Niall Adams is going all out and even taking a month off work to maximise preparations for his Commonwealth Games bow.
Fresh from striking gold at the Ed Bilbey Box Cup in Nottingham, the resurgent boxer will be going into Glasgow 2026 with big ambitions.
‘It makes me extremely proud,’ he said of his selection for Team Guernsey only shortly after returning from a four-year break from the ring.
‘Hopefully I can bring a medal back.’
Adams had made his amateur debut just over 10 years ago and turned heads with his impressive win-streak, but he stepped away while the sport was still finding its feet again after Covid lockdown.
His impactful return to the ring started with a unanimous-decision victory against Hakeem Niwaz at 65kg in this February’s Dinner Boxing Show.
He achieved his Commonwealths selection the following month and has not eased off since, including headlining April’s Dinner Boxing with another unanimous win.
But his victory in the Senior A 60kg category at the recent Ed Bilbey Box Cup marked a real milestone in his comeback.
‘It feels like it’s going well, confidence-wise,’ he said.
‘The training’s coming together, I’m putting in the work, and it’s a nice boost, especially because it was good competition.’
The RAF’s Jaydon Johnson had fought over 50 times at amateur level and won the majority, but the resurgent Guernsey star made relatively light work of him for a 4-1 split decision.
He secured the title with a 3-2 split over Sheffield City’s Henry Cooper – who so happens to share a name with the boxing titan who held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles for 12 years.
‘It’s been a real confidence boost doing that – winning away.’
Adams had conviction that he had put in the winning performance, even when fine margins had been involved.
‘Sometimes ... because it’s their home town and stuff, I’ve been away and losing on a 3-2 split or something.
‘But I knew I’d won, for sure.
‘I was confident in the wins, because I’m a hard critic on myself and if I don’t think I’ve won, I’ll be like, yeah, “work harder”.’
Beyond getting him back on the road, the Box Cup enabled him to re-familiarise himself with the lightweight class that he will be contesting in Glasgow, having shed plenty of pounds since picking up the sport again.
‘That was a nice warm-up at that weight again.
‘I haven’t been 60kg since I think it was six, seven years ago.
‘Coming from seven months ago, I was 75kg. I’ve come back down for it.
‘I’m feeling really strong at this weight, carrying the power with me down from my higher weight.
‘The diet’s been on point and that’s the main thing for me, no slacking off.’
Adams’ commitment will only pick up further in the approach to the Games, for he will be temporarily putting aside the building and plastering of his day job for more hours in his sport.
‘I’ll be taking the whole of the next month off so I can train twice a day. I’m going to proper go all out for this one.
‘I want to be the fittest I possibly can be to do it.’
To finally represent Guernsey on the Commonwealth Games stage feels ‘overwhelming’.
That is according to Tommy Teers, who had been in the equation for Birmingham 2022 selection but is only now making his debut four years on.
‘I didn’t actually realise how big it was of an event,’ the 28-year-old said.
‘It’s just the hard work over the continuous years of boxing that’s led me to get here.
‘So I wouldn’t be here without the hard work that I’ve put in, even though it’s got harder and harder as the years get on.
‘I’m not the youngest of the fighters in there, so it’s good, exciting, a bit scary, but once you’re in there, the prep’s got to be good. Yeah, I’ve just got to believe in myself.’
Teers will be fighting in the bantamweights, or 55kg, and has in recent years faced England’s and Scotland’s leading boxers in the category.
When still relatively new to the sport, he reached the final of the 2021 National Development Championships as the island’s most promising emerging boxer, renowned for his swiftness and impressive work rate.
He had been among the top elite seeds at the following year’s National Amateur Championships but missed out over illness.
But hearing from Guernsey’s original Commonwealths boxer Billy Le Poullain, who competed at both Birmingham 2022 and Gold Coast 2018, has helped build excitement for when he does finally step into that ring.
‘That’s when I was like, “this is kind of a big deal”, because obviously he’s been there twice now, and he said it’s just ridiculous compared to what we’re used to,’ Teers added.
‘It will be an experience, that’s for sure, and I’m looking forward to it.’
In the meantime, he has been putting in the ‘non-stop training’.
Teers is hoping that it pays off and he can punch above his weight against the Commonwealth’s best, perhaps coming away with a medal.
‘It’s a puncher’s chance, so I’m lucky enough to have that get-out-of-jail card where I can stop people.
‘That’s what I’m looking for.’
However, as he steps out onto the biggest stage of his career so far, he will have even greater things on his mind for the future.
‘I would love to turn professional, because I think it would be more suited to me in that style.
‘The amateur is very quick and it is a young man’s sport, especially at the weight I am.
‘It’s just short and snappy, where I want to stand in front of someone and have a fight.
‘That doesn’t happen much in the amateurs, especially at my weight class, so I think after this it will be to the professional ranks for sure.’
The Glasgow 2026 boxing events will take place at the Scottish Event Campus’ hall five, which offers a capacity of around 4,000, between 24 July and 1 August.
