Page 42 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

Sport and Adventure Training
Boxing
Not since 2014 have 1 RIFLES had an inter- ready to ght on the rst morning of the competition.
Company boxing competition, and there was an appetite in the Battalion Headquarters to put this right, so a date was set for April 2017. The QM was due to handover, so I as the Unit Safety Environ- mental Advisor and former boxing Of cer for 2 R ANGLIAN volunteered my services as the Battalion Boxing Of cer.
A planning conference was held in mid-November and it was immediately identi ed that we lacked level one assistant boxing coaches and without them the competition could not go ahead. A warning order was circulated outlining the format and weights for the competition with Companies nominating potential assistant boxing coaches. Staff Bruce RAPTC used his Army Boxing contacts to secure England Boxing Coach Micky Gannon to run an Assistant Boxing Coaches course in Beachley Barracks in February, with outside units taking up the spare places. The Battalion lled 13 of the 20 places available and all of them quali ed as a Level 1 Assistant Boxing Coach, with Ri eman Haskins from B Company coming top of the course.
The Company teams formed up for training with a total of eight weeks until the competition. There were one to two training sessions a day as all the Companies still had RAAT and training commit- ments. As the competition loomed the attrition rate was high with teams getting smaller as boxers dropped out for various reasons, mainly other commitments and boxing medical failures rather than the lack of desire to ght.
Despite all the friction affecting the teams, 32 boxers across seven weight categories weighed in
This provided eight preliminary bouts on Monday, a further eight semi- nal bouts on Tuesday, and eight bouts in the nal including a scoring female welter ght. All ghts were well supported and in both the preliminary and semi- nal rounds there were, as is always the case, some real ‘toe to toe’ battles worthy of a nal in their own right. These were Rfn Mankee versus Rfn Jenkins in the prelims, LCpl Latham versus LCpl Thorpe, and Cpl Hale versus Rfn Bray in the semi- nals.
With the gymnasium transformed to a ght arena, programmes printed, and B Company ahead with a healthy lead, nals night was upon us and it was not a disappointment with eight ghts on the card. The audience was truly entertained with some great boxing and courage which for most was their rst time in the ring on this overwhelming and sometimes frightening stage. The nal bouts were:
Light-Weight
LCpl Ward (S) W v Rfn Grif n (A)
Light-Welterweight
Rfn Roberts (C) v LCpl Page (A) W
Welterweight
Cpl Mullens (HQ) v LCpl Silcox (HQ) W
Welterweight Female
Rfn Robinson (B) W v Cpl Skipan (HQ)
Light-Heavyweight
Rfn Yeardley (C) v Rfn Robinson (A) W
Heavyweight
Rfn Lewis (HQ) W v Cpl Hale (B)
Super-Heavyweight
Cpl Tudor (C) W v Rfn Lewis (S)
In the end it was B Company who lifted the Inter- Company Boxing trophy, LCpl Silcox RAMC ghting at Welterweight won best boxer and is the rst female to be named on the Best Boxer trophy. The Commanding Of cer selected Rfn Robinson versus Cpl Skirpan as the best ght on the night.
In June, Cpl Woodward trained three ghters for the Army Individual Boxing Championships in Aldershot. The boxers were two novice boxers Ri emen Roberts and Yeardley, who had only fought in the recent inter-Company competition, and Rfn Warren who had nine England ABA ghts on his card. Both Roberts and Warren got beaten in the early stages by a boxer who went on to win their weight division, and Rfn Yeardley won his rst ght and then was beaten in the semi- nals by a much older and more experienced ghter. It proved to be a great experience for both the boxers and coaches and good preparation for next year’s competition, where the intention is to eld a full team and win the team event, as the Battalion is unable to enter the Army major units boxing competition due to Ex ASKARI STORM in early 2018.
Capt AJ Rainey MC R ANGLIAN,
Unit Safety Environmental Advisor
The winning B Coy boxing team
32 BOXERS ACROSS SEVEN WEIGHT CATEGORIES WEIGHED IN READY TO FIGHT ON THE FIRST MORNING OF THE COMPETITION
40 FIRST BATTALION
THE RIFLES