FOUR young fighters from Ferndown Boxing Club are celebrating medal-winning performances at the illustrious Hull Box Cup tournament.
Billy Saunders and Nick Hilliard led the way with golds as the duo’s club punched above its weight at a competition that attracts all the finest 12 to 18-year-old talent in the UK – as well as a number of aspiring pugilists from continental Europe.
Saunders triumphed in the under-42kg weight class at the three-day event, with Hilliard following suit in the under-44kg category.
There was also a silver for Bailey Hibbs in the under-40kg competition, with Jimmy Ward, boxing among the heavy hitters at under-52kg, matching Hibbs’s achievement.
A fifth Ferndown boxer, Jamie Hilliard – who went into the tournament with only two fights under his belt – was narrowly beaten in a fiercely-contested under-46kg quarter-final bout.
FBC coach Jay Weaver – who trains son and former Commonwealth champion Iain Weaver at the Dorset-based gym – was staggered by his young fighters' efforts on Humberside.
He said: "We are only a small club, so to take five boxers to an enormous competition and come home with four medals is an incredible achievement.
"And Jamie was desperately unlucky to lose to a lad who had been in 14 fights and went on to win the final. "
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here