TWO Bradford Police Amateur Boxing Club fighters have made a winning return to the amateur scene, having been out of the gym for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

First up was Adam Samad, who boxed last Friday over in Leeds as a super middleweight.

He produced a successful defence against a quality opponent and received the best boxer of the night award from the judging officials.

Samad is due to turn professional in the new year, after starring as an amateur.

Arsalan Ahmed, who is only 18 years of age, still holds his undefeated record, after stopping his opponent in the second round at the Bradford Hotel on Saturday night.

Ahmed has had three years out of the ring, due to him taking his GCSEs and then the pandemic.

But he is now off to compete in some championship boxing after his win.

The amateur boxing club's head coach Julian Cyprien, who has been part of boxing for over 60 years, says he is simply pleased to see things are getting back to normality.

The club only just managed to hold on to the boxing gym during lockdown, with all the gyms being closed and there being no financial support.

They are therefore delighted with the work of Samad and Ahmed, who stayed focused during those hard times and are now seeing that pay off.

Finally, club coach Mohammed Ali deserves a special mention, as he has put endless hours in taking the boxers around Yorkshire for sparring and opening the gym six nights a week, trying to get the team back to fitness and competition level.

They club say they hope they can encourage more people to attend the gym to stay fit and help battle against any mental health issues.