Royal Navy boxer Jack Stringer has picked up the prestigious English middleweight title belt – the first time a Senior Service boxer has won the accolade.
But there was little time to celebrate as the Royal Marine was back in the gym at HMS Temeraire in Portsmouth, working as hard as ever in preparation of his first defence of the title.
Jack, 21, a member of 45 Commando at Arbroath, has to successfully defend the belt three times in order to keep the crown.
“It feels good to have won, especially as I think I was a convincing winner of the first two rounds, said the amateur fighter, who is ranked fifth in the country.
His opponent, Heart of Portsmouth’s Walid Adenas, was far more on the offensive in the third and final round of the Titchfield ABC show at Portsmouth Guildhall.
“He really rushed at me in the third round but it wasn’t enough,” said Jack, who became interested in the sport at the age of seven as his grandfather Ron Chandler boxed.
“I decided to stop for a year in 2015 as I had really fallen out of love with boxing,” said Jack, who used the time to concentrate on his basic training with the Royal Marines.
“Then I was asked to join the Royal Navy team and now I’m back in love with boxing and happy to carry on.”
The Portsmouth fighter was soon back in the gym, earning fulsome praise from Navy boxing coach CPO Chris Smith, who said: “Jack has the right mindset and there’s no stopping him now. Our main aim for him now is to help him join Marine George Crotty in the England squad.”
Fellow boxing coach Marine Ben Pringle added: “Jack is a great example to our boxers and has a big rest of the year ahead of him.”
Jack is expected to conduct his first defence of his belt at the end of November, early December.
