Interview
Work-life balance
Life was busy on all fronts after Chez became a first-time dad at the age of 21 , to daughter Molly May . By this time , he was working as a self-employed builder and juggling home life and gym training . “ Life was good , I was earning good money – but when I talked to guys in their 50s who were still working on the building sites , I began to ask myself if this was where I saw myself at that age ” The answer was clearly a ‘ no ’ – especially after Chez talked to his brother , who had joined the Army at 16 . “ I saw the training Leon was getting and the way his horizons had been widened by getting off the Island ” says Chez , “ and I finally took the leap and joined the Army in March 2011 ”. After basic training in Catterick he joined the 1st Battalion Princess of Wales ’ s Royal Regiment as an Infantryman , and
following an initial posting in Germany , he was called up for five months of frontline action in Afghanistan over Christmas 2011 and into the following year . It proved a worrying time for his parents , particularly as brother Leon was also serving in the battle zone , with a different company . “ It was certainly a different kind of Christmas and New Year ” says Chez , “ but that was part of the reason I ’ d joined up – to get a different kind of life experience ”. He came out of Afghanistan with a service medal , of which he says he ’ s “ extremely proud ”. Of course another big reason for joining the Army was to benefit from the legendary boxing training it offers . He was soon spending hours at the Battalion ’ s boxing gym with his head coach Cpl . Gavin Taylor , and having already clocked up over 20 fights as a civilian , Chez was given a week of
trials for the Gold Squad Army boxing team , and was selected to begin the new season in September 2012 .
Full-time passion
At that point he became a so-called ‘ tracksuit soldier ’ - posted away from his Regiment to concentrate fulltime on boxing – and over the past six years , he steadily progressed from Army level to representing England . He ’ s managed to win the Combined Services Championship every year since 2013 ( which means he gets to keep the belt ) - but was constantly frustrated at falling short of winning the higher level ABA Championship title , which always remained his biggest dream . “ That was always the big one for me ” he said . “ I ’ d reached the quarter-finals twice , the semi-finals twice , and the final once . So every year I ’ d been on the Army boxing
Chez , his wife Alanna and children Molly May ( 9 ) and Sonny ( 6 ) after completing the 2017 IOW Marathon fund-raising for SOBS charity in memory of his late childhood best friend Sam Perkis .
Derek Wolfe and Andy Porter with Chez and his English title belt at the IOW sports awards , Medina , just before being awarded Isle of Wight sportsman of the year 2016 .
Chez , his mother Jo Wingate and his youngest brother Safro Wingate after he ran the IW marathon
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