Durie’s hails its prize guys
Ceremony for club’s top fighters
Durie’s Boxing Club has held its end-of-season prizegiving ceremony.
The event, which was hosted at the Kings Park Hotel on Friday June 26, celebrated a highly successful year for the boxers – despite the deep financial trouble facing the club.
Last week, the Reformer reported that the Hillhouse Industrial Estatebased Durie’s was on the brink of closure.
And the coverage prompted kindhearted Anne Armstrong, who runs Doonhamers ABC in Dumfries, to step in and donate £2000 to cover the rent for the rest of the year.
But it was all put to one side as the Rutherglen club, which has over 200 members, enjoyed a night of positivity and celebration.
The Archie and Emily Durie yearly achievement belt was, for the first time, shared by two fighters.
Last year’s winner Danny Burke, from Castlemilk, and Sohaib Mohammed, of Darnley, took the award and will keep it for alternating three-month periods.
Coach Archie Durie said: “It is my late dad’s belt and it is awarded for attitude and training. The boys got six votes apiece; they are both cracking role models for the younger kids. They are delighted with it.”
Thirteen- year- old Chris Brown claimed the junior belt by a margin of eight votes, following an impressive season in which he claimed the Scottish Open and Intermediate titles in the 40kg category. Archie said: “He’s a class act. He’s just a natural, his balance, his technique – everything.”
Castlemilk’s Jason Thomson walked away with the ‘best fight of the year’ shield after his winningperformances for the senior Scottish Intermediate title last year.
Archie said: “He fought twice in one day and three times over the weekend to win the Scottish Intermediate and that’s why he won the award. He did the same thing when he won the Scottish Novice Championship.”
For all of the club’s success, Archie was keen to stress that it is in desperate need of outside help. He said: “We are not out of the woods, we need sponsorship and financial support.”
And one of the ways that the club hopes to achieve that is by inviting the public to become more involved. He said: “On Saturday July 25, we are having a sparring day. We are inviting several other clubs to take part and we will have trophies to give out. We plan to have 17 or 18 contests on the day.
“It is just to let the public see the talent on display, the doors are open and people can make donations if they want.”
Durie’s Boxing Club has started a new facebook page called Duries BC, which several volunteers will operate on a daily basis. Archie said: “We are updating it every day. It is a good way for the public to see what is going on.”