Peterborough Police pair are crowned Eastern Counties champions

Peterborough Police ABCs three national quarter-finalists - Alfie Baker, Shae Gowler and Imraan Shirazi.

They were Shae Gowler (13) from Fletton and Alfie Baker (12) from Stanground.

They won titles at the regional finals of the National Schools Championships at Hingham in Norfolk and will now box in the national quarter-finals on Saturday in Sudbury.

Joining them will be clubmate Imraan Shirazi (13) from Bretton, who received a bye at the regional stage due to a lack of entries in the under 37kg category.

Rushaan Raja with coaches Akif Shirazi and Vicki Baker.

Gowler did brilliantly to upset the odds in the Under 38.5kg final against championship favourite Kian Emmins from Billericay ABC.

Emmins is a very skilful, well-schooled fighter and was much taller than Gowler.

But the Peterborough boxer never allowed him the room to manoeuvre and worked hard on the inside to collect a great points win.

Peterborough Police ABC head coach Chris Baker said: “This was a fantastic win, definitely Shae’s best performance to date. Our first Eastern Counties champion and a proud moment for the gym.”

It was a good weekend for the Baker family - coaches Chris and Vicki and their boxing sons Alfie and Reggie.

What followed next also made Baker proud as his son Alfie outboxed Adrian Polis from Albion ABC, Cambridge, in the under 54kg final.

Baker overwhelmed Polis in the first round with a whirlwind of combination punches to the head and body, which put Polis on the back foot.

Baker also dominated the second round with quality back-foot counter-punching. The third was much closer as Polis came back into the bout but Baker had done enough for a convincing points win.

Aamir Shirazi (11) from Bretton was unable to make it a title treble for the city club. He fought Finn Harris from Attleborough ABC in the under 32kg class final but didn’t really get out of first gear and lost on points.

Rushaan Raja (11) from Peterborough boxed Jake Moore from Progress ABC in a supporting bout at 32kg and claimed a superb points victory. He used his skill to great effect, dominating the centre of the ring and finding the target with an abundance of quality shots.

Reggie Baker, younger brother of Alfie, took on John Harbour from Attleborough ABC in a skills bout.

It was an explosive action-packed three-rounder in which Baker displayed great quality.