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03/12/2007
Young England v Young Germany - team manager's report
Assembly: Thursday 29th November 2007 Heathrow Airport.
All boxers, coaches and officials arrived at Heathrow airport by 11.00hrs. On arrival all the passports and ME 3s were checked.
Following entry into the departures all the team were gathered together and congratulated on being selected, given a quick briefing regarding their behaviour whilst away representing their country and a reminder about their own responsibility regarding their weight management.
We arrived in Dusseldorf after a short flight with no problems; the weather was wet and windy.
On exiting the airport the team were met by the host team manager and conveyed to the hotel by coach, which was a two hour journey observing the sights on the way. All the rooms were allocated, with two boxers in each room and the weigh-in was conducted immediately, followed by an evening meal.
The team manager and referee Mik Bassi were taken to view the weigh-in of the German team.
On arrival back at the hotel national coach Mick Gannon BEM and the German coach agreed the matching. By this time 21.30hrs all of the boxers had retired to their respective rooms.
Friday 30th November 2007
All the team were at breakfast at 09.00hrs. A light breakfast was served, which was both wholesome and nourishing. At 10.15 all of the team went off into the town together to view the sights of with the exception of Mick Gannon, Mik Bassi and Cliff Perkins, as they were to attend a meeting with the German organizers for a meeting at 1200hrs.
A team meeting was held at 15.00hrs, during the meeting the strips were handed out to the boxers.
Kirk Garvey was nominated as team captain, which he accepted with great honour. The team members were all in high spirits.
At 18.00hrs the transport arrived to take the team to the venue, following the short journey the whole team made their way into the venue and were immediately seen by the doctor. At 19.35hrs the ring parade was held and the anthems for both countries were played and respected. Shortly after the opening speeches the boxers left the ring. At 19.55 the first bout boxers were played into the ring
51kg Dieter Geier v Lewis Pettitt
Lewis came out strong and busy scoring well with shots to the body and head with both hands; late in the second round a strong exciting combination saw the German begin to lose heart. The third saw Lewis using various well-aimed shots in combinations, totally placing the German off balance, twice sending him to the canvas before eventually forcing a count for his opponent. Thirty seconds into the 4th Lewis hit the German with a 3-punch combination, starting with a body shot and ending with a straight right hand. Forcing the referee to stop the bout. Score at the time was 13-21
51kg Alex Kondratev v Oscar Webb
From the outset it was clear that Oscar was boxing within his capabilities against the German southpaw. Throughout the bout Oscar was scoring well with both hands, counterpunching with pinpoint accuracy. The German began to fade with his fitness early in the third, leaving Oscar to move further ahead eventually winning by 12-25
54kg Eduard Schmidt v Billy Morgan
Billy came out positively; however from the outset the German southpaw countered with right hooks to the head of Billy with some ease and accuracy. Although Billy was applying pressure throughout the bout, the German stuck to his accurate countering, to which Billy failed to work around. The German winning the bout by 21-10
54kg Marko Kacmarek v Bradley Evans
Bradley boxed very well, pressurising his opponent throughout the bout. His shots to both head and body were both clinical and powerful. The German although very game was out-witted by Bradley as well as out-boxed. A very sound performance all round. Bradley won the bout by 6-22
57kg Felix Lamm v Iain Weaver
Iain's speed of punching along with his power was, paramount to his success in this bout. Although down by 2 points after the second round, Iain began to dominate the bout with well-aimed powerful punches to the body and head of his opponent. Following a 2-punch combination in the third round. His opponent received an eight count from the referee.
Iain won the bout by 18-23
57kg Clemens Busse v Luke Gibb
After a cagey start by both boxers, who were both sizing each other up. Luke hit the German with a left hook and a straight right hand, which sent him crashing to the canvas. The referee stopped the bout with the German in no fit state to continue. Following a short while the German was returned to his corner and recovered.
60kg David Wolter v Robbie Davis
Initially Robbie came out tense and was caught with a straight Left hand from his German opponent, eventually Robbie relaxed and settled down and began to score well. By the end of the third round Robbie was 3 points ahead, however a late push from the German saw him out-point Robbie by 19-17
69kg Sadulai Abdulai v Jonson McClumpha
This bout started with both boxers trying to take control of the bout. Following a 3-punch combination finishing with a right hand the German crashed to the canvas. Following the count the referee stopped the bout where the German unable to continue.
75kg Kenan Bayrami v Kirk Garvey
The German came to the ring with an amazing cheer from the crowd. This may have unnerved Kirk who started with a lack-lustre performance, which never got any better. The German was able to pick off Kirk with some ease, eventually winning the bout by 22-2.
81kg Scihin Burak v Alfie Sackey
The final bout of the night saw Alfie take on a stylish boxer. Following the first round where Alfie dropped short with his punches, in the second he began to get through with some telling right hands. In the third round after a short spell of well-aimed shots from the German, Alfie's confidence grew with every punch and combination. Following two powerful well-aimed and timed combinations the German was awarded a standing count, straight after the restart Alfie again applied great pressure forcing another count forcing the bout to be stopped.
The Young England team were awarded the team trophy and Alfie Sackey was awarded the best boxer award.
This was a very good performance by the team. After the boxing had finished the whole team were taken to a banquet hall and fed along with the German team and their officials.
Saturday 1st December 2007
Everyone attended breakfast, which was followed by a briefing from the team manager and National coach with regards to the outline for the day. The boxers were advised to relax until the meeting
At 13.30hrs the whole team were present for a meeting and the checking of kit. A team photo was also taken at this point. Transport arrived at 14.00hrs, which conveyed us to the Sports hall. On arrival the doctor saw all the boxers.
Once again there was a ring parade where the anthems were played and respected by all. The boxing then started.
Marcus Okusen v Eli Frankham
From the off both boxers were trying to gain the advantage of controlling the bout. The exchanges were fast and furious with both boxers scoring well; Eli's punches were more accurate than the Germans. In the 2nd round Eli was deducted a point for holding on. In the 3rd round Eli pushed forward causing his opponent to back off as he was being picked off by the accuracy of Eli's punches. Again Eli was deducted a point for holding the German. This was very frustrating for Eli as the problem was the German was leaning on and pushing all the time. In my opinion I thought the refereeing could have been better.
Eli lost this bout, which was somewhat dubious to say the least.
Marko Kaczmarek v Lewis Pettitt
Bout 2 saw Lewis come out hard against the taller
German. The German was a good upright boxer. It wasn't long before Lewis began to dominate the bout with good hooks to the body and head, leaving the German bemused. Lewis's pressure was relentless, at no stage letting the German get into his stride. In the 2nd round the German was given a standing count following a left hook to the head.
The pressure continued in the 3rd leaving the German with no answer to the constant punching of Lewis.
To avoid further punishment the German was retired on the stool at the end of the 3rd round.
This was another good all-round performance from Lewis.
Hamza Touiba v Oscar Webb
The bout started off very skilful with both boxers scoring well. At the end of the 1st round the German started to showboat. The showboating soon stopped after the well-aimed shots from Oscar had the German receive a standing count, the pressure from Oscar was now increasing the further into the bout, he landed with well-timed left hooks from all ranges. Once again The German was awarded another standing count. This he did not take very well and punched the corner. Oscar continued to pick him off with skill and ease.
To the amazement of everyone in the hall except some of the judges the bout was awarded to the German. Even the home crowd booed the decision. Points 20-17.
Felix Lamm v Luke Gibb
Luke stepped out against the German southpaw, from the outset both boxers tried to dominate which showed in the heavy exchanges. Luke's punches were cleaner and more clinical, however the German made good use of his right hook counter punching to Luke's head. The German used a few tricks to slow Luke down by holding and twice spitting out his gum shield, which disrupted Luke's rhythm. The later stages of the bout saw the German slow down and use the whole of the ring to avoid the punches of Luke. In the end the decision was awarded to the German with a strange score of 26-11. In my opinion this did not reflect the bout I had just watched.
Eduard Zisselski v Iain Weaver
Iain started the bout with great confidence countering well with fast hands and well-aimed punches to the head and body of the German. The second round was totally different with Iain easing off the pace and being caught by the German with some success. The 3rd round saw Iain return to the fast hands with pin-point accuracy in his punches knocking the Germans head back with ease. The 4th round I thought was very scrappy making the referee work hard keeping the bout on track. The points came to a draw 13-13. Following a short deliberation with the German officials and our National coach, I agreed to accept the draw as we would have lost the bout on a count back following a look at the scoring which I thought did not reflect the bout.
Waldemar v Robbie Davis
First up after the break was Robbie, who started the bout with some accurate right hand counters, as the bout went on Robbie's confidence grew and grew as he picked off the German with some ease.
Although as the bout went on the German was scoring with more shots, Robbie was always in control, using his left hand screw shots to the head of the German rocking it back every time it connected. In the last round the German was awarded a standing count, following a superb 3-punch combination.
Once again the points were even at 19-19 again I decided to accept the draw as a count back would have seen Robbie lose the bout. The points again did not reflect the bout I had just watched.
Armin Malekzadeh v Dudley O'Shaunessy
This bout started explosively and continued in this vein throughout. Both boxers were throwing hard punches and scoring with some success. Dudley was very accurate with his punches; however in the 1st round he was knocked through the ropes by the Germans Left hook. This sent the home crowd wild whilst he received his count. Dudley silenced them briefly, when with his first punch a straight right hand, he buckled the Germans legs. Dudley's skill and speed saw him throw a barrage of punches to the head of the German, forcing him through the ropes. However he did not receive a standing count!
In the 3rd round following some hard exchanges between the 2 of them Dudley caught the German with a super combination ending with a Right hand to the Germans head, knocking him out. The crowd fell silent until the boxer was ok where upon the English supporters roared with delight.
Yassine Moussaoui v Jonson McClupha
Once again this boxer was a favourite of the crowd. The bout started with Jonson taking control early on boxing with a bit of flair, whilst selecting his punches.
As the fight progressed the flair dwindled as the German pushed forward scoring with some ease against the now waiting Jonson. The last two rounds Jonson upped his game and took the fight to the German, pressurizing him to move onto his back foot.
The bout was awarded to the German by a point's decision of 35-12
Enrico Kolling v Kirk Garvey
Last up was team captain Kirk Garvey, following a slow methodical start to the bout by both boxers, Kirk became more positive as the bout went on, scoring in the main with counter-punches.
The combinations started to become evident in both boxers as the bout went on. This bout was a fairly fought even affair. Kirk landed with some well-aimed and well timed punches to the head of the German, but I felt his performance lacked the snappy punching I know he is capable of.
The German was awarded the points decision 8-3
When the boxing had finished we walked down to a local bar where a meal was laid on for us.
At 21.30hrs the transport took us back to our hotel, during the journey the boxers were laughing and enjoying singing some songs and generally enjoying themselves, all this despite the decisions we had previously received at the boxing. They were magnanimous in defeat, which was a credit to them.
Sunday 2nd December 2007
At 09.00hrs all the squad were down for breakfast. A quick briefing regarding the outline of the day was had and everyone returned to their rooms to pack.
At 10.00 hrs all the rooms were checked and the keys returned.
National coach Mick Gannon then presented the hotel landlady with a bouquet of flowers for all the help and work she and her staff had done for the teams stay. Everyone then got onto the transport and we were taken to the airport. We arrived at the airport 2 hours early. Following us boarding the plane we were informed of a 2 hour delay in taking off, which meant us remaining on the plane. At no point did I hear of any negativity from any of the squad, whilst we were in this predicament.
Finally at 18.30hrs we took off from Dusseldorf and following a turbulent flight we landed at Heathrow at 18.30hrs
On alighting from the plane we made our way through immigration to the baggage collection, only to find that the airline had misplaced Robbie Davis's bag. A report was made to British Airways who are going to try to locate it and forward it on.
All farewells were done and everyone went on their journeys home
Whilst we were at Dusseldorf airport I as team manager expressed my thanks to the boxers for their outstanding behaviour over the time we had been away in Germany.
I would like to say if this is the future of amateur boxing in this country, I personally feel that these boxers will set the standard both in and out of competition for others to follow.
They will, I am sure make us very proud as a sport and country.
They were all a credit to the sport of boxing and Country
COACHES
Mick Gannon BEM - (National coach)
Darren Maher - North West Counties
Owen Spensley - Combined Services
All the coaches were great, they instilled confidence and discipline to the boxers where they could, working hard over the two days preparing the boxers to compete two days on the run.
There professionalism in and out of the ring was a credit to them, showing their counterparts how things should be done.
They all had the trust and respect from all of the boxers.
OFFICIALS
Mik Bassi - London
Ray Morley - Combined Services
Danny McFarlande - North West Counties
All three Officials remained professional throughout the trip; this I am sure had a big impact on the boxers and their attitude towards some of the decisions.
Their input at briefings, which I am, sure assisted in the boxer's preparations.
All three remained impartial throughout the competitions, which again displayed how things should be done.
Event Information
Having a superb team manager's folder (prepared by Andrea) to work from there were only a few minor points to iron out. This was also made easy, by the members of the squad who could speak fluent German.
Transport
We were assigned a 22-seated coach to convey us everywhere throughout our stay. This was both clean and well maintained.
ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD
The accommodation and food was of a very good standard, which was also enhanced by very helpful and pleasant Landlady and her staff. Nothing was ever too much for them anytime of the day or evening
THE WEIGH IN
The weigh-in was conducted on the first day, with both sides present at each teams weigh-in
BOXING VENUES
The boxing venues were a Hall and a stadium. Both had good facilities and viewing.
GENERAL
In my view the competition was a success as far as the England squad was concerned, although in my opinion following the first match which we won 7-3, I felt that the scoring/refereeing was changed dramatically and swayed from impartial to one-sided. This has a detrimental effect on the sport and the boxers of both teams.
All the boxers gained valuable experience on the International stage, not only that they are good enough to compete with anyone, but also boxing skills and tactics.
Team Manager
Cliff Perkins
Coaches
Mick Gannon BEM (National Coach)
Darren Maher
Owen Spensley
Officials
Mik Bassi
Ray Morley
Danny McFarlande
Boxers
Lewis Pettitt 51kg
Oscar Webb 51kg
Billy Morgan 54kg
Bradley Evans 54kg
Iain Weaver 57kg
Luke Gibb 57kg
Robbie Davis 60kg
Dudley O'Shaunessy 64kg
Jonson McClumpha 69kg
Eli Frankham 70kg
Kirk Garvey 75kg (Team Captain)
Alfie Sackey 81kg
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