It was a weekend of two near victories for a pair of Bridlington Boxing Club’s finest boxers.
Boxing duo Makhaya Widnall and Frankie Thompson travelled down to Guildford in London with coaches, family, friends and supporters for the finals weekend of the Junior Championships
After weeks of battling through the regional and national rounds they both had semi finals on Saturday against opposition that had previously beaten them.
Widnall was first up, boxing Aamir Shirazi of the Top Yard School of Boxing in the Midlands.
The pair last met in the Barum Box Cup final in October where Shirazi claimed victory and the gold medal.
The semi final bout started tentatively with both boxers feeling each other out and picked up pace as it went on.
Widnall had a strong second round scoring well on the offensive but a strong finish to the final round saw the Midlands-based boxer get the nod from the judges and progress to the final.
Head coach Damien Grant said: “Makhaya showed a massive improvement in his performance from when he last boxed the same opponent. The bout was close with his opponent edging forward later in the contest. Makhaya reached the final 4 in the country and narrowly lost out to the eventual winner – an achievement we are all very proud of.”
Frankie Thompson’s semi final was again a former opponent that has beaten him.
He was facing Kevin Richardson of the Houghton and District Boxing Club in Newcastle.
Richardson is the only boxer to beat Thompson this season when he visited the Bridlington boxing show in October and both were schoolboy champions last year at different weights.
Richardson came to put pressure on the Bridlington boxer and came forward a lot in the contest using his strength but Thompson was scoring well throughout.
The second round was perhaps a little quieter but Thompson stepped up the work rate again in the final round to ensure a unanimous points win from the judges and advancement to the final.
The final saw him face Anthony McDonagh from the White Hart Lane Boxing Club in Tottenham, London.
A competitive bout throughout saw both boxers working at a high tempo with scoring shots on both sides. Three rounds of close competitive action saw the five judges split 3-2 in favour of the London boxer.
Head coach Damien Grant said: “We couldn’t be any prouder of Frankie. In the last 6 months he has won 10 out of 12 contests – boxing the best kids around. Winning a national schoolboy title and now reaching a national final as a junior is a great achievement. It’s been an incredible run for him and there is plenty more to go at.”
