BOUNCE BACK
Blane Hyland chalked up a significant win over Reece Mcfadden
BLANE HYLAND had to recover from a demoralising loss against Niall Farrell in the final of the England Boxing Elite championships to take a sudden chance to enter the GB championships in Wales this month. He seized the moment to beat elite Scottish flyweight Reece Mcfadden and win the title.
“A nice bit of luck came to me at a good time. I stayed on it. I just thought I’d carry on training and create my own luck. I stayed on it, I was waiting for the opportunity to arise and grab it with both hands when it came,” Blane said. “I thought it was a close fight with Niall and I thought I fought well throughout the ABAS so I knew I was performing well. As long as I perform well, the decisions come and go, don’t they? You win some, you lose some. I was feeling down the week after. I had a bit of time to get over it and I carried on training. So I wasn’t feeling demoralised. I just couldn’t wait to get in there and ended up getting the win. I was looking forward to getting there and performing.”
He had a demanding run in the England Elite championships, having to get past Nathan Brown and Ismail Khan before meeting Farrell in the final. “I know what I’m capable of. It was a close fight between me and Niall and on that day I never got the decision, another day I might have. Either of us could have got the win. There were no arguments,” Blane said.
The Three Nations competition came up out of the blue. “I had three days notice. I went to camp on the Tuesday. Then Niall had to pull out with a bad eye, he was in camp on Tuesday seeing the doctor. They basically told me as soon as I walked through the doors. I basically got three rounds of sparring, three rounds of pads and then back home ready to go to Cardiff,” he said.
This victory is significant, as Mcfadden has an impressive array of scalps. “He’s a good kid, he’s beat [Andrew] Selby, [Charlie] Edwards, [ Jack] Bateson… I didn’t put the pressure on myself, I knew he was a top kid. I just went in there and performed. I was over the moon when I got the win. It’s a big win,” Hyland explained.
“He’s a good fighter. It was a good fight. I boxed well. I stuck to my gameplan. I boxed nice and long, threw nice long shots, wasn’t getting involved in any fights, was catching him when he was coming in, frustrating him. He kept trying to rush me so every time I just stepped back, hit him with some straight shots and was spinning off him. Just stayed nice and calm really and just relaxed.”
Blane believes the victory could be significant for his international career. “It’ll put me right up there. I’m the first GB kid to beat him. It’s a big statement,” Hyland said. “It’s showed I’m at a good level. I was over the moon with the Tri Nations but I was happier getting that win. It could have been at any tournament in the world. That’s what I’m happy with more than anything.”
‘I JUST THOUGHT I’D CARRY ON TRAINING AND CREATE MY OWN LUCK. I STAYED ON IT’