Page 82 - RSDG Year of 2023

80 EAGLE AND CARBINE
2023 was the year when the Regiment managed to revitalise boxing which had been dormant, not dead, since COVID. This is in no small part thanks to the experience and enthusiasm of LCpl McGarry who badgered his Troop Leader for months on end for an opportunity to show off the skills he’d fostered on the mean streets of Basingborne. This opportunity presented itself in the form of a Leuchars Station boxing night, driven by 2 Battalion REME, where novice(ish) boxers from SCOTS DG, 7 RLC and 2 Btn REME would test themselves against one another on the big stage. Furthermore, 2 Btn REME offered to run a joint training camp under their superb coaching staff.
The call went out for fit and motivated individuals who had the heart to give it their all for six straight weeks and then fight in front of their mates. With these strict criteria we ended up with a core group of six; Lance Corporals McGarry, Antwis and Troopers Leary, Pringle, O’Hare and Fortune. To say the group worked hard would be an understatement of the sort of epic proportion that Brigadier Brodie employed when describing the Battle of the Imjin River as being “a bit sticky down there”. The lads poured literal blood, sweat and tears into a gruelling regimen that saw them training several times a day. The waistlines got smaller, the arms got bigger, it was the Instagram opportunity of a lifetime. Not only were the virtual likes racking up but so too the boxing acumen,
footwork and striking combinations of the six, who started to resemble an entirely credible boxing team under the watchful eye of Sgt Rogerson.
As anyone who has competed in the sport of boxing will know; the final weeks of training are particularly stressful, not just for the looming prospect of being knocked onto the canvas in front of your Colonel, but also due to the need to make a particular weight. Discipline both inside and outside the gym is paramount to ensure you don’t encounter any nasty surprises when stepping on the scales on the morning of the fight. Unfortunately, through no fault of their own, Troopers Leary, O’Hare and Pringle
BOXING
Lt C Adam