Wins for Abrol and Oliphant in 100th anniversary duel with Sweden
April 16, 2019 | by Matt Halfpenny
A team of four boxers represented England Boxing at the weekend by travelling to an international duel to mark the 100th anniversary of the Swedish Boxing Federation.
With the Stockholm tournament clashing with the England Boxing National Amateur Championships 2019 Finals Day at Manchester Central, England joined forces with Ireland to compete in a nine-bout match.
The Irish fielded five senior boxers for the contest while England covered off the four Junior and Youth contests in the shape of Jake Abrol (Sharpstyle), Jack Oliphant (Bodyshots), Elise Glynn (Hook and Jab) and Gemma Richardson (Scunthorpe).
Upon arrival in Stockholm on Friday afternoon, the team was informed that both females contest had to be cancelled due to injury and illness to both Swedish boxers, leaving just the two males to box on the Saturday evening.
Abrol opened to duel match against Swedish junior, Haron Ahmadi, a big-shouldered boxer with a reputation of stopping his opponents.
However, from the off, the England youngster controlled the contest, with his long punches making Ahmadi fall short with his heavy punches.
He punched, countered and adjusted throughout the three rounds to come out as a comfortable and unanimous points winner.
Oliphant, meanwhile, matched in the 64kg Youth contest against Hampus Broman.
He forced Broman on to the back foot from the start and boxed very cleverly, using feet pressure to dictate the contest, scoring well with his straight punches to clearly take the first round.
The second round saw Broman try to take the contest to Oliphant, who adapted well and boxed intelligently off his back foot, pivoting off and attacking from different angles.
On the few occasions, Broman managed to get close he did look dangerous with his own punches, but the England boxer controlled all three rounds like Abrol before him to earn a unanimous decision.
“The discussion in the post-match meal, with the Swedish official, coaches and spectators was around how impressed they were with the skill of our two young boxers,” said England Boxing’s Assistant Performance Coach, Ivan Cobb. “It was just a shame they didn’t get to see our two females boxers as well.
“It was a privilege to attend this prestigious event where England boxing was truly welcomed and respected on all levels. We’d like to congratulate the Sweden Federation on their 100-year anniversary and wish them all the best in the next 100 years.”
