Doncaster's Joe Hayden and Jimmy Joe Flint talk of dreams as Terri Harper boxing bill takes sport back to roots

Fiery press conferences and controversial words-of-war interviews are commonplace and admittedly crucial in getting eyes on the sport.

Amid the chaos, the innocence of lifelong dreams and the emotion of journeys can often get lost in the weeds.

There will be no danger of that when a host of Doncaster fighters see their dreams come true tonight.

Denaby Main’s own Terri Harper will battle Natalie Zimmermann at the Eco-Power Stadium, home of Doncaster Rovers Football Club.

The undercard is littered with fellow Doncaster fighters, with GBM sports chief Izzy Asif the man dealing out the potentially once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

"One of the things I always said was that I wanted to put a stadium show on,” Asif said. “I didn't know which stadium - I'm a Sheffield lad, so I thought it might be a Sheffield stadium.

"Then the opportunity came up. We thought 'Doncaster, that's a right opportunity'. It works.

"I think it's massively important to give fighters and young prospects that hope they can be on these shows, with the glitz and glamour of the stadium shows.

“This is a lifetime opportunity for a lot of the fighters on there - this is their dream come true, to fight in a football stadium. We've got the talent. South Yorkshire has bags of talent. It's a really strong card - top to bottom."

Experienced Doncaster fighters Maxi Hughes and Reece Mould will be in action, as will the super-lightweight Campbell Hatton conqueror Jimmy Joe Flint.

"It's unbelievable,” Flint said. “I remember going back when Jamie McDonnell fought there many years ago - believe it or not, my trainer Jason Cunningham was on the undercard. When I was a kid, 14/15, I never thought 'I can't be doing this exact same thing'. It makes me very proud of myself.”

Joe Hayden will be kicking off the evening by going toe-to-toe with Lewis Booth in a light-middleweight match-up.

For former semi-professional footballer Hayden, it is an adapted dream being realised.

"I grew up watching Donny Rovers play,” he said. “My dream as a kid was to play football there for Donny Rovers.

"Your first dream as a kid is to be a professional footballer. With the boxing, my new dream is to box on the pitch. Since I turned pro, it was always a dream to go and box on the pitch. I never thought it would be this soon in my career."