London DISE boxers putting themselves in the spotlight
November 11, 2021 | by Matt Halfpenny
A clutch of boxers on the London DiSE programme based at the captial’s Spotlight Centre have been putting themselves on the map in recent weeks.
Three of the Youth age group boxers on the programme – Tom Welland, Under 56kg (West Ham) Max Schultz, Under 56kg (Billericay BC) and Reegan Jackson-Smith, Under 52kg (Halstead Essex Uni) – have progressed to the England Boxing National Youth Championships 2021 quarter-finals, which take place in Banbury on Friday 26th November.
That follows on from the success of Emmanuel Buttigieg (Newham), who won the England Boxing National Junior Championships 2021 Under 70kg title in Hereford at the end of last month.
“We have some terrific young student boxers in the two groups that we have at the Spotlight Centre,” said DISE London coach Mark Collings.
“There is some real talent here and, after everything that has happened recently with Covid-19, they have still started this season off in great form.
“I tip my hat to the clubs who produce these hard-working young boxers… they are great to work with and their attitude to learning is first class.
“We have had a couple of disappointments among the elite boxers in competition, a couple who were very capable of reaching the later stages, only to drop narrow decisions, but all of them – win or lose – have done really well. Emmanuel’s title win in Hereford has been the highlight of a very busy and productive few months.
“It’s great having Emmanuel on the programme. He is a hard-working and talented lad, so he will be a real asset to the scheme over the next couple of years. If he performs like he has done in the past six weeks, I bet he will be winning a few more titles.”
Buttigieg was part of the England squad to travel to the Youth European Championships in 2019, held in Tbilisi, Georgia, only to be forced to retire from that competition with a leg injury.
But he has bounced back strongly from that setback and claimed his junior title with a unanimous points decision win over Pinewood’s Roger Draper.
“I only joined the DISE programme in September, but I’ve settled into the training and work routine with no problem at all,” said Buttigieg. “I’m really enjoying the technical work and I think it can only be a help.”
“My club, Newham, is doing really well at the moment, and I thank all the coaches there. It’s been an ideal start to the new season and DISE gives me a bit of extra space and time to work on a few technical areas and a bit of sharpening, so it fits in really well.”
Find out more about the DiSE Programme across its hubs around the country by clicking here.
