John Henry is going places at Merlins Bridge ABC
At 10 years of age John Henry Smith is a rising star at Merlins Bridge Amateur Boxing Club, where he enjoys training four evenings a week and as well as starting out with two exhibition bouts, he has already had four full bouts involving three ringside judges making a decision - and he has won all four with unanimous verdicts!Small wonder then that head coach Graham Brockway and the other coaches at the club are delighted with his progress but are eager to keep his feet firmly on the ground, but as Graham told PembrokeshireSport.co.uk
“John Henry loves training and, listens to everything we tell him and soaks it all up like a human sponge, and he is even an example to some of the more senior club members in attitude to training.”
Early start after a warm welcome
John Henry started out as a nine-year-old after he asked his dad John about boxing (dad had boxed in Llanelli) because he wanted to try it out so he was taken to meet Graham and the rest at Merlins Bridge to see what it was like.
“Everyone was so friendly that I decided to give boxing a try,” he said, “and once Graham showed me how to punch the bags properly, I found it was fun but at first didn’t take it as seriously as I do now.“But after a while I wanted to try sparring and my dad sorted out a gum shield for me - and it was then that I got really involved because it was great.
Fitness medical, a boxing card and early exhibition bouts
“That was when I started to train really hard and asked Graham if I could start boxing and after a chat to see how serious I was he organised me to go with some others from the club to have my medical with a local doctor.
“I was pleased when he told me I was fit and so I soon had my card, where all my bouts were recorded, and I was ready for action.”
John Henry started off with two exhibition bouts so that he could get accustomed to being in the ring with an opponent and a noisy crowd - and he took on Alfie Williams in Aberdare and Oliver Morris on the club’s home show, which was fantastic because all his family and friends were there.These were over 3x1minute rounds and both boxers had identical trophies as nice mementoes of their start in boxing - and he readily admits feeling nervous getting changed, very nervous on the walk to the ring, but all that disappeared when the bell went for the first round!
Long trip to Birmingham for first of four great wins
It was typical of John Henry’s attitude that when he was told his first actual bout was in Birmingham, he took it in his stride as he set off on the long trip alongside Ffion Wilmot, Miley Flynn and Aaron James.
“I boxed Jack Price from the BCB Club in the Cannock area and I knew it would be extra-hard because of the crowd being on his side but I didn’t let it worry me and I came home with my trophy for gaining a unanimous decision from the judges, which was fantastic.
Then he took on Bailey Morris (Llynfi Valley ABC) on a home show and again came away with a unanimous verdict - and followed that up by beating Frankie Parry (on his home show at Bonymaen) and again silenced the vociferous home crowd with an excellent performance that saw him celebrating win No 3, again unanimous!Biggest fight so far – as the show opener in front of 800 supporters!
But ask John Henry about his biggest win and it would be the very recent show put on by Merlins Bridge ABC at the Withybush Showground, where he again took on Frank Price in the very first of 16 bouts.
“The build-up was amazing because there were so many people there, with flashing lights and our own choice of music as we made the long walk to the ring and everyone could also see us on the huge screens above the ring.
“Of course I was really nervous because it was the first fight on, with the crowd so noisy I had a job to hear the announcements. But I was pleased with the way I boxed and then the referee raised my arm and the crowd went mad as I won by a unanimous decision.”
And finally . . .
So now John Henry is understandably looking ahead to more bouts and doesn’t mind the travel if he has to go. He is training really hard every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and also goes out for runs around his home in Haverfordwest.
“Dad goes on the bike because he can’t keep up with my running,’ he says with a typical chuckle, “and my younger brother Abraham (9) has also started training at the gym so we’ll see if he puts the gloves on sometime. We are very lucky to have great support from dad and our mum Amy, who has been to the home shows but is always good when I come out of the ring because she is afraid I might get injured.”
Ask him about the physical side of his chosen sport and he says that so far he has had a couple of bloody noses, in sparring, but says that rather than worrying about it he decided if he hadn’t been in the wrong place at that moment his opponent wouldn’t have caught him on the nose!It’s the same attitude with regard to looking ahead to an eventual defeat after so much success and his answer is delivered with so much maturity.
“I’ll just go back training and work with my coaches to make sure it doesn’t happen too often.”
There is no doubt that John Henry Smith is a very talented and smart young boxer and we are sure to hear more about his successes in the years to come - and we at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk will be delighted to go to shows and cheer him along because he really is a credit to boxing in particular, and sport in general as he flies the Pembrokeshire Flag with some style!