Light welterweight boxer and Olympic contender Bradley Saunders sparred against Setanta Sports News presenter Andy Kerr when the pair went 12 rounds at a gym in Durham last week. Andy, who was left with a broken thumb, is a boxing fanatic and holds a British Boxing Board of Control MC Licence. He regularly works as a ring announcer on the north east boxing circuit, where he first met Bradley..
Andy said:
“Bradley has been tipped as ‘one to watch’ at this summer’s games. He has a great track record and qualified for Beijing back in November. That really says something about his standing in the sport.”
Andy spent the day training with 20 year-old Bradley, who pushed the TV presenter through a five mile run before putting the gloves on.
Bradley’s trainer and dad, Geoff, started Andy off on a single pad, working on his reach and jab.
Geoff said:
“Andy needs to work on his defensive technique more than anything; strengthening his hands down, a nice tight guarding technique, moving between shots and stepping back. That’s basic stuff that a lot of lads would pick up naturally.”
“Andy did OK for someone that’s only been in the ring for two minutes.”
A battered and bruised Andy said:
“I didn’t get anywhere near him. I didn’t hit him once. There are no words for that!
“I can’t box. I was absolutely pasted.”
With only 71 days left until this summer’s games Bradley is confident he can overcome a hand injury that has dogged him. He said:
“It feels a lot better. I’ve had two operations. After the first operation I was left with an infection, so I had to have another one. That set me back along time.”
Bradley is one of only a handful of Britons to win a medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships, and he has a real chance of a podium finish in China come August.
Bradley said:
“The emotion [of winning] would be unbelievable wouldn’t it?
“When I won the bronze [at the world championships] it was something else. I didn’t know what to do. I would have settled for qualifying, but I went one step further and won a bronze medal.
“Nothing separates the top ten in the world, nothing at all.”