Top Yard Boxing Club stars were on top of their game again

From the left, coach Bilal Hamed, Shae Gowler, Aamir Shirazi, and coach Akif Shirazi.

Top Yard Boxing Club talent Aamir Shirazi and Shae Gowler won gold medals at the prestigious Ed Bilbey Box Cup in Grantham.

And the club were also delighted with the performance of Patrick Connors who won a silver medal in an event held in memory of a talented fighter who lost his life aged 15 in 2017.

Shirazi (17) beat Aidy Qadir from the Purge Boxing Academy in his final and claimed a unanimous points verdict against a fresher opponent who had received a bye into the final.

But there was no advantage to be gained against the superfit two-time National Champion from Peterborough who overcame some desperate foul play to hand out a boxing lesson, delivering an array of solid punches from all angles.

Junayd Ali (left) in action in Grantham.

Shirazi had won the chance to fight for gold with a semi-final success over Abdul-Rehman Shahnawaz from The Lion Gym in Bradford. Again the teenager showed of his full repertoire of skills to gain a unanimous points win.

Gowler (18) received a semi-final bye and took on Shay Renwick from Washington Boxing Club in Tyne & Wear in his final.

Both boys started strongly, but Renwick’s textbook approach couldn’t match Gowler’s movement and tricky style of boxing in a crowd-pleasing contest.

Gowler, another National Champion, cleverly lowered his hand, drawing his opponent in, before scoring with clean shots to gain a well-deserved 4-1 points victory.

Patrick Connors jumps for joy after winning his semi-final

Connors (15) won his semi-final on points against Newark ABC’s James Jordan thanks to a gritty performance. He dug deep to win on points and set up a final against Zack Rackevic from Repton.

Two very similar aggressive styles led to an entertaining scrap with Connors bossing the first round before Rakevic hit back to claim a narrow 3-2 points win.

Junayd Ali (21) also fought well at the event and became embroiled in a fascinating ‘too close to call’ semi-final against the favourite, Jordan Shaw from The Army Boxing Team.

This was a very even battle, but the Army boy used his outstanding fitness to come on strong in the final round and pinch a 3-2 points win.

The Top Yard stars will be in action again this weekend in the Manchester Box Cup event.