Golden girl Olsztynska and Ledbury give club big boost

Magdalena Olsztynska had to dig deep in an epic battle with Kaira Mole, from Leam Lane ABC in Gateshead, before winning the 60kg final at Grantham.

But Banbury’s 75kg junior Naill Ledbury had to settle for silver after another fiercely fought and tight bout with Tom Heally from Macclesfield Boys Boxing Club.

Olsztynska and Mole came out strong and confident delivering ranges of long and short range punches. Mole might have edged the first round but it was clear that this bout would be memorable.

In the second round, Olsztynska started to settle into her boxing, slipping nicely to make Mole miss and picking her off at range.

A series of clean head shots knocked Mole back along the ropes and forced her to cover up in the corner. As she turned out of the corner, Olsztynska caught Mole with a right cross that rocked her head back and forced a standing eight count to clearly take the round.

Both boxers were slowing going into the third round, the powerful encounter was taking its toll and Mole knew she had to battle back from the previous round’s standing count.

It was a monumental effort from them both but they battled to the final bell and at the final bell, sank to the canvas exhausted.

Olsztynska took the gold and the title by unanimous decision. Afterwards, both boxers admitted it was the hardest opponent and bout that either had faced in their career.

In his final, Ledbury started out the brighter using neat footwork through the first round to let him score clean shots against the awkward, tall southpaw.

Heally had started slowly but warmed into the bout, making the second round a hard one to judge with not many clean exchanges but Heally was looking the flashier as he proved more evasive and difficult to hit than he had been in the first.

That continued into the final round making it frustrating for Ledbury to try and force Heally to trade. Overall, it was a tight one to call, reflected in the split decision in favour of Heally.