Trio of young boxers punching above their weight

Here we catch up with the latest on Charley Mason, Holly Heffron and lennie McCormack.

Send your boxing news and pictures to [email protected]

CHARLEY MASON

Bognor ABC boxer Charley Mason’s season got going against Nakibul Khan of the Bexhill ABC.

Khan is well-respected and entered the contest with confidence. But Mason was sharp and surgical, landing combination after combination on the durable opponent, while only taking a few clean shots himself throughout the contest.

Mason picked up another unanimous verdict.

He has a busy November with another four contests he hopes to win.

Mason is now attending of the England talent pathway programme for talented young boxers monthly, which takes him all over the country. He is also a student of the AASE boxing academy in Brighton.

He is doing all the right things in all the right places in order to achieve his dreams.

Mason is sponsored, which greatly assists with mounting expenses like travel, equipment and accommodation.

His coaches thanked Billy Coutin, owner and director of Viking Motors car sales in Southbourne; and three bognor-based businessmen – Nick Riley, the landlord of The QE2 pub, Daniel Slade of TAO Slades Bars and Bruce Dixon self-drive hire.

HOLLY HEFFRON

St Gerards Boxing Club travelled with 15-year-old Holly Heffron to the Ageas Bowl in Hampshire for the Poseidon Boxing club open show.

She was facing Amelia Jarvis, also 15 of the Mayflower boxing Club, in a return contest after Jarvis beat her in 2016.

Heffron weighed in at 48.8kg and Jarvis at 49.5kg, both in the flyweight division.

St Gerards coach Jon Mills, working the corner said: “The first round was all Holly with persistent punches landing on the target area, and Amelia couldn’t cope with the constant pressure.

“The referee had to stop the contest on more than three occasions as her (Jarvis’) headguard kept coming loose.

“The second round was much the same with Holly upping the tempo and catching Amelia with some very big rear-hand shots, causing her a nosebleed.

“The show doctor had a look and said she was okay to carry on. She then span around in the contest and the referee said that wasn’t allowed. She then took a knee to the ground with Holly’s constant pressure, with more big rear-hand shots and she kept finding problems with her headguard.

“She received an eight count and the referee finished the contest in Holly’s favour.”

Heffron moves moves on to an England talent pathway camp.

Anyone wishing to sponsor her should contact St Gerards, who meet at Swanfield Community Centre, Swanfield Drive, Chichester, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

LENNIE McCORMACK

Lennie McCormack successfully completed the GB national preliminary boxing award after eight weeks of preparation.

He learned about stance, guard, footwork and basic punches for the award.

First the eight-year-old from Bognor practised a warm-up, including skipping and shadow boxing, followed by a stretching routine to prepare for each session.

Then the correct stance was practised followed by the guard, followed by the basic punches, jab and rear hand to head and body.

Having mastered these punches McCormack practised defences including the parry, block, elbow parry and block, push away, lay back and duck.

Footwork moving around the ring in all directions is also part of the award, including torso movement.

McCormack went on to identify from an illustration ten breaches of the rules of amateur boxing and demonstrated his ability on both the punchbag and pad work.

If you are interested in the boxing awards or require any information, call Mark Hibbert on 07918 637449.