Whitworth High boxer and footballer is runner-up in Rochdale Active Awards

Whitworth Community High School student Harrison Wright – who was runner up in the Young Sports Achiever category in Rochdale Borough Active Awards

A teenage boxer from Whitworth Community High School, who is in training for a national title fight next year, was runner-up in Rochdale Borough Active Awards.

More than 30 young people had been nominated for the Young Sports Achiever category and just three were selected as finalists at the awards held at Middleton Arena.

Harrison, 13, was nominated for his commitment to boxing, he trains three times a week at Littleborough Boxing Club and also football, he helped his former team Pennine Juniors Black to win the treble – cup, league and premiership titles.

The evening was presented by Farah Rehman who told the arena all about the different finalists and why they had been selected.

Harrison said: “It was really interesting finding out what other people had done. In my category there was Cyrus Moores who does motocross and Daniel Calderbank who used to go to Whitworth and now travels all over doing Muay Thai Boxing, he has just been to Thailand and had won a title over there.

“It was good to be nominated and I knew quite a few people who were there, I wasn’t surprised when Daniel won the Young Sports Achiever title. It was great to see other people’s achievements.

“When they read out my achievements, there were things I had forgotten that I had done.”

This year Harrison, a North West Regional boxing champion, came third in the National School’s Boxing Championships and he is in training for early next year when he will be back in the ring competing again in the Nationals.

He said: “I have had a couple of fights since, not in competitions, and I won them both.

“They went the full three rounds of a minute and a half and I won unanimously on points.

“I am now in training for the nationals and I am still doing football.”