From roofing, railways & running to world title shot

Sam Noakes (left) is unbeaten in 17 fights as a professional

Abdullah Mason v Sam Noakes

Venue: ANB Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Date: Saturday, 22 November

Coverage: Follow radio commentary from 23:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra & BBC Sounds before switching to BBC Radio 5 Live from 02:00 on BBC Sounds, BBC Sport website & app

Sam Noakes has gone from working on the railways and running marathons on a whim to a world title shot.

And it is all down to mum Sharon for starting the journey by sending him to the gym when he was an unruly teenager with energy to burn.

Maidstone's Noakes, 28, takes on unbeaten American Abdullah Mason for the vacant WBO lightweight title in Saudi Arabia this weekend.

It is the Kent boxer's chance to fulfil his ambition of becoming a world champion - but Noakes hopes that, should he extend his own unbeaten run and hand Mason his first loss, his mother will not be getting in touch with the Ohio southpaw.

Noakes, whose older brother Sean is also a professional fighter, has few bigger fans than his mum - but she also looks out for his opponents.

When he beat Chris Adaway on his professional debut, Sharon took to Facebook to find the Plymouth journeyman.

"I remember around my second or third fight I bumped into Chris again and he said 'your mum messaged me'," Noakes tells BBC Sport.

"I didn't know what he was on about, but I rang my mum and told her 'You can't be doing this'. She went to see his last fight.

"They've become good friends, she's definitely a Chris Adaway fan. Maybe bigger than she is a fan of me.

"Thankfully she's stopped doing it. Even if I win the world title against Mason I don't want her messaging him."

It was his mother's maternal instinct to make sure the man her son had just beaten was doing OK.

Roofing, railways & running

Sharon - who will be ringside in Riyadh alongside Noakes' dad John - encouraged her sons to take up boxing. Noakes soon became a talented amateur at Westree Boxing Club in Maidstone and went on to win the ABAs in April 2019.

A month later he was invited down to Billy Joe Saunders' WBO super-middleweight title fight with Shefat Isufi in Stevenage and Francis Warren, the son of hall of fame promoter Frank, told him he wanted to manage his career.

Noakes turned his back on the working life where he had jobs in a call centre, fast-food restaurant and as a roofer, to turn professional.

"Thinking about those jobs is what keeps me working hard in the gym," said Noakes. "I don't want to go back to that.

"The roofing was hard graft, but I was a fair-weather roofer. If it rained, you wouldn't see me.

"You can't get out of the ring when it is tough - but you can get back in the van when you're on a roof and it starts raining."

Noakes had three professional fights before the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and had to briefly go back to work - helping out his brother as a 'strapper's assistant' on the railway as they cut the power to allow work to be done on the electrical lines.

"It was a lot of time in the van," Noakes said.

He would munch away on snacks and - after one night with a few too many treats - he hatched a plan to run a marathon the next day to burn them off.

"I was going to run 20 miles because I felt bad after eating a load of rubbish," he said.

"Then someone said: 'Why don't you do a marathon if you're going to go that far?'

"So myself and a friend went out and did the 26.2 miles. I did it in three hours 40 minutes."

His run through the lightweight ranks had been steady - and Noakes has carefully navigated his way to the top of the division.

Confidence boost from elite sparring

Abdullah Mason has 19 wins from 19 fights, with 17 knockouts

Noakes, unbeaten in 17 bouts, has been British, Commonwealth and European champion, having climbed the ladder on the traditional route.

Now he steps up to world level to face the highly touted Mason, who boasts an impressive record of 17 stoppage wins in his 19 victories - while Noakes has stopped 15 of his 17 opponents.

Noakes has also already shared the ring with arguably the best lightweight in the world at the moment in WBC champion Shakur Stevenson when the pair sparred in London earlier this year.

That has given Noakes the confidence he belongs with the elite before his world title opportunity on a talent-laden card in Riyadh on Saturday night, which is being headlined by David Benavidez's WBC light-heavyweight showdown with Britain's Anthony Yarde.

"It was brilliant to get the feedback we got off [Stevenson], someone who knows what they're talking about," said Noakes.

"They were good, competitive rounds as well. It couldn't have come at a better time for me really. It gave confidence that I could mix it at the very top."

Now Noakes can really prove that this weekend and get his hands on a different type of strap - a glittering WBO belt - than the ones he used on the railway lines.