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British super bantamweight Marianne ‘Golden Girl’ Marston’s American visa woes, which prevented her pro debut in South Philadelphia in May, have been well documented over the past few months, however the plucky blonde hasn’t been sitting back and sulking instead she has been training for six hours a day at Rooney’s Boxing Gym in London.
Marianne’s clear ability and dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed by anyone that has visited Rooney’s Boxing Gym over the past few months, including Great Britain’s most successful coach of all time, Terry Edwards MBE, who offered to spend some time coaching her.
The timing of Terry’s offer couldn’t be better as just a few days earlier Marianne had been contacted by Ivan Cohen of ABB Corp inc/Bionic Bull Promotions, who promoted the May event that Marianne was due to debut at, to enquire if she would be able to make their South Philadelphia event on the 26th September.
During a break in her training schedule Marianne spoke of how this offer from Terry Edwards came about, “I was doing my normal workout when John (gym owner John Rooney Jnr) and Terry came into the gym. John introduced Terry to everyone and then they went out for coffee.
A little later I was sparring with Ben (Welterweight Ben Day), we were really going at it, we always do. Ben’s great to spar, he doesn’t treat me like a girl, you know, he doesn’t hold back. He’s slick and very hard to land a good shot on, a bit like Carl Froch style wise, you really have to work hard to get to him. We didn’t even notice that John and Terry had come back and were watching us.
After we finished Terry came over and said I had done really well as Ben is an awkward fighter to deal with. I couldn’t help thinking that was a huge compliment, then he blew me away by saying he’d like to come to the gym and work with me. To say I was excited at the prospect is an understatement, who wouldn’t be, Terry is the best coach in England.
I have enjoyed every single second of the time Terry and Dave (Dave Pocknell, Terry’s number two at Team GB) have spent working with me and am looking forward to the next session. They are so easy to work with and I always learn something new that improves my technique.
One of the things I really like about Terry and Dave is that they teach you the technical side of things as well. l believe this will really help me when I finally get to fight.
I’ve missed my training with Steve (former IBF Cruiserweight Champion Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham) and I’m missing all the guy’s at Shulers (The James Shuler Memorial Gym in West Philadelphia) but can’t complain too much when I get to work with one of the sports greatest coaches and get to train at a world class gym like Rooney’s every day.”
During their highly successful tenure as Team GB coaches Terry and Dave guided such luminaries as Audley Harrison, Amir Khan, James DeGale, David Price and Tony Jeffries to Olympic glory as well as securing a World Title for Frankie Gavin and a European Championship title for Luke Campbell. So just what do these two highly successful coaches think of their latest charge?
Terry Edwards, who is well known as someone that speaks his mind and doesn’t pull punches, said of Marianne, “I have been working with Marianne for the last four weeks and I think she’s made tremendous strides in that four weeks. I think she has a good style about her, she’s very gritty and determined. I think that potentially she could go all the way.”
Dave Pocknell then added, “I think her footwork is terrific, she has a powerful shot with the left hand, her movement is excellent and she really knows how to control the centre of the ring. I reckon she’s going to be a really good boxer.”
If all goes according to plan Marianne should finally be able to put all the new knowledge and technique that Terry and Dave have drilled her with into competitive action in South Philadelphia on the 26th September. Further details on this event are expected to be announced shortly.
