JAY POWELL of Worcester City Amateur Boxing Club has been crowned as National Champion, after triumphing in the National Association of Boys and Girls Clubs Championships.
It is the second huge victory for the gym in quick succession, following the win of Caitlyn Wise on the international stage in the under 19 World Boxing Championships.
The competition saw the 16-year-old defend his Midlands Championships title for the third year on the bounce, before beating out all the other English fighters, and winning over the Welsh National Champion in the final.
Powell won the bout by unanimous decision to win the title.
Speaking after his win, Powell said: "The feeling, it was really great. How hard I trained and where I got to, I was really proud of myself.
"I have put in so much hard work through the years."
When Powell took up boxing, he lost his first six fights, having to show significant resilience to overcome his losses and rise to national champion status.
"He lost his first six bouts when he started, and a lot of boxers would give up but he certainly didn't," said coach Mick Underwood. "I remember a few years ago he told me he was going to be national champion, I remember him saying it.
"He just persevered and persevered and we worked with him.
"He has had his losses on the way but he is a very dedicated lad. Dedicated to us and dedicated to the sport and to himself."
The final saw Powell come up against a difficult challenge in the form of a Welsh National Champion.
"The previous bout was a scrappy bout, the one in the semi finals," said Underwood. "I kept on to him all week, I said look if you box like that you are going to lose, because you are boxing a lad that is the Welsh Champion.
"We spent all last week going over a few things that he needed to do to beat this lad, and I have never seen him box so well.
"He boxed so superb and everything that we had done and the other coaches had done with him all came out on that one day – the most important day is in those finals."
Despite the monumental victory, Powell is already looking ahead to what comes next in his boxing career.
"I am hoping to become a two-time national champion at the Youth National Championships in January," said Powell. "If I win the Youths in January, I get on the England pathway, that would let me compete for England at international tournaments and what not.
"The England pathway can take you very far, it can take you to Europeans, can take you to the Olympics, the Worlds - I am hoping to get there."
The boxing club has now achieved two significant successes in the last month, with Underwood hoping to "keep the ball rolling" now.
"We seem to be doing the right thing," he said. "We are not easy on them. We make them do what we want them to do. The way that we want to box and there is dedication on both parts.
"We believe in our boxers and they believe in us to teach them the right things."
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