Batley boxer Yates suffers heartbreak at National Championships semi-finals

Batley boxer Jordan Yates suffered a heartbreaking split decision defeat in the National Boxing Championships semi-finals.
Jordan Yates celebrates his victory in Durham with coach Abed Rahman and Mark Hurley of Dickys Gym in Batley.Jordan Yates celebrates his victory in Durham with coach Abed Rahman and Mark Hurley of Dickys Gym in Batley.
Jordan Yates celebrates his victory in Durham with coach Abed Rahman and Mark Hurley of Dickys Gym in Batley.

Having won the Yorkshire Championships, Yates faced quarter and semi-final bouts in the space of a week.

Yates had claimed the Yorkshire title by dropping his opponent in the third round and travelled to Durham to fight the North East and Tyne & Wear champion.

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Yates gained a points decision victory over a vastly more experienced fighter.

This was the Batley man’s 18th bout compared to the Tyne and Wear champion’s 43rd bout, which included two national titles.

Yates dominated on the outside scoring with an accurate jab throughout the three rounds to gain a unanimous points win.

This set up a semi-final trip to Liverpool against the Merseyside and North West champion, a veteran of 43 fights, for the Northern England title and a place in the national final.

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In a close fight, the split decision victory went to the Liverpool boxer, to the dismay of many in the crowd, who thought Yates may have edged the fight.

Yates dominated the second round with straight rights to build up his points, following a close first round.

The final session was also close but victory went to the local fighter who progressed to the final and ended Yates’s run at the semi-final stage for the third successive year.

Yates ends 2016 with a record of 19 fights and 13 wins with the Yorkshire title under his belt for the third time.

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Yates’s next bouts will be as a senior as he celebrates his 18th birthday this Saturday and will be aiming to challenge for the senior Yorkshire title in 2017.

Yates trains out of Dicky’s Gym in Batley under coach Abed Rahman, who also has professional Jack Churchill in his stable.

Churchill is training for the ninth pro fight of his career, at Barnsley Metrodome on December 16, when he will be defending his area title against Billy Parker and goes into the fight on the back of six straight wins.

Tickets for can be obtained from Jack either on his Facebook page, or from Dicky’s gym.