Surprise inclusion
Iqbal-fletchman takes his place in the talentladen England squad alongside the likes of Carrigan and Dolling at the European Youths
HERE’S a surprise inclusion in the England squad for the European Youth Championships that starts in Croatia on Tuesda. Even his club coach admits Aaron Iqbal-fletchman has “come from nowhere” to get picked.
Iqbal-fletchman (Technique) sealed his spot at 67kgs by winning the Youth title in February.
That was the first open championship for the Blackburn teenager and he had six wins to become champion, culminating in a points victory over Mason Fury (Rough and Ready) in the final.
Coach Shaun Litherland says Fletchman
Tis still something of a novice. “Aaron has only been boxing for two and a half years,” he said, “and I think that’s what excited the England coaches.
“They see Aaron as a blank canvas. He hadn’t done any combat sports before he came to us, just played a bit of local football.
“His family moved from Manchester and his mum put him in the gym to keep him off the streets. After four months, he was ready for a skills bout and the official wrote in his book after that: ‘No more skills.’ He’s progressed ever since.”
The win over Fury in the final was his 27th in 34 bouts. Litherland says the record includes 12 stoppages, most of them at the start of his career.
“We have matched Aaron hard,” said Litherland. “We could have got him 30 straight wins. But we could see the ability he had and knew what he needed.”
Of his seven losses, one was inflicted by John Joe Carrigan, who is also heading to Croatia, to compete up at 71kgs.
The teenager from Border City ABC in Carlisle is looking to add to the European Junior gold he won last year.
“[England coach] Amanda Coulson rang me to say she’s very excited about John Joe,” said Ian Archibold, head coach at Carrigan’s club. He’s been looking unbeatable.”
Carrigan has been unbeaten in his last 37 bouts, including a unanimous points win over Fletchman on the Border City ABC show at the Green Hill Hotel in Wigton last year.
“John Joe had just come back from the Europeans,” said Archibold, “and he maybe tried too hard to impress the home crowd.
“Fletchman was trying to close the range and John Joe got on his toes and outboxed him. I thought he boxed well – but he didn’t think so.”
Archibold says Carrigan was six years old when he first went to the gym “and he couldn’t even run around the block.
“But he stuck at it. He’s so determined. He wants it so much. He won his first National Schools title when he was 11 years old and he hasn’t looked back. He’s won six national titles and seven Box Cups and was named Best Boxer at a Box Cup in Sweden where he won three times in three days.”
Carrigan shone at the Youth Championships as well, reaching the final with back-to-back stoppages and then clinching the title with a unanimous points win over Nathan Barrett (Powerday Hooks).
The female squad includes Lily Dolling (Harrow and District).
Dolling is also a good footballer, playing for MK Dons Women in the Southern Premier Division, and has proved very capable with her fists over the last 10 months. She only made her amateur debut last May and won her first national title only five months later, claiming the Youth Development Championship at under-75kgs.
Dolling added the NABGC
‘I JUST STARTED BEATING THEM ALL UP AND ENJOYING IT’
Championship at 70kgs in December before winning the Youth title at the same weight in February, beating Shakira Purchase (Yeovil) in the final.
“I started football when I was nine years old,” she said, “and when I was 13 or 14 years old, I wanted to up my fitness to take my football to the next level. So, my friend that I played with suggested that I could go boxing with her just for training.
“I started going down there and getting put in the ring as a dummy for the boys to spar against and get ready for their competitions. All of a sudden, I just started beating them all up and weirdly started enjoying it.
“I was there for a few months, but they couldn’t find me any bouts, so I switched to white collar boxing. I had a few bouts on home shows which meant nothing; it was just white-collar boxing, sparring 30-something-year-old women.
“Then, I was sent by my coach’s friend to a different amateur club to take my boxing further and the coach there saw something special, so he started training me and concentrating on me and from there I started winning.
“It’s always been football in my heart, but I feel like recently boxing has really taken off. Boxing is a really high intensity sport, there’s more adrenaline, but when I’m on the pitch, I just feel relaxed, like you’re in your own world. There’s going to be a point where I have to choose but I really don’t want that day to come.”