Summer 2008
YORKSHIRE ABA
The newsletter
of the Yorkshire
Amateur Boxing
Association
HOLFORD TAKES SILVER IN EU CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sheffield boxer makes her mark in major international tournament, beating Turkish and French opposition
Congratulations to Sharon Holford (front
left) of Sheffield’s Aspire ABC (formerly
Handsworth ABC) for gaining a well-
deserved silver medal at the EU
Women’s Championships at Liverpool’s
Greenbank Sports Academy (4th - 9th
August).
The 52 kg semi final saw Sharon up
against Yilmaz of Turkey. Sharon entered
the ring looking confident and relaxed,
throwing combinations of shots with
many failing to score, and having to
contend with an opponent who kept
holding. Using a strong right she was
able to give the Turk a standing count
during the 2nd round, ending it 7-13.
Sharon kept Yilmaz on her back foot
throwing some strong head shots and
keeping out of reach just enough to end
the bout on a fantastic 15-15. On count
back Sharon won 34-28 much to the
annoyance of the Turkish team, but to
the delight of Team England.
The final saw Sharon pitted against
Ouchen of France, a very experienced,
world-ranked boxer. Sharon had
difficulty with the French boxer’s style,
going back to her corner 2-5 down.
During the 2nd round her French
opponent kept holding, but Sharon
threw some strong shots ending the
round 4-9. In the 3rd round Sharon
continued throwing some heavy
punches despite Ouchen continuing to
hold making it hard for Sharon to catch
up, finishing the bout 4-14 and giving Stop Press !!!!
her a Silver medal. Middleweight James DeGale (second from
There is still a chance that women’s right), shows off his Olympic gold medal
boxing will be included in the London alongside Tony Jeffries (light heavyweight
2012 Olympic Games, so the incentive is bronze), David Price (super heavyweight
there for any young women between the bronze) and GB Head Coach Terry Edwards. All
ages of 14 and 29 thinking of taking up three medallists and their coach agree that the
the sport, that you might even get to last two years based at the English Institute of
compete at the biggest sporting event Sport in Sheffield have been vital to their
this country has ever known! Look on success. Let’s hope that some Yorkshire boxers
the ABAE website at www.abae.co.uk can emulate their achievements in 2012.
for details of your local clubs.
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 FEATURED OFFICIAL
RAY BLACK
Which boxing clubs have you belonged to? I’ve been a member
of two clubs since 1948 - Hull Fish Trades ABC and Hull Boys’
Club ABC where I’m still a member.
First bout officiated at: 1969 - I was the medical officer’s
assistant at a local tournament.
Best bout refereed: My favourite moment was refereeing the
bout when Ricky Hatton won his ABA title.
How much has officiating changed over the years?: Quite a
lot, especially since the introduction of the computer.
What’s your favourite role as an official? My favourite role
is refereeing, because it is the closest thing to actually
boxing.
How do you think the ABA can get more people involved in
officiating? By lowering the age limit and encouraging
young people to sit at the ringsidewith an experienced
official, and to judge the bout or act as a timekeeper. This
way they would get first hand experience.
When you’re not officiating what do you do? Painting is my
favourite hobby. (Ray currently has a painting on display at
the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull, which depicts a scene of life
on a trawler, harking back to the days when Ray himself
was a trawlerman).
[2]
FEATURED CLUB
PARSONS CROSS ABC
Founded: 1983
Location: The gym is in an outbuilding in the grounds of
Mansel Primary School, Mansel Crescent, on Sheffield’s
Parsons Cross estate.
Opening hours: 4.30pm til late (doors close when training
finishes!)
Coaches: Bob Wright, Andrew Manning, Patrick Wills,
Danny Howden, Wayne Millen.
Rising Stars:
Joe Rogers (60kg) - 18 year old double national cyp winner
added the scalp of the Canadian National Champion to his
belt last season, and steps up to the Senior ABAs this year.
Callum Cotton (69kg) - 17 year old former Junior Novice
(u-10 bouts) Champion seeking to make a big mark this
season.
Ben Atkin (91kg) - Heavyweight former Novice (u-20 bouts)
Champion also expected to do well in the coming season.
Contact: Bob Wright on 0788 4222025 or 0114 246 2982.
 Dedicated Kingston ABC Chairman passes away
Sue Thompson, Assistant Coach and Treasurer of the Kingston Amateur

IN MEMORY Boxing club in Hull, has informed me of the sad news that the club’s
Chairman Mr Ian Ridley has recently passed away.
Ian was an avid amateur boxing fan and did an enormous amount of work

OF for the club over the years. It was typical of the man that, despite having
cancer, he still attended the club three nights a week, and opened up
himself on a Sunday two weeks before he died. His tireless fundraising

IAN RIDLEY
ensured that the clubs boxers were able to train and compete at all levels.
Without people like Ian the sport of amateur boxing would surely not
survive. In tribute to him, and on behalf of the club, Sue said that “Ian

KINGSTON ABC
never moaned about anything and all of us are so upset about his
passing. He was a true gentleman and a great friend to us all. The
welfare of our lads and lasses was paramount to him. He will be sorely
missed by all at the club”.

Bradford College Boxing Academy
and Development Officer changes
As you can see from the above advertisement,
Bradford College is about to open the doors
of its new Boxing Academy, which means that
boxing will take its place in the curriculum at
the college alongside other sports such as
rugby league, football, basketball and fitness.
Residential and day students will receive top
quality boxing coaching alongside their
academic studies in this great new setting.
As part of the new Bradford programme I will
be leaving my post as Sheffield Boxing
Development Officer in September to take up
the new job as Bradford Boxing Development
Officer, funded by the college and the Police
Community Clubs of Great Britain. My two
years as Sheffield BDO have been notable for
the terrific amount of support I’ve received
from all in the local boxing community, and
I’m sure that Bradford and West Yorkshire will
be just as progressive. I look forward to taking
up my new post and helping my Sheffield
replacement to settle in (I’ll still be doing the
newsletter).
Paul Porter - Sheffield Boxing Development
Officer

Bradford College Boxing Academy

What is the Bradford College’s Boxing Academy?

The Boxing Academy is a collaboration between
Bradford College, the Police Community Clubs
of Great Britain and the Amateur Boxing
Association of England. The Academy offers you
the opportunity to combine boxing training with
academic studies. The programme is open to
male and female boxers.
Set within the main college campus, the new
Trinity Green building will house all Sports
provision which include fantastic state-of-the-
art sports facilities. Also, as you may be leaving
home for the first time, Bradford College can
offer you great accommodation within the main
campus. For further details check our website.

Want to find out more about the Boxing Academy? Contact us on:
01274 433333
admissions@bradfordcollege.ac.uk
www.bradfordcollege.ac.uk

[3]
 ACTION FROM YORKSHIRE V CANADA - 2008
Report from World of Fitness, Leeds:
The Yorkshire Region ABA, top Leeds-based
amateur boxing club Batesons ABC,
and World of Fitness Ltd, joined forces
to hold the regions most prestigious
amateur boxing event of 2008 at
Saviles Hall, Leeds. The fundraising
event brought together the crème de
la crème of Yorkshire’s young boxing
talent (some of whom are now training
with the England team) with Canada’s
best amateur boxers. !
Martin Bateson, Head Coach at
Bateson’s ABC said, "First on were 3
supporting bouts from local gyms and
first timer for Batesons ABC Fabian
Baz performed very well giving away a
close decision to his opponent. Qais
Ashfaq, !twice national champion,
boxed well to cruise to victory and
young Jack Bateson continues with his
progress towards a third national title by
maintaining his excellent winning record.
We’ve received so many positive comments
about the quality and standard of boxing and
how entertaining all the bouts were - well done
to all that took part and a big thank you to the
Canadians for making it such a great show.
One of !the best bouts of the night for me
was Daven Chopra against Stephen
Wilcox (Canada). Chopra winning by a
unanimous decision - was the real deal!"
The black tie spectacular, with special
guests including Terry Marsh, Ryan
Rhodes, Henry Wharton and Derek
Roche presenting the !winners prizes,
raised almost !£7,000 to help support
young people participating in sports with
training, competitive and equipment
costs.
Anne Bateson, Executive Director of
World of Fitness reflects, “It was
certainly a night to remember. We
[4]
managed to pull off bringing together some of
the UK’s best boxing talent with Canada’s
best amateur boxers watched and
supported by boxing talent past,
present and future. Our guests
enjoyed a great meal and the
evenings entertainment, including an
auction of boxing memorabilia and
fabulous entertainment provided by
hip hop crew, Fresh Jive, brought the
house down!”
Terry Marsh, ex undefeated light
welter-weight world champion says, “I
was so glad to support an event that
has its roots in the community. The
lads did great out there and of course,
I’m pleased that the England boxers
came out on top.”
Anne adds, “Around 650 guests joined
us for the evening and I am so pleased
that we managed to raise a substantial
amount of money that will enable us to help
financially support both individuals and
community groups across the region. The
more money we raise the more support we can
provide.”
MORE NEWS . . .
Nicola Adams hopes to go one better than last year in the 2008 Witch Cup in Hungary
Nicola Adams (above) hopes to improve
on her silver medal from last year by
gaining a gold at this year’s Witch Cup in
Hungary (3rd - 7th September). Good
luck, Nicola! Also on the women’s boxing
front, there will be a Yorkshire Women’s
Boxing Development Meeting on Tuesday
14th October, 7-9pm, in Room 1.10 of the
Trinity Green Sports Complex at Bradford
College. The meeting is open to anybody
who is interested in developing boxing as
a women’s sport.
Use the same gym as DeGale !
Would your club or a group of clubs like
to use the same gym that the Olympic
middleweight gold medallist James
DeGale trained for Beijing 2008 in? Well
now you can! On most Saturday
mornings the gym at the English Institute
of Sport in Sheffield is available for
private use. If you want to use it you can
contact the venue direct on 0114 223
Your stories & photos,
please!
Please send your club stories and photos
to paul_porter57@yahoo.com . Please
don’t send results and reports of shows
unless they include some unusual angle,
such as a boxer who has overcome great
odds to achieve a dream etc.
5601 and ask to speak to Matt, Jez or
Rachel to make a booking. Don’t forget to
mention that you are a Yorkshire amateur
boxing club and that you qualify for the
‘community rate’ (about £19 per hour). So
even a three-hour session for twenty
boxers costs less than £3 per head. If
several clubs want to bring boxers along
for sparring at a high-quality ‘neutral’
venue they can organise it between
themselves, with one person taking
overall responsibility for payment, boxers’
behaviour etc.
Yorkshire Region AGM
At the Yorkshire Region AGM on 22nd
June 2008 all officers were returned, as
follows:
Eric Hoyland!- Hon Secretary
Bob Wright!- Medical Registrar
Harry Pritchard!- Hon Treasurer
John Lee - Appointment Secretary
Ray Black!- President
Boxing Show List (subject to
changes - please check!)
October
2nd: Bridlington ABC, The Spa,
Bridlington, YO15 3JH
3rd: Tom Hill ABC, Denaby Miners
Welfare, DN12 4AQ
7th: Scarborough ABC, Primrose Valley,
YO14 9RF
8th: Malthouse ABC, Rotherham Trades
Club, S60 1RB
Edited & compiled by
Paul Porter, Sheffield Boxing
Development Officer
0114 223 5642
paul_porter57@yahoo.com
[5]
9th: YIP ABC, The Drum, Bentley,
DN12 4DG
9th: Burmantofts ABC, Irish Centre,
Leeds, LS9 9NT
10th: Halifax ABC, Halifax Gym, HX3 5QN
10th October: Hard & Fast ABC, Consort
Hotel
14th: Hull Saints ABC, Cavalier Club, Hull,
HU6 8AG
15th: Sharkeys ABC, Harehills Labour
Club, LS9 7BX
16th October: Doncaster Plant ABC,
Edlington Top Club, DN12 1DL
17th: Batesons ABC, John Charles
Centre, Leeds, LS11 5DJ
18th: Association Finals - Junior Novice,
Airedale ABC
21st: Locky’s ABCBirdwell Club, S70 5UY
22nd: Association Junior Finals spin-off,
Airedale ABC
23rd: Parson Cross ABC, Colley Club,
S5 9LS
24th: Ringside ABC, Kellingley Club,
Knottingley, WF11 8ER
24th: East Hull ABC, Eastmount
Recreation Centre
29th: Unity ABC, Darnal Liberal Club,
S9 8HY
31st: Aspire ABC, Cedar Court Hotel,
WF4 3QZ
For a list of all forthcoming boxing
shows in Yorkshire see
www.yorkshireaba.blogspot.com
YORKSHIRE ABA
Regional Secretary
Eric Hoyland
erichoyland@tiscali.co.uk