An 11-year-old boxer from Congleton “held his nerve” to secure victory in his first national competition.
Cole Smith took the Home Counties Boxing Cup belt in the under-44kg category last Sunday, winning his debut on-stage bout in front of hundreds of spectators.
His mum, Marnie Smith, said it was a “horrible feeling” watching her son step into the ring, but Cole remained “calm and collected”.
She said: “Everyone was a bit scared for him, because it was quite a big stage, but we wanted to see how he coped — and it didn’t faze him whatsoever.”
Matched with an opponent from Shropshire of similar age and weight, the bout was over within the first round.
Mrs Smith said: “The referee didn’t feel the other boy could continue. It was a big moment at this level of competition, where they’re all high-quality boxers.
“We thought it would be a good experience to throw him in at the deep end, but his nerves were fine—he sailed through it and came home with the winning title in his category, which was the youngest in the competition.
“He is naturally athletic and he eats, sleeps and breathes boxing. He wants to do as much as he can and loves training and the social side of it.”
She said the whole family, including dad Jimmy Smith, a coach at Congleton’s Beartown Boxing Club, was “extremely proud” to see him in the ring.
After securing his belt, Cole is now looking forward to competing in more national competitions.
Beartown Boxing Club coach Jon Lawton said they decided to put Cole forward after seeing his skill and maturity improve in training.
“He’s been with us now for about two years and his progression has been quite rapid,” said Mr Lawton.
“We’ve concentrated on him because we could see he had the ability—it was just a case of when to let him compete, because he is so young.
“He went out there and was absolutely fantastic. You could see his talent. We took him sparring against some really tough kids out of the region and he coped really well.”
Cole and others from the club will be competing at its next show, held tomorrow (Friday) at Alsager Civic, against boxers of all ages and abilities.
Mr Lawton said: “Cole has got to the level now where he can keep the boxing shape—a nice tight guard — and once you’ve thrown a combination, you go back into that. For him to have that at 11 years of age is a fantastic trait and we’ll keep drilling him.”
Cole also won “Biggest Prospect for the Club” at Beartown ABC’s own awards night during the summer.
“There are a lot of things he still needs to learn, but he just needs to keep going—he’s at a really decent level,” Mr Lawton added.
The recently refurbished club accepts adults of all abilities and children from the age of eight. Mr Lawton said tickets for the Alsager Civic show had almost sold out, but may still be available by contacting the club.
(Photo: Marnie Smith).
