ABA Junior Champ, Dion Eede

ABA finals weekend

On the Saturday Ronnie Murry was competing in the Semi Final of the England Boxing Junior Championships, they were taking place at Magna Arena Rotherham. Ronnie was up against James Mcgrail from the Everton Red Triangle Boxing club Liverpool in the under 48kg category. From the moment the first bell went you could see that both boxers were desperate to reach the final, they both landed some heavy shots and there wasn’t a seconds rest for either of them until the end of the round. In the second Mcgrail started to counter Ronnie’s attacks with some heavy rear hand crosses and some good body punches, which won him the second round. In the third round Ronnie came out strong and started to pull the fight back with a high work rate but it wasn’t enough to get a decision. Mcgrail Won by unanimous points decision. 
Next in for his semi final was 15 year old Luke Carter in the cadet class under 44kgs category. Up against the more experienced Mark Cooper (Pinewood Starr BC), although Carter did his best to pin down the quick handed Cooper, he was caught with conter punches in the first two rounds. Carter managed to have more success in round 3 as Cooper tired and showed better fitness, but it Cooper had already secured the first two rounds and was awarded the bout on points. 
Although both Carter and Murray were dissapointed in going out at the semi final stage, the next day both boxers who defeated them, went on to win the National title, so losing to the best is no shame and they know what level they need to be operating at to reach their goals.

Dion Eede was also competing for a place in the semi finals at under 63kg and his opponent was Kevin O'Connel (Sefton ABC, Liverpool). Dion started well looking very composed and reacted with very quick to his opponents attacks, this was much the same for all 3 rounds and gave a master class in counter punch boxing to secure his place in the final.
24 hours later in Sundays final, Dion was up against old adversary Jack Wiffen from Sudbury Boxing club, there was a great atmosphere even before the bell went as both boxers had a lot of travelling fans for support. Wiffen came out strong and aggressive trying to close down Eede but he wasn’t landing clean blows, Dion managed to edge the first round by landing a few straight shots. In the second Dion looked much more composed and started to put his combinations together, Wiffen started to flag slightly which made Dion grow in confidence going into the final round. Dion was up off the stall early and was still full of energy, he dominated the last round with a high work rate and good combinations. He went on to win the contest by unanimous points decision and was awarded the National Belt. This National win has earned Eede a place Boxing for England in the three Nations in Scotland in May. This marks a massive turnaround for the 16 year old Eede after having a very dissapointing season last year, winning just 1 of 6 bouts. He has improved with his dedication and made necessary changes on the advice of his coaches and this season is undefeated in 9 bouts, which have included 2 National titles and have now earned him a place on the England team. It proved hard work pays off and success doesn't always come overnight.