‘Assassin’ Billy making history
BILLY LE POULLAIN will fight for a National Amateur Championships elite title this weekend – becoming Guernsey’s first-ever finalist in the event.
The ‘Alderney assassin’ qualified via a double triumph at 75kg in Staffordshire, notably causing a dramatic first-round stoppage against a well-regarded opponent in a quarter-final that, like the rest of the weekend’s bouts, was captured by national television cameras.
His quarter-final triumph came against England representative and current London champion Jimmy Sains, who had previously won multiple youth titles.
There were 40 seconds left in round one when Le Poullain walked his Repton-based opponent onto a right-hand punch that caused his legs to buckle.
Sains came back from an eight count only for Le Poullain to pounce on him, landing a succession of blows and forcing the referee to stop the contest just seconds after it had restarted.
‘To win like that in the quarters and on national TV is a great achievement for Billy,’ Guernsey Amalgamated Boxing Club head coach Ben Duff commented after watching in person, though the event is now viewable both on England Boxing’s YouTube channel and BBC iPlayer.
Le Poullain then edged the Southern Areas champion, Joel Bartell of Guildford ABC, in a semi-final that came down to a 3-2 split decision.
Bartell just kept coming forward and Le Poullain had to dig deep, but he put in a very determined performance in round three to get the nod.
Le Poullain will do battle with Great Britain top seed Ramtin Musah in Saturday’s final, while Amalgamated BC colleague Tommy Teers faces Acocks Green’s Jaden Cayenne for the Senior Development 52kg final that same day, with both bouts taking place in East London.
Teers won his development semi-final on a unanimous decision against the London champion, Abu Hassan of Earlsfield ABC.
The young Guernseyman landed the cleaner and more eye-catching punches while doing a good job of evading to get the decision from all five judges.
