Revenge is a dish best tasted cold - ask Zak Chelli from Hammersmith.
The 75kgs junior boxer has had to bide his time to get one over Ben Whittaker since Chelli’s controversial defeat to the West Midlands fighter in the National Youth Championships in February, previously the Junior ABA’s.
The 17-year-old west Londoner got it at the weekend in Rotherham when he toppled Whittaker to become the Great Britain Three-Nations champion.
By a quirk of fate, all three team captains were in the 75kgs category, equivalent to middleweight. Chelli got a unanimous decision over Kyran Jones from Wales in the semi-final, while Whittaker beat Willie Hutchinson for Scotland - the current European Champion.
Chelli took centre stage, literally, in the final and landed shots that drove Whittaker into the corners.
“I got massive praise from the England coaches who deemed I gave the best performance among all boxers in the championship,” said Chelli after his unanimous win.
"Since my performance on Saturday Boxing News magazine and two other reporters have contacted my club asking for an interview.
“But getwestlondon has followed me since I started in the sport and I like the way you write so I am happy to talk to you. "
The teenager reckoned this week at school held more fears than a dozen Whittakers in a row.
Chelli added: “I’d rather do another fight than a maths test that’s facing me.”
