Sunderland sporting hero Tony Jeffries trains with Robbie Williams at Los Angeles home

Tony Jeffries grew up boxing in Sunderland.

The boxer posted on his Instagram account on Friday that he had been spending time training Williams at his Beverly Hills home. The singer is set to play concerts in Las Vegas in the spring, as well as headlining British Summer Time at Hyde Park in July.

Tony, who started sparring at Sunderland Amateur Boxing Club at the age of 10, spoke on social media about the experience of working with the pop star - and said it was only the start of their journey together.

He continued: "It's been great training Robbie Williams this year. We've done nine sessions in the last 11 days at his house here in LA. What a great down-to-earth fella he is, as well as all of his team.

"This is just the start of our journey together. #BigThings."

Tony took home a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics in Bejing, before setting his sights on a pro career. After more than a hundred fights, Tony had to hang up his gloves at 27 after suffering major hand injuries.

He moved to America to start the next chapter.

Now, he runs a successful duo of Box’N’Burn gyms in LA, which has spawned spin-off Box’N’Burn academies where he coaches personal trainers on how to teach boxing.