Wolves ABC welcome first Olympian

Wolverhampton amateur boxing club opened their doors to their newest Olympian this week - and one fighter has even come out of retirement to aid their cause.

The club will be welcoming boxers from the Commonwealth of Dominica to their base at Horseley Fields before they head to London for the Olympics.

And the first one to arrive for training in the Black Country is light middleweight Lucian Hewlett, from the nation's capital of Roseau.

The 26-year-old won his country's Golden Gloves championships in 2010 and is being put up in Bilston, by local businessman Andrew Pettey.

Hewlett will be in the same ring where Amir Khan got ready for the Games after he gave it to the club, who have produced two Olympians themselves.

Phil Edwards will be his one-to-one trainer in the gym until the Dominican leaves at the end of April, to join up with the rest of the team in Brazil.

And Edwards has drafted in Richie Carter, former pro and national amateur champion, to help him prepare their star guest for the Games.

The two Wolverhampton fighters go back over 30 years on the Black Country boxing scene and the 48-year-old is glad of the help.

Edwards said: "Two heads are better than one and, hopefully, Lucian can learn a lot from both me and Richie.

"It's more to help the lad, because Richie was a good pro fighter with a lot of experience.

"It's a pleasure to be training a kid that is going to the Olympics, going there is a big thing in boxing.

"For everyone at the club, it's a big boost."

For Carter, stepping back through the ropes with the Olympian this week was a real blast from the past.

The 41-year-old hadn't laced up a glove since retiring from the pro game in 1992, where he won 10 out of 12 contests.

It's now 25 years since Carter donned the vest and headguard to win a junior ABA title in 1987.

Carter had previously reached an ABA Schoolboys final in 1984 but boxing had been in his blood long before.

His dad, Alan, used to run the now-extinct Bilston Golden Gloves club and the family could soon be back in amateur boxing full-time.

Carter got the green light this week to press on with plans to open his own club, on the grounds of Essington Community Centre.

Councillor David Clifft has been a driving force behind the project and the club could even be open by the time the Olympics are over.

Until then, Carter is back at Wolverhampton ABC working with the Dominicans and he believes he's got his love for boxing back again.

He said: "I have been in the wilderness but I have got the buzz back now and it hasn't took me long to get back into it.

"I first started boxing at the age of nine and I believe there's nothing that I don't know about this game.

"I have been down here getting my hand back in and it's blown the rust of me, the best thing to do is to get a feel for it again.

"There is only Wolverhampton ABC in the city now but I am not in competition with them, I will be doing my own thing.

"I will want to have the best gym going, I am pretty competitive like that, and I will want to have some good kids come out of there.

"With the Olympics coming, as well, it's the right time, all of the kids will want to become boxers after that."