Fitzpatrick’s youngsters show a Stack of promise

Emre Stack, grandson of Olympic boxer Willie Stack, was making his debut in a skills bout and was joined by Priya Virk.

And despite the youngsters’ inexperience, coach Derek Fitzpatrick was delighted with the way the duo handled themselves in their first public outing.

He said: “These are two quite shy kids by nature and to watch them go out and perform like that in front of a few hundred people was brilliant.”

Stack and Virk were joined by two other Fitzpatrick’s boxers as the club took advantage of a new link-up with CCUK Executive Cars who are providing use of their fleet to transport boxers and coaches to away trips.

Freddie Finn boxed Frankie McDonagh of the Harrow and District Boxing Club, going on to claim his first unanimous win.

“Freddie is literally finding his feet,” said coach Deepa Liddar. “And it showed in his movement today.”

The previously unbeaten Simon Hruska then went down to a paper-thin split decision to Harrow’s Ryan O’Connor.

There was little between the two boxers but it was O’Connor, who went in to the contest on the back of two knockouts, who preserved his unbeaten tag.

“It was a fantastic, well-matched bout with both lads putting on a fantastic display,” said Fitzpatrick.

“Fair play to the Harrow lad and Simon it was a great bout.”

Earlier in the day, Fitzpatrick’s had welcomed Gloucester and England rugby star Laura Swan to the club.

Swan is the first local player to benefit from a sponsorship initiative set up by the club’s new community based venture, Leamington Community Boxing.