South Durham took two boxers to Shildon ABC where Mark Dawes boxed P Boyle from Halfpenny ABC and Dawes won on points.

Another South Durham boxer, John Freeman, boxed P Hamson from Horsley Hill ABC and although Hamson was a game opponent he wasn't a match for Freeman's accurate jabs which earned him the best boxer of the evening.

A few days later coach Jeff Saunders took Dawes to Bonnierigg in Scotland for a North-East Select v Scottish Select. Dawes faced G Clark, a rough opponent, but once again Dawes won on points.

Jeff Saunders has since taken son Bradley to Poland to take part in a Ten Nations Tournament. Bradley got to the semi-finals, winning comfortably and then the following day he boxed a Polish opponent in the final but going into the fourth round he was four points down. However, something clicked with Bradley and Jeff said he boxed like he'd never seen him box before, winning the contest by eight clear points and earning him the gold medal for England.

There's a lot of travelling to do over the next month, including the Junior Championships in Korea in June 2004, but this is what Bradley has been trained for.

Saunders would like to thank his main sponsor, For Your Eyes Only of Newcastle for their sponsorship they gave to him on his trip to Poland.