boxer turned fixer/coach] sat me down and said, ‘This isn’t a game. You’re going to get hustled and pushed around if you don’t do what’s important to you’. And that was a vital life lesson for me.

“So, I don’t want to be the guy who in 30 years’ time has achieved this and that but starved himself of life and looks back with regrets. You have to be happy outside of the ring as well as inside it. That’s important. But I’m probably happiest when I am boxing. I’m pretty much in the gym all the time when I’m not working in my day job as a builder. I’ll start the partying and celebrations when I’m finished with boxing in 10 or 15 years’ time, whenever that day comes.”

This is a big night for sport in the north-east. With Wilkinson now based in the city and Sutherland an Aberdonian loon temporarily relocated to Glasgow, interest in the contest, entitled “King of the North”, has been significant.

The pair, both managed by Sam Kynoch, have crossed paths sporadically in the past, having sparred together and fought on the same card just a few months ago. That sense of familiarity adds intrigue to a contest that could be life-changing for the victor, although Wilkinson isn’t looking too far ahead for now.

“My main goal is just to win the Celtic title,” he confirms. “You have to walk before you run. If I was in Dean’s shoes I wouldn’t be fighting me right now. I’d be fighting someone far greater because Sam Gilley [the Commonwealth champion] or Louis Greene [the former champion] is a massive test.

“So, I’m feeling no pressure whatsoever. I’m going in with a guy that’s got double the fights that I’ve had. I just have to do what I’ve been doing in camp and I’ll come out a better fighter for it.

“Me and Dean have sparred a hundred or so rounds together in the last few years. I wouldn’t say we were mates, more acquaintances who have run into each other a few times here and there.

“I think he took it as a disrespect that I took this fight because we’ve been in the gym together in the past and things like that.

“But in the climate that boxing is in just now this fight makes sense for me. I’m back at my true weight – I was never really a middleweight – and now I need to do what’s right for me and show what I’m made of.

“There’s no point me raving about going for the British or the Commonwealth at this point. I’ve got to get through Dean first and then take it from there. The north-east needs a fight like this and it should be a good one.”