Bath’s Roman Boxing Gym are celebrating as 3 boxers have won the England Boxing Western Counties Junior Development Championships in their respective weight classes over the weekend. Daisy Allinson (16), Max Barnes (16) and Terence Beekma (15) are now 2022 Western Counties champions and can look forward to competing at national level in the coming weeks.
Kingswood school pupil Terence Beekma (5 bouts, 4 wins) boxed in the 57-60kgs final in Bodmin on Saturday. This proved to be Terence’s toughest bout to date as he faced Charlie Cooper of Wimborne ABC (8 bouts, 4 wins), a more experienced opponent with a sizable reach advantage.
Once again Terence’s ability to focus, listen to instructions from his corner and box to orders saw him go the distance and ultimately win on a split judges decision, scoring 4 in favour to 1 against.
Senior coach Darren Sullivan was in the corner on the night and says knowing when and how to apply pressure was the key to Terence coming out ahead and went on to comment “Both boxers were very skilful. In the opening round Terence boxed well on the back foot, before coming forward late in the round to catch his opponent with a good body shot. Throughout the second round Terence maintained the work rate and kept the pressure up. It looked as though the Wimborne boxer’s tank was running dry and he didn’t have the engine to continue his earlier pace so Terence was encouraged to stay on his front foot. He kept his opponent on the outside of the ring, cutting off the centre and forcing him onto the ropes and in the corner. In the final round, Terence continued to keep the pressure on and ultimately came out the deserved winner.”
At the end of the bout Terence was congratulated on his win by Western Counties regional coach Ian Tennant who said he was very impressed and invited Terence to the next regional squad training.
Terence will now join Beechen Cliff pupil Max Barnes in the pre-quarter final rounds for the England Boxing National Junior Development Championships, due to be held in Exmouth on Saturday 8th October where they will be met by the London champions. Hayesfield pupil Daisy Allinson has already secured a place in the National semi final, to be held on Saturday 22nd October in Banbury, and finds herself just 2 bouts away from becoming national champion.
The England Boxing National Development Championships give up and coming talent at Junior and Senior level the opportunity to showcase their skills. This category is open to male and female boxers of junior age (14, 15 or 16, depending on when they were born) and senior boxers (18 to 40 years of age) in a wide range of weight categories ranging from Under 36kg to Over 91kg (males) and Under 40kg to Under 81kg (females). Junior Development Male entrants are required to have had at least 2 and no more than 10 bouts prior to entry. Female entrants are required to have had no more than 6 bouts prior to entry. The finals for all weight classes will take place on Sunday 23rd October in Banbury and will be streamed online on the England Boxing YouTube Channel, with further details to be announced in the lead-up to the event.
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Notes to Editors
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Roman Boxing Gym opened in Bath on Boxing Day 2018 and is fully affiliated with England Boxing. As a non profit organisation run entirely by volunteers, Roman Boxing exists to teach the physical and mental skills of boxing. There’s no pressure to compete and many of our members train for fun and fitness. For those who are interested in putting their skills to the test, there are plenty of opportunities to box safely at events overseen by the national governing body across the country.
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