Dann calls for Plymouth public to back his starlet

A PLYMOUTH boxing trainer behind the city’s most successful fighter in almost 20 years said he is struggling to understand a lack of support among sporting fans in the city.

- ANDY PHILLIPS

Constantin Ursu has made Plymouth his home, and already captured the Southern Area title and the Silver Commonwealth strap – making himself a mandatory challenger for the full Commonwealth belt.

But his trainer Marlee Dann said there were just a handful of supporters from Plymouth who travelled up to the Brentwood Centre in Essex on Saturday to see Ursu demolish opponent Basi Razaq.

While more than 2,000 Argyle fans travelled to Bermondsey in southeast London to see their team play on Saturday, Ursu was supported by just 13 fans from Plymouth, together with around 50 people contingent from the Moldovan community.

Ursu has dubbed himself the ‘Dynamite Kid’ in homage to Scott ‘Dynamite’ Dann who was the last fighter to rise above Southern Area level but had to cut short his career due to injury.

But while ‘Dynamite’ Dann had a vocal and sizeable following for his fights, Ursu has yet to garner the same support.

His trainer said: “When I sit there and look at Constantin and his situation, he lives in Plymouth, we’re the 14th biggest city in the country, but we’ve only got a football following, nobody supports anyone down here.