Louise Orton ABA champion

28 year old St Marys boxer Louise Orton has made history as the first Kent based female boxer to win a senior ABA title!

On Sat 13th April, Louise Orton was competing in the National final which is by far the most prestigious title in amateur boxing as all boxers are at the very top level of the sport. It was held at Manchester Central Arena on 13^th April. Louise was up against Kirsty Hill from Cleethorpes Trinity Boxing club who was a well-seasoned opponent, she had beaten the number one seed Hannah Robinson in the Semi Final. The last time this title came back to St Marys was back in 1990 when the great Johnny Armour won at Flyweight, there was a lot of pressure on Louise to perform and bring back home the title that had eluded the club for so long.

The bell went and from the first second you could see that it would be a technical bout, Louise was managing to hold centre of the ring and edging Hill towards her left not allowing her throw her favoured lead hook. Having taking Kirstys attack away Louise was making good use of her jab and landed some good rear hand crosses over low defences. Hill put pressure on Louise pushing her off centre and landing some good shots of her own, as the hammer went for the last ten seconds of the round the St Marys boxer came to life and landed at least 10 shots with no answer from Hill. The round was very close but the high work rate at the end probably secured the round.

Both boxers came out for the second full of energy, Louise increased her work rate dramatically using the same tactics as the first round plus attacking the body a lot more, this started to take its toll on Hill and her sharpness, speed and energy levels started to fade towards the end of the round. With another strong finish in the last twenty seconds the second round was definitely secured for the St Marys finalist.

With it all to fight for in the last the round got off to a very fast start with both boxers landing good combinations at close range, Louise was landing some good solid counter punches from great defensive moves. They had both put a lot of work in to what ended up to be a great boxing match, Louise was very tired towards the end of the round but fought hard right until the final bell. You could feel the tension as the referee had the two boxer’s hands and after a short pause raised Orton’s when the decision was announced. Louise leapt into the air with Joy to celebrate a well overdue national title.

“Louise boxed perfectly in the final, she stuck to the game plan that we had worked on in the gym after we studied recordings of Hill’s previous bouts. This was Louise’s third attempt for the title as she was runner up for two previous finals. Nobody in the gym deserves this win more than she does, Louise’s attitude, commitment, dedication, heart and fighting spirit have finally paid off for her. Both Personally and as a club we couldn’t be more proud of her, she epitomises everything that St Mary’s is about, we’ve had setbacks and hard times both in and out of the ring but we keep fighting, improving and moving forward, that’s what she has needed to do to achieve what she has in boxing. Take a well-earned bow Louise”

Louise said “I was over the moon that I finally got the title third time lucky, it means absolutely everything to me and makes all the hard work and dedication in the gym over the years really worth it. From the start of the competition I was focused on the prize and I’m so glad to bring the belt back for myself, coaches and Club, who I would like to thank for helping me achieve my dream.”

Louise will now have a team GB assessment as a result of the win. 

The weekend before, 18 year old Karol tested himself against the best man in the country in the pre quarters, quarters and semis weekend in Nottingham...Despite being one of the youngest in the competition, he managed to win the pre quarter, then dethrone the reigning senior ABA champion in the quarters the following day...In the semis's, Itauma was up against a former youth Commonwealth Gold medalist A. Bowen...In a very nip and tuck encounter that saw Itauma sustain a cut and have to box through with it for the first time... it really could have gone either way, but the judges gave the tight split decision to the older and strong Bowen...No shame there, as Bowen went on to win the final the following week. Itauma also still has his GB trial in May to look towards, hoping they will take him on the podium potential squad.

After winning the southern counties titles the weekend before, Lewis Southgate was eliminated by top opposition in N. Leivers ijn the quater finals in the under 56kg category.