Page 45 - MERCIAN Eagle 2011

2 Mercian Boxing Team by Captain Al Hewitt
2 Mercian Battalion Boxing Competition
The Battalion Boxing Competition 2010
was delayed until early Dec 10, due to a busy calendar! The rescheduled competition took place during the week 6-9 following
the Bn return from Kenya, and was an ideal time to spot any talented boxers for the up and coming 19 Lt Bde Boxing Competition in Jan 11. The Company teams formed under their own arrangements to conduct the fitness training and came together collectively, under the watchful eye of SSgt Steve McKnight, to conduct skills work. A number of boxers took advantage of an invite from Abbey Boxing Club in Bangor to further improve their chance of victory and receive some much needed extra training. Although mainly taken up by soldiers from D Coy, it paid off. The preliminarily rounds were pretty much what you would expect of an inter company novice boxing competition, boxers giving 100% to try and gain passage to the next round. As with all novice boxing the fitter boxer should win (unless you get caught by an unlucky punch!) and those with skill will shine through.
The finals took place on the evening of
9 Dec 10 with Comd 19 Lt Bde, Brigadier SR Skeates CBE, attending as the VIP guest. The evening promised much; both the atmosphere and venue provided for
an excellent display of entertaining boxing, given the limited time the boxers had to train, it is testament to them that the skills shown were first class. Winners of the Best Boxer was Private (now LCpl) Clemence, C Coy with the Runner up being Pte Thurman, A Coy. D (FSP) Company where crowned as the overall winners. The stage was now set for the Brigade
competition after
Christmas leave!
Pte Willshere, BCoy, being awarded after winning
imagine what might have been! Special mention must go at this stage to Pte (now LCpl) Finua who was crowned 19 Lt Bde Heavyweight Champion after completely out boxing his opponent for three rounds and landing punches that were both hard hitting and on target. The competition ended with the Battalion coming third overall, a very commendable position given the time and training constraints placed on our soldiers.
MERCIAN Regimental Charity Event
2 MERCIAN entered 4 boxers into a MERCIAN Regimental
Team to box local clubs and raise some money for the MERCIAN Benevolent fund. The event took place on the evening of the 5 May 11 at Chilwell. All boxers fought extremely well however, it was clear
that they were boxing against a select team of civilian boxers from the East Midlands area, some of whom had many more flights on their boxing cards than ours; that said, STAND FIRM STRIKE HARD was never more evident than during this event. All soldiers who fought did so extremely well and never once did they give up. Special mention must go at this stage to Pte Willshere (B Coy): Willshere battled throughout his fight, and fought extremely hard and although the eventual loser, his opponent went on to win the best boxer of the night.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)
The PSNI invited a team from the Army to box against a joint team from the PSNI and Prison Service. The evening was planned and took place at the Ramada Hotel in Belfast. The team was made up of boxers from 2 MERCIAN (5), the Army Boxing
Squad (2) and 2 Royal Irish (1). The evening commenced at 1900hrs and gave a chance for a number of the partners to get dressed up to enjoy the event. We all felt guilty as
we tucked into a three course meal whilst the boxers prepared to entertain us; well at least until the first course of the meal had ended! The first bout (Pte Bray) commenced and didn’t disappoint; both boxers fought well, however the fitness of the 2 MERCIAN boxer shone through. In fact that was a theme for the rest of the evening; the Police boxers initially fought well for the first round only for the Army boxer to knock it up a gear and take command of the remaining rounds. The evening ended with the combined Army team winning 6-2 and only one of the MERCIAN boxers losing, albeit
to the son of the ex WBO contender Ray Close.
The evening was thoroughly enjoyed by both the boxers and their entourage (more so the latter!). The date for the next event is already in the boxing calendar for 2012.
A few thanks: SSgt Steve McKnight (RAPTCI) for his efforts during the season and also acting as coach and his able assistant Cpl Mann, who drove, fed, watered and pampered the team during the various charity events and competitions during the season. The 2 MERCIAN Gym Staff for setting up the Battalion Competition and finally to all members of the Battalion who either supported the boxers or filled in for them whilst they where away training.
The following soldiers represented the 2nd Battalion during the 2010/11 boxing season: LCpl Finua B Coy - 19 Lt Bde Heavyweight Champion 2011. LCpl Jones D Coy, LCpl Sheridan D Coy, Pte Willshere B Coy, Pte Bray B Coy, Pte Hughes D Coy, Pte Lewis
B Coy, Pte Ring B Coy, Pte Webster (33) D Coy, Pte Webster (95) D Coy.
19 Light Brigade
Competition
Immediately on return
from leave the Battalion
Team formed up and
commenced its training.
Under the watchful eye of Pte Evans B
Coy and Staff McKnight the team was put through its paces. The team was made up of volunteers, and the fact that they had trained over leave was testament to their collective commitment. As a group the dedication shown throughout was second to none. The prelim rounds took place on 25 Jan with the semis on the 26 Jan; all 2 MERCIAN Boxers fought well and those that made it to the next round should be extremely proud of themselves! The Finals took place on the evening of the 27 Jan with 3 of 2 MERCIAN’s boxers featuring;
the boxing on the evening was of a high standard and it was evident that a number of teams had spent many months preparing for this competition. Given that 2 MERCIAN had fitted its boxing in between the various exercises and leave and still managed to get three boxers into the finals, you can only
as with all novice boxing the fitter boxer should win (unless you get caught by an unlucky punch!)
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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