Caithness boxers are fighting fit ahead of Scottish novice championships
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Five members of Caithness Boxing Club and their head coach Liall Mackenzie made the 300-mile round trip to Fort William on Sunday, joining a team from Inverness-based Highland Boxing Academy for a day of sparring in the Lochaber Phoenix Boxing Club gym.
The trip was part of preparations for the Boxing Scotland National Novice Championships being held in Motherwell over the next two weekends in which all three clubs will face competitors from across the country, each with their eyes set on reaching the finals and medal glory.
Meeting and sparring with boxers they have never have met or faced in the ring is an ideal way to practise and build experience. This helps them to identify and react to the subtle differences in technique and stances they may face from opponents in the actual championship bouts.
Covid rules have severely limited the ability of groups to engage with others in the sport, but the recent easing of restrictions opened up the possibility of some extra training which the Wick-based club grasped.
Mackenzie said: “Our inter-club sparring session down at Lochaber Phoenix in Fort William was of real benefit to our boxers, being their last sparring session in preparation for the Scottish novice championships.
“It’s great having ties with the Fort William club, who have a long history of novice championship success. We look forward to going down again and, at some point, welcoming them to Caithness.”
The Caithness boxers in Fort William, and hopefully heading to the competition in Motherwell, were Alex Curlis (Thurso), Kieran Hourston (Wick), Kian Young (Lybster), Bobby Crompton (Wick) and Nathan Tait (Thurso).
