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Aaron Chalmers out to set up greatest weekend in Geordie history by beating Floyd Mayweather before Newcastle cup final
AARON CHALMERS is out to set up the greatest weekend in Geordie sporting history by beating Floyd Mayweather before Newcastle's Wembley final.
The Geordie Shore star welcomes Mayweather to a UK ring for the first time ever on Saturday, for an exhibition bout at London's O2 Arena.
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And the Toon Army are sure to make a weekend out of it with Eddie Howe's Newcastle taking on Manchester United in the Carabao Cup final the following day.
Chalmers, 35, told SunSport: “I think the O2 will be full of the Toon Army.
"Everyone I’ve spoken to has said, ‘I’m going down on the Saturday, I’m going to get tickets.’
“I think the whole of Newcastle are going to make a weekend of it and the good thing with Newcastle fans is they always seem to back their own.
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“When there’s boxing shows in Newcastle, it’s always a sellout, so hopefully we should have some Newcastle fans in the arena.”
Chalmers left MTV's reality TV house in 2017 to pursue a fight career, transitioning to MMA.
And, after seven fights and five wins, he last year switched to boxing winning his professional debut in June.
So facing boxing royalty in Mayweather - in just his second bout - seemed as unlikely as Newcastle reaching their first cup final in over two decades.
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Chalmers said: "What’s the chances of Floyd coming to the UK - first time ever - fighting a Geordie and Newcastle are in a cup final?
“That would have been about f*****g 500,000/1 on the bookies if you had put that on last year. It’s mad. It’s crazy.
“I feel like no matter what happens in the fight with me and Floyd, it will be a weekend to remember for the rest of my life, especially if Newcastle lift the cup.”
Newcastle's last trip to Wembley for a final came in 1999's FA Cup final, also against Sunday's opponents.
So they have a chance to avenge their defeat to United in a rematch almost 24 years in the making.
Chalmers could have stayed in London to watch the game but the thought of the five hour journey home with the rest of the Toon Army was enough to put him off.
He joked: “I was offered, but I’m going to come home. I’m going to come home and have a little party at home with the kids and stuff.
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“The match sounds good, but getting the train home afterwards on the Monday when there’s 50,000 Geordies trying to get home, I just couldn’t think of anything worse.”
Mayweather, 46 on Friday, officially retired in 2017 after beating ex-UFC champion Conor McGregor.
But he has returned for five exhibitions since against names from the MMA and social media world.
None have so far posed a threat to the famously elusive Mayweather, but Chalmers is ready to risk taking one to give one.
He said: “We’re in a boxing fight, I’m gonna get punched, I know that’s coming.
“The fact is if I didn’t want to get punched, I wouldn’t be in a boxing fight, so I know I’m going to get hit.
“I’m going to have to try and take that risk at some point to try and get my shots off, so it’s going to be a mad experience.
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“I will be wanting to get my shots off, so the answer to that is yeah, I will be taking risks.
“Just hopefully not too many risks where I’m going to get clipped on the end of the chin.”
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