Leonis will take on a Kent select, and Thompson says that after their months of hard training to prepare for this season, his boys are ready to let fly.’It was a bad start to the season when the UK club pulled out at the last minute with 17 Leonis lads all fired up and ready, after training hard since August.
After that disappointment I’ve had to raise them all again, to get them back on form for this event,’ Thompson said.He said that amateur boxing is an individual sport which requires a lot of very hard work – and time and money – to arrange tournaments, and when clubs fail to send the right boxers, or the weights or experience are wrong, as tournament organiser he has to try and re-arrange everything at the last minute which, apart from the sheer workload, also means over-stretched budgets.’But my policy is that if the boxers train hard, I will try to get them a contest in our local tournaments.’Rated No 8 in England in his super heavyweight division, Dave Lund will be keen to improve on that position this season and is willing to take on all-comers to raise his game while Ben Murray, now a senior, will certainly progress.Light middleweights Paul Young, Craig Le Boutillier and Danny Maka are in hard training and keen to move forward.Bantam Les Bulpin boxed three opponents last season who were all in the national ratings so he will be back to reinforce his claims.Middleweights Joey McGrath and Craig Culkin are both training hard.
Culkin is making a return at the weight and has been training in Liverpool with former Leonis star Tommy Peacock, at his club, Sailsbury, which is one of the country’s best.And junior stars James Walton at middleweight; flyweights Elliott Kennedy and Ricky Pryor, and another newcomer at middleweight Chris Sweeney, are more of the Leonis lads who will make up the bill, as will Scott Harben and Ollie Power who are ready for a night of non-stop action.n Tickets are available at Vowden Sports, telephone 879685.
Doors at the Royal Hotel, David Place, open at 7.30 pm, first bout 8 pm.
