And we have a winner! MET student wins National Boxing Championship A Brighton MET student has taken gold in a national boxing championship.

Andrew Gardener, 16, won the gold medal at the National Development Boxing Championships, held in Cannock, Stratford earlier this month.

He was modest about his win, simply saying: “It feels amazing to have won – it feels like my hard work has paid off.”

Andrew boxes and competes at Worthing ABC, who have done a fantastic job in pushing him to excel and get him a national title. He also studies the level 3 Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) at Brighton MET’s East Campus – one of a number of England Boxing bases across the country.

Andrew explained that he decided to take up boxing, following in the footsteps of his dad and older brothers. He said: “Boxing runs in my family and it seemed like the perfect sport for me to do.”

This nationally recognised boxing academy at Brighton MET has produced boxers, that have competed and won regional, national and international titles, such as Andrew himself. He explained how he had seen other boxers in his gym, that he had “heard good things” previously about the course, and that this was what made him decide to take the course.  

He also said: “The course has helped me look at boxing in a different way. It’s helped me to improve my fitness, training routines, and improve my overall professionalism.

“The best thing the amount of sparring on offer, and the various different types of people we can spar with.”

Andrew’s revealed that one day would like to box for England one day, and that this is his end goal. 

When asked if he had any advice for any potential boxers out there, he simply replied “just give it a try”, and also stressed, “you do have to put 100 per cent effort into it”. 

Since 2010 England Boxing has been running Live Boxing Events at their various bases. In these events young boxers from across the country box along with some students taking the DiSE course.

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