Hakeem Abdullah named Northern Area Junior Thai Boxing champion in his final junior fight

Date published: 21 November 2023

Impact Gym’s Hakeem Abdullah has been named the Northern Area Junior Thai Boxing champion in his last fight as a junior competitor.

Hakeem won the title after beating Cobie Tomlinson, who trains at IJ’s Gym in Radcliffe, in Ashton Under Lyne on 12 November.

The judges scored the fight of five one-minute rounds a draw but since a draw is not recognised in title fights, it took the referee's scorecard to separate them.

Jaman Chowdhury, head coach of Impact, said Hakeem had “worked really hard” ahead of the match, which was a rematch after a fight during the summer.

He said: “The promoter wanted a rematch, so we thought ‘let’s ask for a title fight’ and it was approved.

“Hakeem knew his opponent was going to be ready for a challenging fight and it was game on for both sides.”

Jaman continued: “Once they were both in the ring, we could see this was going to light a fire – you could feel the tension in the room!

“During the first round, Hakeem was playing around with his opponent to find out what he had learned and what new techniques he had so he could plan accordingly.

“Once shots and kicks started flying about, Hakeem knew he needed to either tire or KO his opponent to win.

“The last round was hit and miss, as both of them were getting tired.”

Hakeem, who is in Year 11, will now be taking a break from fighting until he completes his GCSE exams next summer.