STILL KING
Hoddesdon take their fourth team of the tournament prize at the King of the Ring in Sweden
HODDESDON Boxing Academy claimed an historic fourth Team Of The Tournament accolade at the King of the Ring Box Cup held in Borås, Sweden.
They also received awards for Best Diploma Boxer in Charlie Brown (12), Best Technical Boxer Nico Leivars (19) and middleweight Stan Stannard (22) was involved in the Best Contest over the weekend at the Borashallen centre. Recently crowned Community Club Of The Year at the Active Herts/broxbourne awards, Hoddesdon’s success continues.
In the Elite section there were impressive wins on November 25 for Faraz Abid (19) at 60kgs winning twice to take the gold medal and his cousin and current English national champion Hamza Mehmood also 19, who outscored
Jason Clay (KFM Linka) to secure the 52kgs title. Nico Leivars was a standout at 56kgs winning his two contests, including beating the Swedish national champion
Arsalan Dastparvar (Narva BK) to take a well-deserved gold.
Both middleweights had to settle for silvers as they were beaten in their respected finals. In group one, Stan Stannard out-punched
Will Hanson (Castle Hill ABC) over three rounds before picking off experienced Amer Smeasen (Lunds BK). He was then matched with the experienced international Adam Charlotoi (Hammersby BK) and in a frantic contest, which was declared the best in the tournament, it was Charlotoi whose hand was raised. A tactical chess match for the purists with each boxer making the other miss before countering with hard shots from both hands.
In the other group experienced Wesley Washington overcame the tough Gambian boxer Gerard Colley in the semi-final. In the final, Wesley was looking comfortable before Norway’s Mindaugas Gedminas (AIK Lund) caught him an overhand right and forced a stoppage.
Charlie Brown boxed three times to win gold. What was more impressive was that he was the youngest in his category. Wins over
Andriy Khochaba (Redbergslids BK) and Benjamin Printz Bah (IF Linnea) set up a great bout with
Jassun Zina (BK Revansch) in which Charlie remained composed, picking his opponent off with the jab and countering off triggers he was setting up for his Swedish counterpart. Brown impressed the judges winning a unanimous decision.
Equally impressive were Alexander Luong and Brandon Foster-sweeney both boxing twice to win gold medals. Other notable performances came from the promising Junior section with Kyle Quinn (16), Brady Cronin (15) and Alessandro Head (16) all bagging gold medals. Cronin and Head forced the referee to call a halt in their contests. Joshua Sholoye boxed through the pain barrier with an injured thumb to secure his title.
Six-time national champion
Georgie Ellis produced a sublime performance to break down the resistance of national champion
Yodkhwan Idh (Vaggeryds BK) to win by stoppage in the third round. Ellis kept the dangerous Idh at range before sitting in the pocket and attacking the body to slow his opponent down. After the referee administered two standing eight counts he called a halt to proceedings.
A see-saw battle with local favourite Kevin Scott (Uppsala IF) saw a decision go against Alfie Gaskin. Both Kurt Lee and
Jonathan Hart could have been better rewarded in close split decisions.
“Every time we enter this tournament we are looked upon as the team to beat. The effort the boxers put in was simply brilliant. We ended with 12 golds, four silvers and two bronze [medals] from a squad of 20 boxers,” said Hoddesdon head coach Sab Leo.
“The planning behind this tournament takes months and the team of coaches and parental support behind the team of boxers was crucial and decisive. We had a blast over four days. Highs and lows, thrills and spills but through it all, the team spirit shown for each member gave them that extra boost. A fantastic tournament with a fantastic ending for Team Hodbox.”