Boxers weigh in magnificently with their championship victories
Bath’s Roman Boxing Gym are celebrating after three boxers have won England Boxing Western Counties Junior Development Championships in their respective weight classes.
Daisy Allinson (16), Max Barnes (16) and Terence Beekma (15) are now 2022 Western Counties champions and have been looking forward to competing at national level.
Kingswood school pupil Terence (5 bouts, 4 wins) boxed in the 57-60kgs final in Bodmin. This proved to be his toughest bout to date as he faced Charlie Cooper of Wimborne ABC (8 bouts, 4 wins), a more experienced opponent with a sizable reach advantage.
Once again Terence’s ability to focus, listen to instructions from his corner and box to orders saw him go the distance and ultimately win on a split judges decision, scoring four in favour to one against.
Senior coach Darren Sullivan was in the corner on the night and says knowing when and how to apply pressure was the key to Terence coming out ahead.
He said: “Both boxers were very skilful. In the opening round, Terence boxed well on the back foot, before coming forward late in the round to catch his opponent with a good body shot.
“Throughout the second round, Terence maintained the work rate and kept the pressure up. It looked as though the Wimborne boxer’s tank was running dry and he didn’t have the engine to continue his earlier pace so Terence was encouraged to stay on his front foot.
“He kept his opponent on the outside of the ring, cutting off the centre and forcing him onto the ropes and in the corner. In the final round, Terence continued to keep the pressure on and ultimately came out the deserved winner.”
At the end of the bout, Terence was congratulated on his win by Western Counties regional coach Ian Tennant who said he was very impressed and invited Terence to the next regional squad training.
Beechen Cliff pupil Max travelled to Exmouth last week and boxed Preston Samba of Powerdays Hooks London in the pre-quarter National Junior Development finals (60-63kgs). Max held his own against the more experienced London champion in an even first round and it was unclear who had won the opener.
His tall ranging opponent used their reach and height throughout the second to counter Max’s explosive style and it was much the same in the final round. After a good account from both boxers, the London lad came out ahead winning two of the three rounds and goes on to the quarter final. Max can feel proud of his performance and will bring a lot of valuable experience back into the gym.
This Sunday Terrence will compete in the National Junior Development quarter final (57-60kgs). In Essex he will face the Home Counties champion George Jones of The Ring Boxing Club. Hayesfield pupil Daisy finds herself just two bouts away from becoming national champion with her semi-final in Banbury on Saturday.
The England Boxing National Development Championships give up and coming talent at Junior and Senior level the opportunity to showcase their skills. This category is open to male and female boxers of junior age (14, 15 or 16, depending on when they were born) and senior boxers (18-40 years of age) in a wide range of weight categories ranging from Under 36kg to Over 91kg (males) and Under 40kg to Under 81kg (females).
Junior Development Male entrants are required to have had at least two and no more than ten bouts prior to entry. Female entrants are required to have had no more than six bouts prior to entry. The finals will be streamed online on the England Boxing Youtube Channel, with further details to be announced in the lead-up to the event.