RESILIENCE
The Lionhearts prevail after horrific ordeal
JUST one day after witnessing the appalling terror attack at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, the British Lionhearts defeated Italia Thunder 5-0 at York Hall in Bethnal Green.
Both WSB teams were at the House of Commons last Wednesday (March 22) when Khalid Masood struck numerous people with his car on Westminster Bridge, before attacking a police officer with a knife.
Five people were killed, including Masood, and many more were injured. GB Boxing later confirmed the Lionhearts team had witnessed some of the attack, but they still boxed on Thursday (March 23).
An emotional evening began with the ringing of 10 bells as a mark of respect to those affected by Wednesday’s events, and saw the British team being led out by GB Boxing coach, Tony Davis, who had gone to the aid of PC Keith Palmer, who was tragically killed in the attack at Westminster. Classy flyweight Muhammad
Ali kicked the successful night off for the Lionhearts when he took on fellow Rio 2016 Olympian Manuel
Cappai. Things looked rocky in the second when he hit the deck, but Ali recovered to earn a unanimous decision against the switch-hitter.
WSB debutant Calum French turned in an impressive showing against pro boxer Michael
Magnesi at lightweight. Southpaw French started fast, but the experienced Italian did cut through his defence with some sharp shots. As the bout wore on, French held the centre of the ring and won unanimously on the cards.
“We tried our best not to let it [the attack] affect us,” French said.
“We tried to really concentrate and focus our minds on the boxing instead of what happened, but my heart goes out to the friends and families of those involved. What happened was a terrible, terrible, terrible event. I’m really sorry for the people involved.”
Then it was the turn of welterweight Pat Mccormack, unbeaten in the WSB, to fight for the chance to seal victory for the Lionhearts. He faced a tough test in the form of double-olympian
Vincenzo Mangiacapre, but used smart work to both head and body to earn a unanimous decision and hand his side an unassailable lead. Mangiacapre never backed off, but Mccormack offered him few openings. It was a convincing win.
The fourth contest of the evening came at light-heavy, between the Lionhearts’ Bulgarian draft pick
Radoslav Pantaleev and the Thunder’s Gianluca Rosciglione. After a slow start, Pantaleev found his rhythm and was able to produce the better work to claim a unanimous verdict.
The final fight of the night proved to be the most dramatic, as super-heavyweight Guido
Vianello almost earned a shock win over the popular Frazer
Clarke. Working well behind his jab, Vianello floored Clarke with a well-timed right hand one minute into the second round. Clarke beat the count but had to dig deep to claw his way back into the bout, landing some eyecatching left hands in the later rounds to earn a split decision and secure a whitewash victory for the Lionhearts.
“Today I made hard work of it. We have had a difficult 24 hours, but that is no excuse,” he said afterwards.
“I am a professional and should have handled that better. If I did everything I was taught in the gym then that fight would have been no problem, but I will learn from it and come back better.
“After what we have seen yesterday it was important that we got in there and fight today. People have lost family and friends this week. We are the lucky ones and had every reason to get in there and compete. Thank God we were all fine.”
The victory puts the Lionhearts at the top of Group B in the preliminary stages and enhances their chances of making it to the quarter-finals. They face France Fighting Roosters, once again at York Hall, on Thursday April 6. The British team is: 49kgs Galal Yafai, 56kgs Peter Mcgrail, 64kgs Conor Loftus, 75kgs Zoltan Harcsa, 91kgs Bepo Filipi.