Boxer's a knockout at college

20th April 2015

Lightweight boxing champ, Kevin Mitchell, took time out of his busy training schedule to put Barking & Dagenham College?s sports studies students through their paces recently. Kevin, who has won the British super-featherweight title and the Commonwealth belt, also achieved the WBC silver lightweight title earlier this year.

He is now in training for his forthcoming fight against Venezuelan champion Jorge Linares at the O2 in London on 30th May for his chance to win the WBC lightweight world title.

As part of their course, the sports studies students are learning about the principles of boxing training so they were delighted when Kevin could join them to give them some hints and tips. During his visit, Kevin showed them some basic footwork, body positioning and techniques.

Kevin also got the chance to look at the students own boxing skills and immediately talent spotted Aiden Morgan, 18, from Dagenham who is joining the Army in September. Being spotted by a world class boxer was a big boost to Aiden, who commented:

“It was an honour to have someone of his calibre coming in to teach us. Kevin is a great guy, he gave us some pointers on our training, and overall it was a brilliant experience. I’m now thinking about going to the same gym in Dagenham as Kevin to do some boxing training.”

Kevin was asked to visit the College by one of the students, Karen Boxall, from Dagenham. Karen, who wants to be a personal trainer after she qualifies next year said:

“It was a real boost for us all to get some tips from Kevin and it will keep us all motivated to keep learning. He was a really nice person, very polite
and helpful. We were pleased he could come along many of the students were pretty star struck too, he’s a big name in boxing!”

Kevin said:

"It was great to be able to visit Barking & Dagenham College and meet all the students. They were really interested in finding out about boxing and we were able to go through a few key techniques which will help them in their studies."

The visit was a huge success, and it is hoped that in the future Kevin may be able to work with the students in a regular series of classes.