Interview
Alanna boxes for Northern Ireland
as well as the Army, and this year she
was crowned the first-ever female
team captain on the Army team
– a role that Chez had previously
held for the 2015-16 season.
We do bring the best out of each other”
he says. “Boxing can be a lonely kind of
sport and when you’ve got your other half
who totally understands the lifestyle and
lives it as well, it’s definitely a big help.
One way and another, the past year has
been a great time of reaping rewards for
hard work. Having clocked up 12 wins
in a row, and having not lost a fight in
over a year, Chez says he was beginning
to get a good feeling about finally
being within reach of his dream title.
Having won the annual Combined
Services title for a sixth time and receiving
the belt to keep, he progressed once
again into the ABA Championship
at London’s York Hall in April – and
this was his year to achieve the long-
held dream, as he finally carried
off the ABA’s English Elite title.
Winning the ‘big three’ title belts in
amateur boxing left Chez with a big
decision about where to aim next:
as he says, it was a choice between
hanging up his boxing gloves
altogether, or going professional – and
he’s decided on the latter option.
Now based in Aldershot and training at a
professional gym in Guildford around his
Army routine, he’ll be aiming for national
pro titles - but he’s typically realistic about
Receiving a framed Army Boxing team
vest for six years of service to Army Boxing
from Army head coach James Allen (left)
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Chez and his wife Alanna getting
married at Gretna Green, 2017
the hard work that lies ahead of him:
“I’ve had 67 amateur fights and have
won the majority of them” he says, “but
once I turn professional, I’ll be starting
at the bottom again, as a novice pro”.
However, he’s already proved that
hard work doesn’t faze him: “Anything
that I set my mind to, I will always put
my all into it” he says. “I hope to have
my pro debut by the end of the year,
and reckon I’ve probably got a five or
six year window to make my mark”.
Meanwhile, Chez will be representing
a new regiment when he next enters
the boxing ring - the 27 Regiment
Royal Logistic Corps to which he was
recently transferred from the PWRR.
He paid special tribute to his old
Army head coach Jason Browring,
who he says has been ‘a huge driving
force’ in his boxing success to date.
“I joined the Army as a club show brawler
with a 50-50 record but Jason’s coaching
made me into team captain and took
me up to Super Heavyweight” he says.
“The Army has really brought me on, and
brought out the best in me as an athlete.”
Another person who he credits with
having been a huge influence on
his success is his mum Jo – always
supportive, but never more so than
when she helped care for his children
Molly May and son Sonny, now six, while
he was away on Ops in Afghanistan.
Chez and Alanna visit the Island
every month and both love catching
up with family and friends and
winding down on Ryde beach.
“I feel lucky to have my roots here”
says Chez, “and I never take home
and family for granted, because
they’ve always been there for me.”