Honour in National semi-final defeat for Top Yard star Brooks and club fighters also enjoyed a dust-up in Dunstable

The 17 year-old fought his way to the semi-finals of the England National Youth Development event where he lost to hot favourite for the title, Levi Barnes from Sharpestyle ABC in Oxford.

Barnes was chasing a hat-trick of titles and showed why he’s regarded as the best 64kg category fighter in the country with a points win over Brooks and then another win over England youth intermational Osama Mohamed in the final.

Brooks fought well early on against a tricky as well as classy opponent who threw quality shots from all angles.

Top Yard head coach Bilal Javed said: “Whilst Freddie will be disappointed, he knows he lost to the best in the country.”

Four Top Yard fighters were also in action in Dunstable.

Jacob Hussain (10) and Santino Harris (13) had both fought the week before. Hussain was entered into his second skills fight and showed he is ready for competitive bouts by putting on a terrific display which included a second round knockdown.

Harris took a lot of fans with him and didn’t disappoint them in a 38kg fight. He boxed a taller boy, but put in a strong performance, working on the inside and getting the cleaner shots off to win comfortably.

Harris has been busy this season and gets better and better with every bout.

And Top Yard teenagers Dawud Ahmed (15) and Subhaan Mohammad (16) both performed well, but had a tough night losing to home boxers who had the edge on them.

Coach Hamad Javed said “They were good performances overall from the boxers, but Santino Harris and Jacob Hussain were very sharp. They show improvements every time they step in the ring.”