Jasmine punching above her weight... boxing award for Noah

The venue was an Eastbourne Boxing Club show and the 19-year-old weighed in at 55.1kg to complete over three two-minute rounds against Jade Childs, also 19, weighing 56.5kg, having her tenth contest from the Lambton Street Boxing Club in Sunderland.

The first round brought a slow start for Elkington as she tried to find her range but she stayed calm and started catching her opponent. Childs was warned by the referee to keep her head up. Coach Gerry Lavelle felt Elkington took the first round.

He told her to step up her work rate and bring some long uppercuts into play, which she did in the second round. Childs came out in the third and last round chasing Elkington down, as expected, but to no avail. Elkington had picked up her pace and was in top gear as she countered with some big rear hand shots and amazing turns off the ropes.

Lavelle said: “Jasmine was gliding around to good effect, she clearly took the last round im my eyes as well. The judges gave Jasmine the win by a majority decision and it was well deserved. One of the judges went the other way.”

St Gerards continue to punch upwards and onwards and are still looking for sponsors to help them address anti-social behaviour in the area.

Contact the club if you want to get involved.

BOXING AWARDS

Nine-year-old Noah Cope has completed the GB National Boxing Preliminary Award.

The Edward Bryant School pupil from Bognor has been working very hard over ten weeks towards a final assessment, learning the basic punches, footwork and studying the rules of amateur boxing.

To prepare for each session he learnt about and demonstrated a warm-up and stretch routine. The boxing stance and guard came next, followed by footwork techniques to mobilise.

The jab and rear hand to head and body including defence actions including the parry, block, push away, duck and lay back were practiced until mastered.

Shadow boxing and pad work followed and Cope demonstrated a good level of technique and natural ability. He answered five questions on the rules of amateur boxing. Cope passed the course with ease and will now move on to the Bronze Award.

If you would like any information on the boxing awards, contact Mark Hibbert on 07918 637449.