Black Country boys’ big adventure
Thursday 28th October 2010, 8:00AM BST.
A trio of Black Country kickboxers will be gunning for glory on a global stage when they head to the ISKA World Championship in Spain next week.
Cannock’s Aaron Watkinson, Dudley’s Paul Smith and Bloxwich’s Mark Boot will form part of Team GB flying out next Tuesday.
They will spend five days in Alicante for the tournament, as part of two fighters per weight chosen for the team.
Watkinson is the heaviest of the three at 71kg, Smith a touch lighter at 67kg while Boot pitches in at 57kg.
All three are trained by Martin Cope at the Eclipse gym in Bloxwich and are first degree black belts.
Only Smith is into double figures for professional fights, but they will now be propelled onto the world stage in one of the toughest tournaments going.
Their Team GB tracksuits arrived at the weekend for the trip, with Watkinson confident the Black Country boys can do their country proud in Alicante.
He said: “It’s a privilege, it’s the first time any of us have ever done anything like this but I really think all three of us have got a good chance of coming back with something, because technically we are very good fighters.
“I am not nervous yet, Mark is a little bit but Paul’s experienced enough to take it in his stride – whether that will be the case on the plane I don’t know!
“Any of us could end up fighting the best in the world but we want to test ourselves, we will fight anyone.
“If you fight the best and win, what an achievement that would be.”
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