Late heartbreak for Wellington's Akash Tuqir
Wellington Boxing Academy's Akash Tuqir suffered national final heartbreak again in the last 10 seconds of his England Junior Championship decider.
The 15-year-old won a Tri-Nations title and then lost an ABA Schoolboys final in 2011 and had waited another three years for yesterday's opportunity.
Standing in the slick southpaw's way was Francie Doherty, Hoddesdon's four-time national champion, at the TA Centre in London.
They stepped through the ropes at 52kg in Class B, for boxers born in 1998, with everything to fight for in the tournament.
A cagey bout ensued as both stepped off waiting for the other to make a mistake, Tuqir popping out the southpaw left jab as Doherty looked to counter with his right back-hand.
The contest hung in the balance right until the final bell but Tuqir lost his head at the last, charging in and leaving himself wide open to jabs which made their mark.
Trainer Mo Fiaz said: "If Kash could have stayed away from him for those last 10 seconds, I think he would have won the fight. We were screaming that into the ring.
"He's brave to do that but it's ill-advised, he's very upset but he will learn from this. It's all part of the experiences you go through as a boxer.
"He's still very young and he won't do that again, I am sure of it. Mistakes were made and this is the price you pay for it.
"He could have doubled up his jab in the earlier rounds and backed off towards the end, but he held his own against a very successful fighter."
