Bridlington Club for Young People once again hosted the national finals of the National Association of Boys and Girls
Clubs boxing championships.
It saw some of the best young boxers from across England, Wales and Northern Ireland descend on the town to determine who would be crowned national champion in the various age categories.
Two Bridlington boxers were in the line-up, both of who are no strangers to this level of boxing.
Frankie Thompson, already with five national finals and four national titles to his name, was competing in the youth light middleweight category, with club mate Oliver Male, who already has three titles to his name, competing in the youth middleweight class.
Thompson was up against Welsh opposition in the shape of Clwyd ABC’s Darren Daly. Daly had come a long way for the final and gave everything in a hectic start to the contest.
His solid pace brought a mix of tactics from Thompson, who switched between holding his feet and moving.
Neither method slowed the pace of Daly, which was lightning fast from start to finish.
The better quality of shots came from the Bridlington boxer with not many of Daly’s shots landing. However, the sheer volume of his punches were certainly counting.
After three rounds of boxing it came down to what the judges preferred with them split in a decision that favoured Daly’s overall work rate as Thompson had to settle for a silver medal.
Head coach Damien Grant said: “There aren’t many boxers who train harder than Frankie. He is modest in victory and very humble in defeat; exactly what you would expect of a good sportsman.
“He has lost before and will lose again but takes the result on the chin and moves on to the next, with two more bouts scheduled this side of Christmas.
“To keep competing at the very top level of British boxing, year in, year out, doesn’t happen by accident and
Frankie deserves every accolade he
gets.”
Oliver Male was up against Ollie Lee, another boxer who had made a lengthy journey, travelling from Barum Boxing Club in Barnstaple, Devon.
Lee is no stranger to Bridlington, having had two bouts with Thompson previously. Having already won the National Developments Championships and the National Youth Cadet Champi-
onships, this was the next step for Male, and an open class tournament.
Male started well on the front foot and, despite some tangles in close, managed to land clean on a number of occasions.
He got the upper hand in the first round with flurries of work rate, which continued into the second round.
A few strong blows in the second round seemed to catch his opponent and rocked him a little with the ref stepping in to administer an eight count.
The third round saw the pace drop quite a bit with Male on the back foot more. Lee managed to land a few on his way in and spoiled some of the in-close work, which maybe edged him the last round. It was not enough to overturn the first two rounds though, with Male been declared winner.
Head coach Grant said: “Ollie has been getting better and better each year and that is down to the hard work he has put in within the gym.bHe is proving each year he belongs at the top level and can compete and beat some of the best kids out there.
“Another strong performance throughout these championships shows that he will be a handful for anyone he boxes against and he will be looking to continue boxing well and make his mark on the open class youth championships in January.”
