RIVER CITY actor Stephen Purdon has vowed to get fighting fit after being handed a dream role as Scotland’s first boxing world champion, Benny Lynch, in a play about his life.

Stephen, 35, who plays Shellsuit Bob in the BBC Scotland soap, will swap Shieldinch for the stage for the play’s Scottish tour next year – which includes a performance at Helensburgh’s Victoria Halls.

Already a Christmas panto regular, Stephen will make his dramatic debut in The Benny Lynch Story, and says he grabbed the opportunity to play the 5ft 4in legend with both hands.

He revealed he will work hard in the gym to replicate not only the flyweight’s physique, but also his dancing style of footwork.

The actor, who will start boxing classes after his current panto run finishes next month, said: “When I was a young boy people used to say to me, ‘You’d be perfect as Benny Lynch’.

“I’d look him up and here was this wee guy from Glasgow, who became world champion and had the world at his feet.

“But his life fell apart and he died tragically young.

“It’s different to anything I’ve done before but to play an icon like Benny Lynch on stage doesn’t get much better for an actor.

“And, as a Glasgow boy, it’s a great story for me to get my teeth in to.

“I’m about the same height as Benny but I want to try my best to look as much like he did in the ring. That will be the most challenging thing.

“There are scenes like the world title fight that we will touch on in the play so as soon as I finish panto I’m going to be doing boxing classes to try and mirror what he did.

“I’ve been watching clips on YouTube and he was like a spring. It’s almost like he’s dancing, on the balls of his feet.

“That’s something I want to work on when I start the boxing training, but I will try my best and hopefully I can pull it off.”

He added: “I do keep myself relatively fit – I go to the gym and play football – but I’m in no way the shape of a boxer. But I will be, come May.”

Lynch is considered one of the greatest flyweights the world has ever seen.

He won the British, European and world flyweight titles at the age of 22, when he knocked out champion Jackie Brown in Manchester in a famous fight in 1935.

He travelled by train back to Glasgow, where he received a hero’s welcome from 100,000 fans. But he died just 11 years later after problems with alcohol.

The play, written by David Carswell, will also feature Trainspotting 2 and former High Road star Simon Weir and River City’s Holly Jack as well as David Hayman as the boxer’s coach and mentor Sammy Wilson, while David Hayman junior will direct.

Stephen said: “Benny Lynch was so young when he became world champion but when you delve in to his story it’s fascinating and tragic. He had everything and then it was gone.

“It’s been a long process, but I think when you do something like this it needs to be done properly.

“But with David’s script and the cast we’ve got, I think we will do it justice.”

The play will be performed at 14 venues next year in a tour that will start at the Gaiety, Ayr, on May 18. It visits the Victoria Halls in Helensburgh on June 21.

Stephen added: “I would like to think we could do it in Glasgow the following year, and have almost a homecoming for it.”