The man with the golden gloves: Gill finishes amateur career as ABA champion
JORDAN Gill vowed to revive Chatteris’ love for boxing after he finished his amateur career in style... as a national champion.
The 17-year-old became the town’s first Junior Amateur Boxing Association champion on Saturday with a 42-24 victory over Sheffield’s Razaq Najib.
Gill turns professional in July and he is determined to become a household name - like former Chatteris stars Eric Boon and Dave ‘Boy’ Green.
“It’s the best thing I’ve ever won,” he said. “I’m absolutely buzzing and I want to get Chatteris buzzing again.
“I want it to be like it was before with Eric Boon and Dave ‘Boy’ Green - they were the biggest attractions around here.
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“I want people to have something to get excited about - watching me fight.”
Gill’s victory was the highest scoring of 40 ABA bouts at the weekend.
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He said: “In the first two rounds I bossed it completely - I felt brilliant. I took more punches in the final rounds but I landed just as many.
“I wanted it so badly. Usually I would feel them out in the first couple of rounds but I just went out there like a mad man. It was like I was possessed.”
Gill, who became the Clubs for Young People British Champion in 2010, won 42 of his 52 amateur bouts, reaching seven national finals.
From August, he will train full-time at Brendan Ingle’s legendary Sheffield gym, sparring with stars including Kell Brook and Kid Galahad.
Gill, who will lead Olympic boxing workshops at Cromwell Community College this summer, thanked the hundreds of people who have congratulated him and his sponsors Jordan Fitness, in Wisbech.
But he saved a special thank you for his father Paul, who has been training him since he was three years old.
“I will never stop learning from him,” he said.
“He’s taught me how to box but he’s also taught me the values and morals needed to be a man. He will never be out of my corner, really.”
