Page 99 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

4 RIFLES Boxing
The Battalion set a 3 year plan to win the Army Major Units boxing and this was going to be our year! Having narrowly lost in the quarters nal last year to 2 PARA we continued to train for the1 Bde boxing championships. This was a very hard fought contest where we came runners up to the 1st Fusiliers who had recently beaten 2 PARA to become the Army Champions.
With coming so close to last year we pushed on with the training. We retained the spine of the team but organised the annual inter-company boxing event to nd any additional talent hiding in the margins. This year was a strongly contested year with some of the best shows of talent I have seen in my 25 years of boxing experience in the Battalion.
From the inter-company event we then selected some new blood and combined it with the backbone from last year and set up a boxing selection which would take place post summer leave. The selection was open to all of the battalions but due to every Battalion being so busy is was only 4 RIFLES boxers that attended. After being put through their paces by Sjt (Chunk) Hawkins the squad was nally selected and began, once again, to train for the 1 Bde boxing competition.
November arrived and after 8 weeks of training the team were feeling strong and ready to give the 1st Fusiliers a run for their money. The other 1 Bde Battalions were taking the competition far more seriously this year so it was going to be a tight fought contest. With some quite outstanding individual displays we triumphed beating the 1 Bde units, most notably, the 1st Fusiliers who were at the time, the current Army champions. This provided us with a great lift and built up our con dence in the run-up to the Army Major Units quarter nal where we had drawn 1 Royal Welsh in the quarter nals as an away leg.
We turned up nice and early and the boxers were hungry for some Welsh blood. This, once again, turned into a great display from the team with outstanding performances from Rfn White, Gammage and Davies. With the Royal Welsh well beaten 5-2 we moved forward to the Semi- nals, this time drawn against 3 PARA. 3 PARA are arguably the strongest boxing Battalion in the Infantry and haven’t been beaten since 2004 when 2 RGJ defeated them. As this was the Semi- nal it was to take place at the Combat Sports Centre in Aldershot. Once again the team fought hard throughout the night. The stand out bout was won by Rfn Gammage who produced a knockout with a great upper cut lifting his opponent off his feet. The night was tied at 3 wins each as it came down to the Heavyweights. CSjt Decker fought valiantly but was beaten on points. We were out!
With us out of the Army Major Units, 4 Ri es and boxing was almost over. All we had to focus on was the Army Individuals championships. These were taking place in June. Once the team re-grouped we decided to enter 5 boxers into the Individuals. Rfn Frain (Dev A), Gammage (Dev A), White (Dev A), Trotter (Dev B) and Rfn Hill (Elite). The Individuals is an intense week where a boxer can ght every day for 5 days in order to reach the nals. Rfn Trotter was narrowly beaten in the Super Heavy-weight
category by an Army Boxer. However the others all progressed to the nals.
The Finals night made for great entertainment. The rst 3 bouts of the night were to be Rfn Frain, Gammage and then White. Rfn Frain got the ball rolling but was beaten on a split decision. It could have gone either way. However Rfn White and Gammage won convincingly making them the Army Individual Development A Class champions! We then had to wait until the last bout. Rfn Hill fought valiantly but was beaten on a split decision. However he was then selected for the Army Elite Boxing Squad. Rfn’s Frain, Gammage and Rfn White have all been selected for the Army Development squad.
Overall an outstanding year for the boxing team of 4 RIFLES we came close but not close enough. This will see the end of boxing as a unit for 4 RIFLES for the foreseeable future. It has been my pleasure to be the boxing of cer and I would like to thank the coaches Rfn Trotter, Nevison and Sjt (Chunk) Hawkins and all the boxers for their dedication and efforts over the past 12 months. The boxers have now moved to the other Ri es Bn’s as we embark on the Spec Inf Role.
Capt C P Dowling
THE STAND OUT BOUT WAS WON BY RFN GAMMAGE WHO PRODUCED A KNOCKOUT WITH A GREAT UPPER CUT LIFTING HIS OPPONENT OFF HIS FEET
Lt Frank ‘the tank’ D’Souza ready for battle and victory
Inter Company Boxers in action, competing for a place on the Battalion team
THE RIFLES
FOURTH BATTALION 97