England Boxing National Schools Championships 2019 – semi-final report

Ethan Moore’s ambitions of emulating older brother Jude and becoming an English title holder in 2019 are well and truly alive after he clinched a Finals Day place at the England Boxing National Schools Championships.

The Downend boxer was made to wait for his opportunity as his semi-final against West Ham’s Filip Dimov was the very last bout of the day on a bill the featured well over 100 contests at the K2 Crawley.

But he took that all in his stride as he came out a unanimous points winner in the Male Class B Under 72kg division.

His elder sibling sealed an England Boxing National Junior Championship title in March at the Magna Science and Adventure Centre in Rotherham, when he outpointed his England teammate Jake Abrol.

One of the bouts of the day on paper was the meeting between West Ham’s Frankie Coyle and City of Leicester’s Deano George, who were both reigning Schools title holders in 2018 at different weights, and both England boxers.

And the match-up certainly lived up to expectations, with the Midlander just getting the nod on a spilt decision after a high-octane Male Class B Under 37kg contest.

Another cracking bout featured another West Ham boxer who was this time victorious – Harry Penny in the Male Class A Under 30kg division.

He scored a unanimous victory over Pinewood’s Joey Saunders, with both boxers giving their all in a captivating encounter.

Mikey Jennings, son of former professional English, British and WBU Welterweight champion Mick, underlined his credentials as he stopped Weston Warriors’ Billy Downton in the Male Class B Under 65kg division.

But the semi-finals were the end of the road for the son of another former professional champion, Kevin Mitchell, as his ‘young ‘un’ Connor, of West Ham, was beaten unanimously by Sharpstyle’s Thomas Varey in the Male Class B Under 38.5kg division, where the bout drew praise from the referee for its quality.

There was delight, meanwhile, for Braunstone’s Kian Quinn as he edged out Pinewood’s Caleb Price on a split in the Male Class B Under 46kg division – the latter having boxed at the European Schools Championships in Bulgaria last year.

But overall the day was a big success for Schools powerhouse Pinewood, who can look forward to having no less than 11 boxers getting in the ring on Finals Day.

In the Female draw, there was an impressive performance by Great Wyrley’s Faye Marshall, who showed great promise in securing a spilt decision against Nell Conkey of Currock House in the Cadet Under 48kg division.

Equally impressive was Sharpstyle’s Alice Pumphrey, who forced a stoppage against Newark’s Lauren Workman in the Female Class A Under 48kg division.

Her power and punch timing illustrated that her decision to give up playing for Manchester United to concentrate on her boxing yet might prove to be a wise one.

There was also a win for 2018 European Schools Champion Abby Briggs of Hunslet in the Female Class B Under 60kg division, setting up a Finals Day bout with Emeralds’ Katie Doig.

The day began with a poignant moment as the bell was rung 10 times to mark the passing of official John Lee at the Yorkshire regional event of these championships.

All stood to remember him and others in the boxing fraternity who have passed away in the last 12 months, which was followed by a generous round of applause.