Priory Park youngsters end the year in stunning style

The Dudley gym’s boxers claimed six national titles at the England Boxing Championships, held over the closing months of the year.

A five-strong team from Priory also impressed at the prestigious Barum Box Cup tournament, staged recently in Devon, winning a gold and four silver medals between them.

Priory’s latest champions are Kelsey Oakley and Mia Holland, who both won titles at the youth championships.

Oakley became a four-time national champion when she beat St Ives’ Millie Symons in the 48kg cadet final, while Holland saw off Almonds ABC’s Jayne Bardauskas to win a national belt for the third time.

Their success followed that of Chloe Holland and Lexi Clifton, who both won gold in the schools tournament. Gracie Holland, meanwhile, triumphed in the junior championships, with Millie Short taking silver in her first major competition. Joe Harthill completed the list of national champions when he won gold in the schools event.

Priory’s challenge in the Box Cup, which featured some of the best young boxers in the country, was led by Danny Short, who claimed an impressive gold medal.

Esaan Shaker, Bobby-Joe Smith, Martin Smith and Connor Gregg all returned with silvers from an event where the Priory fighters were frequently matched against opponents with more experience.

“They all performed really well, boxing against some pretty tough kids,” explained Priory head coach Warren Davies.

“With Box Cups we will always put in a team we think can compete and those five lads have shown the standard they are at now.”

Davies praised the dedication of his boxers in what for most were their first tournaments since the outbreak of the pandemic and also his coaching staff, during what was a congested season after the sport finally resumed in the summer.

The success of the club’s girls team was particularly eye-catching and Davies said: “There is a situation there now where success is breeding success.

“We’ve got three boxers now involved in the England set-up in Mia, Kelsey and Gracie. Girls come into the gym, see that success and want to emulate it.

“What we’ve seen in the last few weeks, from all our boxers, is the result of the hard work put in during the lockdown. It would have been easy to get disheartened or distracted with no tournaments to look forward to but they all trained really hard on their own.

“When the gym was able to reopen they came back in their droves.

“A special mention has to go to the coaches as well.

“These competitions take place all over the country and it means a lot of time on the road, a lot of time away from home, up to two or three nights most weeks.

“The boxers have shown plenty of commitment and the coaches have too. Everyone has worked really hard and all credit to them.”

There is little time for the Priory boxers to rest, with the 2022 England Youth Championships scheduled to begin next month.

“It is going to get busy very quickly again but that’s just the way we like it,” added Davies.