NACS COUNTDOWN
The impressive Uddin is hoping to retain his title
DOMINIC INGLE took one look at Hamza Uddin and gave him his phone number.
“Videos of me boxing when I was a schoolboy went viral,” said Uddin, “and when Dominic saw them, he gave me his number. He told me I was better than Naz was at his age.”
Fast forward eight years and Uddin is preparing to defend the NAC flyweight championship.
England Boxing announced the 19-year-old from Fearless ABC in Walsall is one of eight defending champions who have been seeded No 1 for this year’s championship.
That means Uddin enters at the quarter finals, held in Rotherham on Saturday, April 15.
The finals are held in Newcastle eight days later.
Uddin is just glad to be fighting again. He hasn’t boxed since winning the NACS last April.
“I entered three tournaments,” he said, “but there were pull outs in all three. I went in the BUCS, Three Nations and Hull Box Cup – and everyone else pulled out.
“I asked GB if I could go in the NABGCS at the end of last year, but they wanted me on a camp instead. Having quality sparring is better than having a rubbish fight that doesn’t teach you anything.”
Uddin was added to the Great Britain squad towards the end of last year, but he admits that as a schoolboy, boxing broke his heart. He lost in three national finals.
“The first one was close, could have gone either way, but I definitely thought I won the other two,” said Uddin, who first went to Pleck ABC as an eight year old and now boxes for Fearless ABC in Walsall. “It was gut-wrenching. I got all the way to the final and thought I had won it.
“But it spurred me on to do well in the juniors.”
Uddin went on to win the NACS at the first attempt last year. He followed a semi-final points win against Mykyle Ahmed (Manor) with a first-round stoppage of Thom Marley (Lambton Street).
“I think he (Marley) thought he could bully me,” said Uddin. “Once I got the uppercut going it was over. I saw he was hurt and stuck it on him.”
The uppercut was also a punch that worked for Uddin’s boyhood hero.
“I watched Naz before I even started boxing,” he said. “I had shorts like his, with tassels on them.”
Uddin sees himself as a world champion in the pros one day, but before he makes the switch, he plans to become a seasoned amateur international.
“I’ve won golds at international Box Cups,” he said, “but I haven’t been to a major championship yet.
“The European Youth Championships were called off because of covid and I didn’t go to the European Juniors because I was too light. I’m looking to get as much international experience as I can.
“The plan is to win the NACS and then go for the European under-22s in October.”
First, he defends the NAC title he won by winning four bouts 12 months ago. Uddin started last year’s championship at the Midlands finals as an unproven teenager and goes into his defence as the No 1 seed. But he shrugs off the pressure, saying: “It’s just a label. I’m just a fighter trying to win the title, like all the others. Being No 1 seed doesn’t make any difference.
“The only difference from last year is that I’ve had been up in Sheffield getting good sparring.”
Full list of GB seeds Male: Under 51kg – Hamza Uddin (Fearless); Under 57kg – Jack Dryden (Birtley); Under 63.5kg – Cameron Mckay (White Hart Lane); Under 71kg – Dan Toward (Birtley); Under 86kg – Isaac Okoh (Dagenham); Under 92kg – Damar Thomas (Powerday Hooks).