Boxing: Charlie Braddock comes close in NABGC county final

Charlie Braddock and Liam Davie

On Saturday 5 November 15-year-old “Champagne” Charlie Braddock travelled to Blackburn Youth Zone in Blackburn to meet former National champion Liam Davie of Jimmy Egans Boxing Academy in the NABGC County Finals.

Charlie was set to enter the ring against his much taller opponent in the second bout of the afternoon, so his coach Steven Connellan had to time his warm up so that the Hamer boxer was ready, whilst also hoping there was no delay in the proceedings. Thankfully everything went to plan and when the Hamer boxer stepped into the ring in the blue corner he was ready to test his skills against his much experienced opponent.

When the bell rang to start the first round, Charlie stormed out of his corner, guns blazing ready for action as he attacked Davie’s body before coming up to land punches to the head. Then just as suddenly Davie began to use his much longer range as he waited for Charlie to attack him and when the Hamer boxer stepped into the action he was caught with long range shots to the head before Davie moved around the ring to stay out of range.

Charlie persisted in his approach to step forward and try and get in close to his opponent, but the Jimmy Egans boxer continued to use slick footwork and fast hands every time the Hamer boxer approached him. As the round progressed, Charlie slowly began to find his range and he caught Davie with some cracking shots, but it wasn’t enough to take the round.

Hamer coach Steven Connellan told Charlie that he was boxing well, but could he step it up another gear and try and force Davie onto the ropes where he could land his punches to both the body and head. The bell rang for the second round and Braddock stormed out once again ready for action as he began to use faints to draw his opponents lead punch before stepping back in close to land his right hand to the head of Davie, who was still gliding around and using the ring to his advantage on his much longer legs. This continued throughout the round, leading up to the last ten seconds, where Charlie landed two cracking punches to the head before the bell rang to end the round.

It was a well fought contest between both boxers, but Connellan knew that Charlie was behind slightly, so he told his boxer to go out for the third and last round with everything he had in his locker to try and force Davie off balance. The bell rang and the excited crowd looked on as both boxers met in the middle of the ring, where Charlie began to land punches to the body and head every time he got close to Davie.

However, Davie showed why he was a national champion and began to use the ring once again to unload his right hand as Charlie stepped towards him. This continued until Charlie showed the crowd that he was in the same league as Davie when he landed another cracking right hand to the chin, but when the bell rang to end the round the verdict went to the rightful winner, Liam Davie of Jimmy Egans.

Hamer coach Steven Connellan said after the event: “I can’t fault Charlie’s performance in Blackburn. He was terrific in his pursuit to win the North West crown in an highly entertaining bout that had the crowd on the edge of their seats throughout every round, but so was young Liam Davie, who I hope goes all the way and brings the national title back to the North West.”