Hazellville Road club experienced double joy in Manchester at the weekend
Islington duo Masood Abdullah and Jem Campbell both claimed titles at the England Boxing National Amateur Championship finals in Manchester.
Competing in the men’s under-60kg final, Abdullah took on Darlington rival Joe Tyers with the national title at stake.
Abdullah pressured Tyers onto the back foot and there was plenty of aggression from the Islington lightweight.
Despite the lack of quality punches landed by Abdullah, his high tempo proved more than enough to claim victory by unanimous decision.
“Masood has put his name on the map and it is a fantastic achievement to win the elite championships after only 29 bouts,” said coach Reggie Hagland.
“It’s hard to believe he only made his debut in February 2017 and Masood is another boxer who it’s difficult to tell to have a rest.”
Campbell, meanwhile, faced Laura Stevens of Far Cotton in the women’s final at under-69kg.
A shaky start from the Islington hope allowed Stevens to land some big overhand rights in the first round.
Campbell started to move around the ring in the second and third rounds, fluently getting in her combination attacks.
That was enough to seal the triumph for Campbell as she was declared the winner by split decision.
“Jem is in the gym three nights a week without fail and she has improved massively over the last six months with the variety of female sparring she gets most evenings,” added Hagland.
“They have brought her on and are building her confidence up. Hopefully her win will bring on the others as I believe success breeds success.”
Both Abdullah and Campbell have been selected to represent England at the Elite Three Nations Championships in Scotland next month.
There was disappointment, though, at the England Boxing National Amateur Championship finals for Islington colleague Connor Daly.
Competing at 52kg, Daly was beaten by Hamza Mehmood of Hoddesdon to miss out on the national title.
“Connor has been on great form since the start of the year and can be proud of where he has reached in a short space of time,” said Hagland.
Daly can indeed still be proud of his efforts.
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