REDDITCH boxers Jae Hudson and Mason Passey won medals and fellow town fighter Leo Fanthome also impressed at the prestigious King of The Ring tournament in Boras, Sweden, over the weekend.
Hudson and Fanthome were representing Redditch Boxing Academy, whilst Passey was in action for Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter Boxing Club in one of the biggest tournaments in Europe, which brings boxers from all over the world to fight three times in three days in an attempt to be crowned King of The Ring 2017.
Passey, 15, of Headless Cross, was victorious on days one and two as outstanding performances took him into the final at 66kg on the third day of the tournament.
Up against his third Swedish opponent, an extremely close contest was declared a split decision to the home boxer and Passey had to settle for a silver medal to add to his career total of four Midlands champion titles and a silver medal at the 2016 Bristol Box Cup.
However, a thoroughly deserved gold medal did come the way of Hudson, who fought in the 56kg Elite C category for boxers with up to five bouts under their belts.
Hudson took on Swedish fighter Habibo in Saturday’s semi-final and, after securing a unanimous decision, he then defeated fellow Brit Rodriguez in the final 24 hours later to put the icing on the cake on a weekend to remember.
Hudson recalled the experience to the Standard: “The Swedish boxer was a strong lad who tried to land some big shots on me from the start.
“I kept my shots long and worked off the back foot and let him chase me around the ring whilst I was throwing combinations and moving off and outscoring my opponent.
“It was a really good feeling to put in a good performance and I knew I had won the bout before the referee lifted my hand for a unanimous decision.”
He added: “In the final, I was up against a fresh opponent in his first bout of the tournament as the luck of the draw meant he got a bye straight to the final.
“The first round went really well as I let off a flurry of six to eight shots which all landed to the head and body of my opponent. Again, the game plan was to keep him off me with straight shots and try not to get too close.
“To the credit of my opponent, he kept coming forward to try and get inside. He was successful a few times but I was still outscoring him by landing combinations in twos and threes.
“At the end of the second round I began to feel the pace of the fight having had a bout the day before, unlike my opponent. In the last round my opponent gave it everything he had and I had to bite down on my gumshield and just keep going.
“It was a nervous few seconds before my hand was lifted and I was King of the Ring champion 2017. I embraced my coach Darren Long and Leo with the gold medal around my neck, so it was smiles all around for Redditch Boxing Academy.”
Fanthome, the Midlands champion, was in action in the 64kg event and defeated a three-time Norwegian champion by a unanimous decision in the first round.
In the semi-final, Fanthome was on course to secure at least a silver medal as he was ahead in the bout, only to be caught by a sucker punch which led to a stoppage.
However, having been the better boxer technically, Fanthome can take plenty of positives from his Scandinavian experience.
