New Astley Boxing Club fighter Luke Ring tipped to bounce back after National Schoolboy Championship semi-final defeat to Jackson Daws in Newcastle

New Astley Boxing Club head coach Mark O’Reilly has insisted that there is plenty more to come from Luke Ring following his defeat in the semi-finals of the National Schoolboys Championship on Saturday.

Having come through the last eight of the competition in London seven days earlier, Red Lodge-based Ring took on Jackson Daws of Newark in Newcastle for a place in the final.

But despite O’Reilly believing that his fighter had done enough to win the contest, it was Daws that progressed via a split points decision to eventually be crowned champion.

O’Reilly, who trains his boxers at the Racing Centre in Newmarket, said: “Luke was unlucky. I thought he had won all three rounds.

“Some judges look for different things, but when it comes to quality of punches landed, I felt that Luke was far superior.

“There was no doubt he won the first round and although the second and third were closer, I was still very confident waiting for the result.

“I was shocked when it was announced and it’s disappointing, but I couldn’t be more proud of Luke.

“He’s only had seven contests and to be at the stage he’s at is phenomenal. I’ve never had a kid with so little experience go so far.”

Having suffered a setback, O’Reilly would have understood if Ring had wanted to take a period of time away from the sport to gather his thoughts.

But the Mildenhall College Academy pupil has no intention of taking up his coach’s offer.

“He was gutted after the result. It meant an awful lot to him and he put everything into it,” added O’Reilly.

“I said to him that he maybe he should take a break from training, but he just said ‘no chance’.

“That’s the type of attitudes that champions have. They want to keep pushing, they want to keep improving and that is exactly how Luke is.

“He’s got an amazing attitude and temperament – I’ve got no doubt that he will come back from this stronger.

“It obviously hurts but for Luke to have the type of experience he has had at this stage of his boxing career, you can’t beat it.

“He’s taken it all in and he’ll be a better boxer because of it.”