Pirates are boxing clever

7:00am Wednesday 9th July 2008

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PIRATES could soon be punching above their weight after the club accepted an offer for their riders to receive personal training from boxing champion Steve Bendall.

The Poole-based southpaw is the current holder of the English middleweight title and has previously held the IBO and WBO Inter-Continental crowns.

But he's also a big speedway fan and has a close affiliation with Poole Castle Cover.

Bendall, who has just begun a personal training business to run alongside his continuing professional boxing career, is guest of honour at Wimborne Road for their Elite League clash against Ipswich tonight (7.30pm) Pirates chief Matt Ford said: "Steve has offered to personally train the whole team and it's an offer I will gladly accept.

"I've been doing it with my sons Dan and Sam for the past three months and it's great being trained by someone who has fought at the highest level.

"Our endurance and the improvement it's made to our fitness has been immense.

"Any form of upper body strength, in particular at this stage of the season when riders are so busy, is of great benefit to them.

"I only hope they won't have to put it into practice now that Craig Boyce has retired!

"But it's clearly a great opportunity for the lads in the team to keep their personal fitness level at its highest peak and enjoy training at the same time.

"With the amount of time riders spend travelling and on planes, it's hard for them to find time to work out.

"It's an imperative side of speedway these days, though, so Steve's offer is a great one for them which I feel they will take up."

Bendall is Coventry born and a Bees fan, but he was unable to attend Pirates' home clash against them last week because he was on holiday.

So, with tonight's fixture being Poole's first at home since Bendall beat Paul Smith in Birmingham to claim the English title for a second time, he is Ford's guest at the meeting.

Ford said: "We like to reward success at Poole, and it's great we are able to have Steve visit us.

"It's a tremendous achievement for Steve to win the English title back against all odds.

"I know he's from Coventry but he's been living in Dorset for about 10 years and is now a fully fledged Southerner.

"We're very proud of his achievement and have no hesitation in fully endorsing his new personal training venture he's now running alongside his boxing career."

Pirates, aiming to avenge a shock 50-40 home league reverse against Ipswich in May, are at full strength, while Witches use rider replacement for injured Chris Louis.

Pirates: 1 Chris Holder, 2 Magnus Zetterstrom, 3 Davey Watt, 4 Adam Skornicki, 5 Bjarne Pedersen, 6 Freddie Eriksson, 7 Daniel Davidsson.

Ipswich: 1 Piotr Swiderski, 2 Rider replacement for Chris Louis, 3 Jarek Hampel, 4 Steve Johnston, 5 Robert Miskowiak, 6 Tobias Kroner, 7 Chris Schramm.