Mali Wright has been quietly getting himself noticed on the amateur boxing scene for several years now. With a 15-2 record at light heavyweight, the 22yr old from Chapeltown, Leeds has a couple more fights to focus on this season before he turns his attention to professional boxing.
Mali was introduced to boxing aged 16. At this time, he was a big fan of weight training but did little in the way of cardio exercise. His friend suggested they introduce more cardio to their regime and so they arrived one evening at Precise Accurate Training for a workout with Nick Manners. Mali remembers “It was so hard, we had to run from the gym into town, then do hill sprints. Nick then told us that was just the warm up! We returned to the gym where I had my first experience of going on the pads – I was no good at all!” As a self- confessed competitive person, Mali didn’t like not being good at something, so he started training at Precise Accurate Training once a week, then twice a week and kept increasing the frequency of his visits as he got more and more hooked.
His hard work and determination paid off and by the age of 19 he had his first fight. He joined the boxing team at Leeds Beckett University where he studied accounting and finance too. He says “I was very nervous before that first fight, but then I knew I had had a great first round and then dropped my opponent in the second. I had only had two fights when I entered the ABA National Championships. I was very much the underdog with my limited experience but I won it!” Mali’s first loss was against a team GB fighter who had the experience of over 60 fights under his belt. Mali said; “Even though I lost this fight it has been incredibly helpful to my career, I have learnt so much from it”.
This month Mali goes into the eliminators for the amateur English title series, he is hoping to go on to win the title before he then turns professional. Nick Manners, who Mali says he sees as a father figure and always turns to for professional advice says “I am really pleased with Mali’s attitude and progression. He will have a few more contests this season before embarking on his professional career alongside the new prospects emerging from the growing stable of Warriorboxing in conjunction with Mannersboxing fighters. With support from experienced coaches Sean O’Hagan, and Jimmy James Harrington from Doncaster Freedom Boxing in addition to myself, the future is certainly very bright for him.”
Mali is enthusiastic for his future career, and the light heavyweight division has always been an exciting one. We wish him all the best and remember – you saw him here first!
For more information on Precise Accurate Training, visit their website www.preciseaccuratetraining.co.uk
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