COLCOT amateur boxer Maredudd Thomas in only his first year as an elite boxer saw off the best of Wales in the Welsh Elite men’s championships held over the last month at various venues across Wales.

Entering the 64kg (light welter) category, Maredudd faced strong opposition along the way in the early stages against David Stansfield (Chepstow) winning by unanimous points decision and again with the highly rated Lance Cooksey (Pontypridd) in which was worthy of a final bout in its self, taking the win by a close split decision.

Gavin Gwynne (Trelewis) stood in the 18-year-olds way for the final to be crowned champion at 64kg.

The first round saw Thomas re-open a cut from a previous round above Gwynne’s eye and Thomas took advantage of his faster jabs and footwork to outbox his opponent in the opener and continued to through the second.

The third was a slugfest from the two boxers as both had given everything they had in the previous two rounds, and although the Colcot coaches had thought their boy had done enough to win the Trelewis boxer's hand was raised by a split decision.

Maredudd has been boxing since the age of 12 at the Colcot boxing club at Colcot Sports Centre in Barry. The club has been running since the 80s and has seen hundreds of boxers - if not thousands - through its doors over the years and boasts a current 30 strong squad under head coach Wayne Gurd and coach's Lee Froud, Martin Day and Kevin Gillen.

The club has seen its fair share of champions over the years and is continually growing in size with boxing classes starting from nine years old. If anybody is interested in the club then contact the gym secretary on 07875 234140.