Amaar Akbar of the Dewsbury-based Warrior Breed boxing gym has captured his first national title.
He produced a show-stopping performance at the Magna Centre in Rotherham to land the England Boxing Junior Development title against Caulay Suttie of Thames Valley.
Akbar – nicknamed Showtime – started his campaign by beating former national finalist Waqas Rouf of Wakefield’s White Rose Boxing Club to become the new Yorkshire Champion.
The pressure mounted, but Akbar came through four bouts in a month to reach the finals and the 15-year-old student from Mirfield Free Grammar was in determined mood for the championship.
He entered the ring to Sinead O’Connor’s The Foggy Dew, which is a training-camp favourite of Warrior Breed, whose head coach is Akbar’s father, Zahir.
Akbar outclassed his opponent, forcing a standing-eight count and then putting Suttie down with a textbook right.
The remaining two rounds comprised of Akbar catching Suttie with repeated check hooks until the Southerner fell into a tremendous counter right hand, causing the referee to call for a third count.
Shortly after, he was raising the Dewsbury fighter’s arm to mark a 10th win of his career.
Akbar was praised by other coaches and said of his performance: “He came out quick, thinking he could beat me on the inside; all my opponents think I can be broken down.
“But at Warrior Breed, we do strength and conditioning best, some of my team come from way out of town just to train with us.”
“It’s a pleasure to represent Yorkshire and the North and I don’t want to stop here.
“We’ve got to stay humble as we come to the end of one road to continue our journey on another.”
The gym have a 90% win ratio this season – Hamza Urfan of Keighley reached the national semi-finals and Raheem Mustakeem the Yorkshire finals, losing a spit decision against Taylor Watkins of Highfields.
Zahir Akbar said: “We’ve been affiliated for only a year, but things are moving fast.
“Two sponsors have offered their assistance; Somnior Beds and Global Components, and I’d like to thank them for their support, alongside the fans and volunteers.”
Officials thanked established Coach ‘G’ Ayub, alongside coaches Kadir Khan, Muhammad Ali and Naeem Ayaz.
Warrior Breed have welcomed new supporting coaches Mauricio, Adam Bham, Hamza Akbar (Amaar’s older brother). They will help develop Little Warriors, from the age of six.
Warrior Breed Boxing & Fitness can be found at 144 Bradford Road, Dewsbury and welcome new members. Contact Zahir Akbar on 07403 177210.
