A FORMER boxing champion from Birmingham put his retirement behind him after nine years to support Bromsgrove charity Libby Mae’s Little Angels.
Wayne Elcock, who won the World Middleweight Title, brought in fellow World Champion Tony Oakley from Portsmouth for the exhibition bout.
The big Birmingham City supporter got to fight at his beloved St Andrew’s and, although the final total is yet to be announced, it is expected to be around £6,000.
Wayne first met Charlotte and Richard Sharratt who launched the charity in memory of their daughter a couple off years ago.
He agreed to help the cause through his boxing club Wayne Elcock’s Academy based in Chelmsley Wood.
Charlotte said: “After a few meetings we invited Wayne along to a meeting at Birmingham City FC which we had chosen as a venue to host the event.
“We were throwing some ideas around and then suddenly Wayne said he would come out of retirement for us, for ‘One Night Only’.”
The evening featured five amateur bouts, a raffle, an auction and the headline fight – Wayne ‘Mad Dog’ Elcock v Tony ‘Hokey Cokey’ Oakey.
Had the fight been scored, Charlotte said, it would have been ‘a very close call’.
“When the supporters asked the question ‘who won?’, Wayne replied: ‘the charity’.”
Charlotte and Richard have received some fantastic feedback from the evening’s guests and many messages of thanks.
Since losing Libby Mae at just two weeks old in 2013 the couple’s fund-raising has helped support all 18 neonatal units across the Midlands, generating more than £300,000.
The next event is the annual Libby Mae’s Charity Ball which will be at The MacDonald Burlington Hotel in Birmingham.
Visit www.libbymaeslittleangels.com for more information.
