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Hall in action against Malinga (Getty) and sporting the gold and his battle wounds (PA)

I will open this piece with the date Saturday 21/12/2013.

That night will go down in history for boxing in the North East of England as Stuart Hall became the first man from Darlington to win a world title, picking up the IBF world bantamweight strap against the incredibly game South African Vusi Malinga at the First Direct Arena in Leeds.

As well as being Darlos first world titlist, Hall is only the second world champion from the whole region; and the North East's only previous world champion, Glenn McCrory, was standing in Halls corner for support.

Hall had a lot more backing from his loyal fans as the crowd went wild for his entrance, many of them shouting his name an hour before he actually entered the ring.

Malinga was carried to the ring on the shoulders of one of his training team and before the first bell sounded, it was clear that Hall was going to have his work cut out for him. The African looked in great shape and after two previous world title attempts he was not fazed by the raucous atmosphere.

After a brutal 12-round war, both camps celebrated - but there was only one winner, and the crowd knew it.

Hall's fairytale victory marked the culmination of a remarkable journey for a man who spent his 20s, by his own admission, wasting his life away in the nightclubs of Ibiza.

That move to Europe's most infamous party spot was back in the summer of 2000: after becoming disillusioned with amateur boxing after being on the wrong end of a string of bad decisions, Hall headed for the Balearic island:

"I chose Ibiza because of its reputation as a party island," he said at the weekend. "It certainly didn't disappoint."

The rest is here:
From nightclub waster to world champion: The amazing story of Stuey Hall