Former Whites striker Ross McCormack is stepping into the boxing ring where he'll have to hit a familiar face
Brian Dick Reach Football Correspondent
09:00, 28 Mar 2026
Ross McCormack during his time at Leeds United
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Ross McCormack during his time at Leeds United
Ross McCormack insists he is more worried about his ring-walk than being punched by former Leeds United defender Matthew Kilgallon.
The ex-Leeds United and Aston Villa striker has signed up to participate in 'A Night to Remember II', an event organised by Pro Project Promotions and set-up by former Arsenal goalkeeper Graham Stack.
McCormack will compete against ex-Leeds and Sheffield United centre-half Kilgallon in a charity match scheduled to take place at the Titanic Hotel in Liverpool on Friday, April 17.
He will do so with just a few weeks' training under his belt but he says he is as concerned about hitting the £120,000 fund-raising target as he is being struck by his 6ft 2ins opponent.
“No chance,” he tells LeedsLive. “Have you seen Big Killer, a big softy man, I'm not frightened I'm just more excited.
“I work with him at the home games at Leeds United sometimes. I have a lot of respect for him, I love the guy but for them six minutes in the ring, that goes out the window.
“I'm sure he'll say the same. The main thing is the amount of money that it raises for the two Merseyside charities. If we could put on a show and have a good scrap, perfect.”
The McCormack vs Kilgallon bout is one of five, three-round matches that also feature Lee Trundle taking on Chris Iwelumo. In addition to raising money for worthy causes, Stack's motivation is to provide ex-professionals with a focus after they retire from football.
Reigniting the competitive spirit and experiencing the energy of a boxing gym is certainly something McCormack has relished during his training camp in Glasgow.
"I've never obviously had a boxing fight, but I've always had a huge respect for sport.
"It's tough. I've got to admit I haven't done much in the last, I don't know, six years or whatever since retirement. I played the odd charity game, but If I'm being totally honest, you just let yourself go and you fall out of love with training.
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"You can go to the gym, but see for me you go to David Lloyd, whatever it may be, no one speaks to you, everyone's got their headphones in. Everyone looks down in the dumps.
"Whereas you walk into a boxing gym, it's similar to walking into a dressing room in football. Everyone's in high spirits, everyone's chatting to you, people are encouraging you that you've never met before, it's like a proper little community.
"You can't replicate the football dressing room anywhere else in any workplace. So to get something quite close to that, the camaraderie, the banter has been ideal, it's come along at the perfect time.
"Listen, it's been tough, there's no two ways about it, it's been absolutely tough but I've got to admit I am absolutely addicted to it."
The dressing room McCormack enjoyed most was the one at Elland Road, where he spent four years and plundered goals. His totals with the Whites, 157 appearances and 58 were the highest of his career.
Leeds couldn’t escape the Championship’s mid-table, nor the churn of managers as the likes of Simon Grayson, Neil Warnock and Brian McDermott came and went – the one constant was McCormack’s goals and in the summer of 2014 he broke the second-tier transfer record when he was sold to Fulham for £11million.
But nothing matched up to being captain of Leeds United. “100%, yes, I say it all the time I had two amazing years at Fulham, I probably had one amazing year at Cardiff and then obviously four really good years at Leeds as well.
“I came through at Rangers but I don't really cast myself as a first team player because I didn't play many games, so probably my first taste of being at a massive club with huge expectation on your shoulders was going to Leeds – and I felt I thrived on that.
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“It took me a while to get going in the first year but once I got a couple of goals, I felt ‘That's it, the weight's off the shoulders, it's time to kick on now’. And I thought I did.
“Everything was just perfect outside football as well, your life, I had lots of friends there, I actually moved back there when I retired, so for me I still say now that Leeds feels like home to me.”
He credits one manager for coaxing out his highest performance level: “Brian McDermott for sure, for me the best manager that I played under in terms of what he got out of me. His calm demeanor, his training sessions were really good, really intense.
“He had a good coaching staff with him and a lot of managers these days say ‘If the players have got any problems my door's always open, come and chat’. But then you feel with some managers, if you go and chat and say things that they hold that against you, whereas Brian wasn't like that.
Brian McDermott during his time at Elland Road.
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Brian McDermott during his time at Elland Road.
“He would take everyone's opinion on board, it would be firm, but it would be fair, he never left any first team players out. I just liked the way that he worked and he was a top man into the bargain as well, a really, really good guy.”
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Having not just survived but thrived in front of 40,000 at Elland Road, next month’s crowd will be smaller but way further out of the 39-year-old’s comfort zone.
"It feels like a little bit like you're walking into, not the lions' den but the majority of people that will be in that room you've never seen before, and you've never boxed before so it becomes quite daunting. What's actually freaking me out the most is the walkout first of all. Giving a song which ain't too cringey.
"And the second part is you're standing there on your own and the full room is just looking at you. What do you do? Do you dance? Do you bounce on your toes? I've got no idea what will happen."