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Rising boxing star aiming for more national glory

º£½ÇÖ±²¥ Boxing star Louis Cunningham is hoping to secure his first title of 2014 when he competes in a national event.

Louis is fighting in the BUCS Gatorade Nationals, which take place in Sheffield from 21 to 23 February. The event will see almost 6,000 student athletes from 130 universities compete in 11 different sports for national honours. And Louis, who claimed BUCS Gatorade Nationals glory twice in 2011, is going all out to win.

The light middleweight fighter said: 'I’m going there to win – I’m totally focussed and it’s always nice to get a title. My dad is my coach and he’s a former champion and he has pushed me really hard.'

Louis is studying MSc Strength and Conditioning at º£½ÇÖ±²¥. He is also on the elite athlete scheme which enables him to access state of the art facilities and equipment and benefit from a comprehensive support package at the University, including physiological and biomechanical assessment and training support, monitoring of training loads, strength and conditioning, physiotherapy and sports psychology support.

The elite athlete scheme is open to athletes at international level, or with exceptional international potential. As well as access to all the facilities, it also offers specialist coaching and mentoring from experts at the University.

Louis, who started boxing when he was 13 and is a member of Wellington Amateur Boxing Club, is striving to secure a place in the Great Britain team for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

He said: 'Obviously I want to go pro but first I want to travel the world as a British Olympian.'

'My main goal is to win the Amateur Boxing Association Championships and the Commonwealth Games. Winning the BUCS will be the start and I’m confident of doing it.'

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