Stalker believes boxing saved him from leading a life of crime
Life could have been entirely different for Tom Stalker, the boxer form Liverpool. The childhood of 26-year-old boxer was spent with the friends who had been engaged into condemnable hobbies including robbing cars and petty thefts. “Almost all of those friends
are now in jail,” Stalker admitted before the reporters. Had he not found boxing, he too could have ended up with a similar destination. However, fortunately, contrary to that, he is now building his reputation as one of the most feared amateur lightweight
boxer on the planet.
With GB Amateur Boxing Championships at Liverpool’s Echo Arena just around the corner, the boxer is going to have another opportunity to add up to his reputation by performing well in front of his fans.
For bagging gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and claiming silver at the European Championships, it has been a great year for Stalker. The stated achievements have earned him the prestigious amateur boxer of the year award. If the boxer manages to win
the Saturday’s fight, his place in the GB team would be cemented and he would be better capable of continuing his quest for Olympics selection for the 2012 London Games.
Tom Stalker started boxing when he was 18. Tired of idly hanging around the streets, doing stupid things and consequently getting into a lot of trouble, he decided to put his life on a new course. Once the decision for initiating a new life was made, he
went along to the Saint Aloysius gym in Huyton Merseyside. As evident, the rest is history.
Talking about the type of friends he had been with before choosing boxing as a career, Stalker explained that he was a good lad who had been eventually stuck with the wrong people and as soon as he realized that, he broke away from them. From the day he
started working out with boxing, he got the bug. The gym kept him off the streets and everyone over there made him feel like a family. “Boxing means everything to me. The Sport has kept me on the straight and narrow and has kept me out of prison,” he said
further.
Despite of the fact that the guy had loved the sport, he was far from being a natural boxer. He admitted that he often used to think of quitting it, but eventually stuck at it. The hours of consistency and perseverance were now paying him the dividends.
Talking about his early days in the sport, the Olympic gold medallist said that his first year as a boxer was hopeless, but Kenny Willis, his trainer spent a lot of time with him and resultantly he got better.
Stalker has been boxing his way through the ranks, even while he had to fight Frankie Gavin, the former amateur in an ABA final. The guy soon earned national honours and up till now, he has contested more than 50 international fights.
In his last fight, held in October at Delhi Commonwealth Games, he emerged as the title holder where he had emphatically beaten Josh Taylor from Scotland in the finals.
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