Alfie pipped in national final

The 11 year-old talent from the Peterborough Police Amateur Boxing Club, which is run by his parents Chris and Vicki Baker, had won his way through to the 56kg final of the National Schoolboy Championships run by England Boxing.

There he came up against Sam Hardy from Newark ABC at the Grantham Leisure Centre on Saturday afternoon and he gave a fantastic account of himself.

But, unfortunatey, it turned out to be just not quite enough to take the title and he had to settle for the silver medal.

The bout was televised on the England Boxing’s YouTube channel where viewers saw him lose the first round by a considerable margin.

Hardy forced Baker on the back foot as he let fly with crisp, long shots from all directions and the Peterborough lad just couldn’t force the pace.

The second and third rounds were much closer with great combination punching coming from both lads. There was little between the two in those two rounds but what occured earlier clinched the decision in Hardy’s favour.

Baker’s coach and proud dad Chris said: “Alfie lost - no doubt about that - but it was only on a very close points decision. The occasion definitely got to him.

“If Alfie could have settled down in that first round and showed his aggressive power like he normally does then there’s no doubt in my mind that we would have brought the gold medal home with us.

“But never mind, it’s all part of the learning process. I’m so proud of this little man who has had a really tough few weeks.

“This was a great performance and I know there’s much better to come from him.

“This was awesome experience at a national level and as a finalist it has to be a stepping stone to potentially box for England. “

Alfie and five other Peterborough Police ABC boxers will be in action at the international Monkstown Box Cup tournament in Ireland at the end of June.