By Daniel Noble
ENLER ABC head coach Jonny Hunter is hopeful the club’s top prospects will compete for titles when they travel to England for the Manchester Box Cup this weekend.
Bobby Boardman, 14, and Zac Foster, 15, will enter the cup as two of the favourites in their respective categories, having already enjoyed boxing journeys littered with accolades.
Bobby, who has been boxing for Enler since the club opened 19 months ago, boasts the Armagh/Down, County Louth and Ulster 9 Counties titles.
Meanwhile, Zac, a more recent recruit of the Comber-based club, joining just 10 months ago, weighs in as a three-time Armagh/Down and Mid Ulster winner, five-time Ulster 9 Counties champion and two-time Manchester Box Cups victor.
Comber’s Bobby and Newtownards’ Zac have been putting each other through their paces in preparation for this weekend – something Hunter believes could work in their favour.
He said: “Zac has had 22 fights and Bobby has had six, so it’s been great for Bobby to spar with a more experienced boxer, and he’s been holding his own.
“The two boys have very different styles, Bobby is a fancy, stylish point-scorer, whereas Zac is a forward- thinking, hard-hitting pressure fighter. The sessions they’ve had together have helped them experience styles that are essentially opposite to their own.”
Although the sparring partners will encounter stiff opposition from the English and international fighters competing across the Irish Sea, Hunter is optimistic of their chances.
“We have high hopes for them at the Manchester Box Cup. With the English and international boxers, you never know what you’re going to come up against, but we fancy their chances,” he stated.
“We’re hopeful that they both win, and they’ll certainly go close if they both perform to the standard we’re used to from them.”
Much like his coach, Bobby believes he is ready to go to Manchester and make the tournament his own.
“I’m ready to go there and win. I’m hoping to take the title and I think I’ve trained enough for it,” he said.
“Sparring with people who have more experience than me will have me ready for the boys in England.”
Zac, on the other hand, is more reserved in his goals for the competition, operating in quiet confidence having previously claimed glory in Manchester.
“The ambition is to go over there and do what I can, perform how I’ve been performing and give it all I’ve got. I’m hoping that’s enough and it all works out the way I want it to,” he explained.
For the time being, the Enler pair’s focus will be firmly fixed on the Manchester Box Cup, but Hunter has outlined the long-term ambitions he holds for them.
“At the minute, they are two of our top prospects. We have loads of kids who could be as good as them, but they’re currently the two big names we have coming out of club.
“Bobby has developed unbelievably since we opened the club, holding his own against kids who have had a lot more fights, and Zac’s progress can be seen in the ring, with his results, catching eyes with his style and the way he’s boxing.
“Looking forward, I hope they will get on their County Antrim teams first of all. After that, I want to see them qualify for the Ireland team and win Ulster and national titles in the next couple of years, they’re the goals I have for them.”
