By James Bovington

Cockermouth’s Nathan McAdam is celebrating becoming a bare-knuckle boxing champion.

The Cumbria-based boxer won the British strawweight belt at the Spartan Fight Club’s Fight Fest Five event.

McAdam got the better of Allan Halbert from Worksop to claim victory at the open-air show held in West Yorkshire.

He secured a third-round stoppage at the show in Mirfield, where bouts took place in a pit made from bales of hay.

McAdam, 21, said he is targeting further progress in the sport after his impressive victory.

“I was proud to win the belt,” he said.

“It was a hard fight as my opponent put up strong opposition.

“He was tougher than I expected. But I kept at it and got a third-round stoppage.

“I was happy to have come out of it with my face unscathed although I ended up being sick with all the effort – I was totally exhausted.

“I’ve nothing but respect, love even, for Allan and I’m sure that we’ll meet again on the dance floor.

“I now need to settle for a while after weeks of intense training, rest up a bit and then go on to bigger, better things in the sport.

“As I’ve said before, I’m a placid lad who never causes trouble but fighting bare knuckle gives me a safe place to channel frustration or anger into something I enjoy and am good at.”

McAdam, who moved from Sunderland to Cumbria five years ago, triumphed at an event whose promoters have been running for the last seven years.

Spartan Wars Fight Club is the brainchild of bare-knuckle boxing promoter and former amateur boxer Christian Roberts, who said: “We set it up in 2017 after hearing of the fatal stabbing of a young boy in London as we wanted to change the knife culture with a ‘gloves up, knives down’ approach to allow young men to settle differences in a controlled environment.

“We currently hold five shows a year across the north and plan on growing the promotion to hold up to 24 annually throughout the country.”

McAdam, who works with dad Neil fitting bathrooms, is seeking more local sponsorship as he looks to progress in bare-knuckle boxing.

“My dad’s my biggest fan, he’s in my corner when I fight, his company Better Bathrooms is my sponsor and I’m grateful that Soulless Ink in Workington has become my second sponsor, but I need more to progress,” he said.

“If extra local individuals or companies want to help it would be appreciated.” Nathan can be contacted via Nathan McAdam on Facebook or by emailing nathan2002mcadam@outlook.com.