Jon Pegg’s New York fight week notebook

Jon Pegg continues his day-by-day build-up to the Big Apple big fight

JON Pegg and Louie Counihan, of Birmingham’s Eastside gym, are living every fight fan’s dream.

They’re in New York. It’s no holiday for the pair – on Friday, July 11, they are part of a world title fight at a truly legendary venue. Madison Square Garden beckons.

The pair are key members of female boxing legend Savannah Marshall’s team for her forthcoming world title bid.

They’ll be in Savannah Marshall’s corner for the Hartlepool boxer’s world super-middleweight clash with Shadasia Green.

While tasting the Big Apple, Jon has agreed to keep readers posted through a diary of the week.

THURSDAY 

WEIGH-in day.

With everything going on, the days are flying.  The official weigh-in is at 9.30 and Sav (Savannah Marshall) has done the weight really well with no issues at all.

The room is super busy and everybody is there waiting around ready to get on the scales. Before this is done, the boxers have to do their pre-fight medical and fill out various forms. I’m called in as Shadisa Green - the woman Savanna is fighting - is called onto the stage in another room where the scales are set up.

Savannah Marshall waits in the wings for her big moment

Very broad and 5ft 8ins, Green, a resident of nearby New Jersey, looks the part and has a record to match. On the scales she comes in at 167 and two ounces, Weight made.

Savannah jumps on next and is smack on 167, so comes in at 11.13 - a pound inside - and looks in great condition. Now it’s time to start the refuelling process. Not much sight-seeing today as we have the ceremonial weigh in at 6pm and have to be over early to rehearse that!

Spend the day hanging round the lobby chatting to most of the Brits. We are all ferried over to MSG for the ceremonial weigh in which is done in the theatre again. Once again MVP have outdone themselves with the production values. Onto the ceremony and Sav goes through the motions as cool as a cucumber. While a lot of the fighters use this to show the glamour and showbiz side of their boxing, it’s the home girls – Marshall, Scotney and Ireland’s Katie Taylor - who keep their tracksuit bottoms to show, for them, it’s a fight not a fashion contest. We decide to walk back to the hotel as the traffic is crazy.

Savannah is constantly stopped for pictures and autographs as is young Fran Hennessy and it’s quite a relaxing way to spend the hour before we have food booked. On the way back we bump into GBM promoter Izzy Asif, from Sheffield, with ex fighter Amer Khan and they join us for a glass of juice back at the hotel.

A goody bag gift for the coaches…take note, British promoters

At the stadium Savannah was given a lovely gift box full of goodies and we were all impressed by the small things Most Valuable Promotions were doing for the fighters. It gets better - we are dropped a text at the hotel and me and Louie find ourselves being given a lovely MVP leather bag. Inside, it’s packed to the brim with stuff including jackets, sunglasses, hats... It really was a nice gesture and they said they just wanted to thank the coaches for all their help. British promoters take note.

Everybody heads to bed happy with the weigh-in day and more that ready for fight day tomorrow.