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Rhys runs his opponents ragged
Rhys Thomas hails from Merlins Bridge in Haverfordwest and the Tasker Milward pupil is soon to seek his second Welsh Amateur Boxing title as reward for all his efforts in the local gymnasium run by Graham Brockway.
At just 13 years of age Rhys is renowned as a dedicated trainer and his efforts are certainly paying off because four evenings of skipping to warm up, circuit training, practising his boxing on the pads, punch bags and speed ball are making him very fit – and allied to his natural boxing skills make him a natural in the ring – but a quiet and modest young feller out of it.
Bonny battler
He is also a battler because after winning all eight of his bouts for a flying start to his boxing career he has lost three out of the last four as he has moved up a level and competed against more experienced boxers. But all three were buy very narrow margins and he rapidly gaining the experience necessary to go on to bigger and better things.
He has already shown his stickability in that time and provided evidence of making the step up by winning his semi-final in this season’s WABA Schoolboy competition so that he now takes on Daniel Gethin of Welshpool in the final at Swansea on March 16th. The pair has never met before so Rhys is eagerly anticipating the competition – and training very hard for it.
Credit from his coach
“I am delighted by Rhys’s approach to our sport,” says Graham Brockway, the coach at Merlins Bridge ABC, “because he sets an example for others coming to join us that hard work pays dividends. Having won his first eight bouts and gained a Welsh title he showed his resilience by battling on after his first defeat and his reward is another final this month. Win or lose, he will keep plugging away and he is a great credit to his family and school.”
Rugby player and hard trainer
Rhys is also a very capable rugby player as a flanker at Haverfordwest RFC where he is coached by Richard Devereaux but it is boxing which is his favourite sport.
“I enjoy the training, especially sparring, and I run loads on the nights when I’m not in the gym. It’s hard work but the nights of the bouts are really exciting and we travel to a lot of places to take part. It is good fun travelling off together and Graham looks after us.”
Talk to Rhys Thomas and one feels he is naturally a quiet lad but put him in the ring and you see a confident, assertive young boxer and we are sure to hear a great deal more yet of this talented young Haverfordian who is already a Welsh champion as proof of his potential.
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