Ayrshire boxer Calvin McCord has this week pledged to put pride back into the heart of the Kincaidston community - after the area was rocked last year by a gas explosion.
The events of Monday, October 18 left one family fighting for their lives, saw scores of families evacuated and left a community devastated.
Calvin was training in the gym that night, but his mum and dad, Shona and Robert, were at home in Gorse Park, when the explosion took place - just 50m away from them.
Thankfully the McCord family members escaped serious injury, but their home was badly damaged.
They were one of many Kincaidston families rehomed for 18 days as an investigation into the blast and a clean-up operation got underway.
Thirteen months on, the painful memories of that night still linger.
But Calvin, 25, a former pupil at Belmont Academy, plans to put the area back on the map - for all the right reasons - by winning the vacant Commonwealth Lightweight title when he trades blows with Kent’s Sam Noakes at the O2 Arena this Saturday in London.
And how Calvin would love to return to Kincaidston, show off that title belt and provide the wounded community with some much-needed good news.
Calvin said: “I just hope I can go down there, win the belt, and take it back to Kincaidston.
“Hopefully it’ll give the community something to be proud of and put us on the map.
“I’m Kincaidston born and bred. I stay in Gorse Park and my house was 50m away from the one that blew up. My house looks right onto it.
“That night I was at the gym, but my mum and dad were home. We were put out our home for 18 days. It was a real upheaval, 100 per cent.
“We had a front porch which was blown in, a radiator in my bedroom was blown off the wall, the radiator in the living room was blown off, there were a few broken roof tiles - and the bedrooms were damaged.
“And we are no further forward in terms of the answers to what happened that night. It’s been a nightmare.”
Unbeaten McCord takes on Noakes, also unbeaten (in nine contests), on the undercard of the interim WBO super-middleweight title fight between fellow Brits Zach Parker and John Ryder, to be broadcast live on BT Sport this Saturday.
And there’s plenty riding on the outcome of the contest for McCord, as he seeks to claim the vacant Commonwealth title and Noakes’ WBC International Silver Championship.
He said: “Winning the Commonwealth title belt will be the start of many more to come.
“I have already been in the mix with the best guys in Britain, but I feel that I am more than capable of turning this guy over.
“I’m absolutely flying and ready to go. Believe it not, I don’t get nervous until I’m warming up and getting ready to enter the ring.
“But my training has been fantastic. In fact, it could not have gone any better.”
McCord said he isn’t fazed by the prospect of meeting Noakes in his own back yard and is, in fact, relishing the prospect of keeping what is expected to be a large partizan crowd in London, fairly quiet.
He revealed: “As an Amateur, I’ve fought all over the world and when I turned professional, I fought in places like Sheffield, Paisley and Aberdeen.
“I’ve always preferred boxing away from home and fighting in someone’s back yard.
“I like shutting up the home crowd! The fact it’s live on BT Sport too, it’s good exposure for me.
“Noakes is good, he’s one of (promoter) Frank Warren’s boys, so you don’t get to that stable without being talented.
“But he’s not going to knock me out. I’m going down there to make a statement and stop him in his tracks.
“As long as I stick to the gameplan that we have got I don’t believe he can beat me.
“I believe I’m a better boxer than him and I’ve got the beating of him.
“If it goes the distance I’ll be fit enough but I’d like to end him early. As long as the win comes, that’s the main thing.”
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