Boxer and reality star Robbie punches his way to third belt

In 2020, Robbie Colman, from Low Simonside, in Jarrow, won the Tyne, Tees and Wear (TTW) 63.5kg development belt awarded by England Boxing, the governing body of the sport in the country.

After gaining experience in the ring, he fought to claim a TTW 67.5kg elite belt in a bout in Sunderland in late 2021 against a far more experienced fighter.

But he also qualifies to fight in the 63kg division and, after his latest bout in Boldon, has claimed a TTW belt at that weight too. He has been boxing for five years and has now won 18 of his fights.

Robbie, 24, a welder and fabricator at Jarrow firm Expervent, trains at the Bilton Hall Amateur Boxing Club, in Taunton Avenue.

And he is delighted with the hat-trick he completed in Boldon, but says that his victory in Sunderland still counts as the bigger achievement.

Robbie said: “It was unreal. Obviously I had everyone there watching.

“It was a good feeling, but it was even more of a buzz when I won the belt at the higher weight because the other lad was the favourite. He’d had 57 bouts, or something like that.”

If anything Robbie’s dad, Kenny Colman, is even more proud.

Robbie added: “He is probably my biggest fan. He travels everywhere that I box.”

In addition to making a name for himself in the ring, Robbie is becoming increasingly well known for his appearances on reality TV.

The BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary Angels of the North is mainly about the goings on at the Longlox hair salon in Gateshead.

But boxing features prominently in the third series of the show, not least Robbie, who has been seen on our screens boxing, training – and even calling bingo numbers.

He was drafted into the show through his friend and fellow Bilton Hall boxer Ewan Mackenzie.

Robbie joked: “People say ‘You’re him off Angels of the North, aren’t you?’ and I say ‘No, I’m a boxer!’”

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