UCB Boxing Academy star Carl Fail has been talent-spotted for Olympic glory after striking gold at the prestigious Tri Nations championship.
Carl鈥檚 triumph for England, beating two Scottish fighters on their home territory, means he is Britain鈥檚 top amateur welterweight, a remarkable achievement for a 19-year-old.
The victory in Dunfermline followed Carl鈥檚 success just a few weeks earlier at the England Boxing Elite National Championships 2016. Now his meteoric rise has been rewarded with a coveted place on the GB Podium Potential Team for the 2020 Tokyo Games, meaning top coaches believe Carl has what it takes to be the best of the best in Japan.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a dream come true. I have dreamed about being on the GB team since I was a kid,鈥� said Carl, who has just completed his BTEC Level 3 Sport Performance and Excellence Diploma at UCB.
As a member of the UCB Boxing Academy, Carl also studied an NVQ Diploma in Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance.
He will get to spar with boxers undergoing intense training for this summer鈥檚 2016 Rio Olympics, gaining invaluable competition insights as he plots his progress towards Tokyo.
鈥淚t will be a great experience for me to work with the Olympic team. I will learn so much,鈥� said Carl, from Far Cotton, Northampton.
The fighter is poised to sign a four-year contract to train alongside the nation鈥檚 most talented sportsmen and women at Sheffield鈥檚 English Institute of Sport, home to the GB Boxing Olympic programme.
Carl, who started boxing when he was 11, has clocked up a total of 43 wins with just six defeats and only had his first senior fight in March. He said: 鈥淚 believe if I perform at my best I can beat anyone but it is all about gaining experience. I will keep listening to my coaches. By 2020, I will be at the Olympics to win it, not just complete.鈥�
He paid tribute to the support and coaching he has received at UCB Boxing Academy and said the Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance programme had boosted his progress immeasurably. 鈥淚t is all about learning to be a good technical boxer. I have trained really hard and put a lot of hard work in,鈥� said Carl, whose younger brother Aaron, 18, is a fellow member of the Academy.
鈥淭here is a lot of sacrifice along the way. This year I have missed a lot of my friends鈥� 18th聽birthday parties and family parties to concentrate on my boxing.鈥�
Carl said he dedicated his achievements to his father, Mark, who died in 2012. His mother Barbara is a 鈥渕assive support and does everything she can for me and my brothers.鈥澛�
The UCB Boxing Academy, run in partnership with England Boxing, is the only one of its type in the West Midlands. It allows elite fighters to combine college studies with the tuition and training required to reach the top of the sport.
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽For more information about UCB鈥檚 Boxing Academy, go to: http://www.ucb.ac.uk/our-courses/college-courses/sport/boxing-academy-advanced-apprenticeship-in-sporting-excellence(aase).aspx
