Dean Sutherland will always be an Aberdonian at heart but it is Glasgow where the super-welterweight has set up home for the time being.
After a spell training and sparring in London, the new Celtic champion has moved back north and with good reason.
The chance to work with renowned trainer Joe Ham Sr in a gym already stacked with polished pros including Nathaniel Collins, Regan Glackin and Josh Campbell was an opportunity Sutherland couldn’t turn down as he looks to advance his career to the next level.
The 25-year-old has bounced back from the solitary loss on his professional record in 2022 to record four straight victories, including a ninth-round stoppage of previously undefeated Welshman Sion Yaxley to lift that Celtic belt in May.
And the ever modest and articulate Sutherland credits the work of Ham and the rest of the boys in the gym for helping him take another substantial step forward.
“It came to the point where me and [previous trainer] Barry [Healy] decided my previous fight would be our last one together unless I was able to move down to London full-time with him,” he explains.
“I was the only professional boxer he had left by the last camp and he was looking to do more MMA, Muay Thai and PTs [personal training sessions] from a financial side of things. So the way it was going I felt it wasn’t the best arrangement for my development as a fighter. And, financially, moving to London full-time by myself was also going to be difficult.
“So I decided to move to Glasgow and that’s where I’m going to be training from now on. I’m working with Joe Ham Sr and there’s a good squad of boys there with Regan, Nathaniel, Josh and a few others. They’re all at a very, very good level and Joe and Joe Jr both have a great wealth of knowledge between them as well. It’s a cracking team to be a part of.
“I’m loving life in Glasgow. My dad’s side of the family are out Greenock way so I’ve been down here numerous times in the past and Sam [Kynoch] my manager is here too. It was just about how I was going to fit in and if Joe would be the right trainer for me. And it’s worked out perfectly so far.
“Joe has helped Nathaniel [the British and Commonwealth featherweight champion] go from the small hall events to TV shows and that’s the exact avenue I want to be going down. So it all fits in nicely. It’s only been a few months but I already feel like I’ve made a ton of progress.
“The biggest thing that Joe has brought out of me is not to rely on my natural power and think that’s going to get me through every single fight. I believe my boxing IQ and technical performance have got a lot better already in a relatively short space of time."
Next up for the Kynoch Boxing southpaw is a return to his native Aberdeen for a bout with Rahul Singh at the Ardoe House and Hotel on Saturday, a ticking-over fight that he hopes will keep him active as he eyes a springboard into the big time.
“It’s a weird one as he’s got a good record and I’ve been told he’s a decent operator,” reveals Sutherland. “He’s not fought outside of India before so you don’t know what sort of level of opposition he’s been up against.
“He’s a southpaw so I think this is the only second one I’ve fought professionally so that’s something I’m quite excited about too.”
Defeating Yaxley also saw Sutherland move forward in the pecking order for a crack at the currently vacant British title but it is a complicated situation and the Scot doesn’t want to be kept hanging on forever.
“It’s kind of been up in the air – my division is the one that’s been held up through multiple different circumstances,” he adds. “Sam Gilley and Louis Greene were meant to fight and then Gilley got injured and now they don’t have a date. It goes to purse bids the Wednesday after my fight and then it has to happen before the end of January.
“It’s definitely not ideal as in my head I had been thinking I would be fighting one of them before the end of this year. So we’ve decided not to just sit on the sidelines. I need to keep progressing with my career as I can’t afford to sit around for eight or nine months to see what’s going to happen there.
“I’m going to be back out again in November at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen which is looking like an international title fight to keep myself going forward, pick up an extra belt and keep my momentum going. And it means that when the British title does eventually open up, I’ll be ready for it.”
