On Saturday 16 March, Newark Amateur Boxing Club’s Joel Cook was at Gresley Old Hall Community Welfare Centre in Derbyshire to take part in the quarter finals of England Boxing’s 2024 National Junior Championships.
His opponent for the fight was Isa Hussein, the winner of both last year’s championships and a silver medal at the European Championships.
“As Isa’s record suggests, this was going to be quite a challenge for Joel but we had no doubts that he was good enough to box at this level, having only lost to the best by the narrowest of margins in the past,” said Suggy’s Gym head coach Dean Sugden.
“And he certainly proved we were right, landing more scoring blows and being technically and tactically superior as he pushed the pace throughout the fight, controlling tempo, space and distance to take the win in their quarter final fight.”
Just one week after his victory in the quarter finals, the Newark ABC boxer was back in the ring on Saturday 23 March, this time at the Sir David Wallace Sports Hall in Loughborough for the semi-finals.
And everyone watching, either live online or there in the sports hall itself, thought that Joel won all three rounds against his tall and long opponent Muhammed Shah from London’s White Hart Lane.
“The first round was close, in the second Joel made adjustments and won, then he went on to completely dominate in the third,” said Dean. “So losing on a split decision really hurt, especially after that emphatic win a week earlier.
“Both Chad and I, who were there in Joel’s corner, felt he should have won this one too, after what was a first-class performance. And it was obvious at the end of the fight that his opponent wasn’t expecting that result either – they say a picture speaks a thousand words and if you were watching the fight online or you check out the video clip we’ve shared on Facebook, you’ll know that even Muhammed didn’t think he would be getting his hand raised!
“It goes without saying that we were disappointed by the decision but we were very pleased with Joel’s performance. And although he was unlucky not to get the nod for this one, overall in this year’s Junior Championships he proved yet again that he is one of the best – we know for certain that he can do better and will definitely continue to improve, so he should hold his head up high and keep doing what he’s doing.”
Joel will be back in the ring again on Friday 3 May, when he will be on the card of the next NABC Home Show at Farndon Memorial Hall in Newark. Full details of the event will be published nearer the date and details of how to buy tickets to support Joel and his fellow NABC fighters will be available in the next few weeks.
SUGGY'S GYM 
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