Hurley: Boxing is the only time I feel alive!
Hurley (third from left, next to Wayne Elcock) with fellow gym mates
THE good former outstanding champ Wayne Elcock has done for his fighter Elliot Hurley extends far beyond boxing.
Without Wayne, the Chelmsley Wood light-welter faced a very dark future, that may well have included prison sentences.
Elliot was sent to one of Wayne’s boxing programmes for troubled youngsters when arrested at the age of 10. It ignited a passion for the sport that has kept the now 24-year-old on the straight and narrow and led him to become a professional fighter.
Elcock is still a constant in Elliot’s life. He was there for his entire amateur career and now manages and trains him in the pro ranks.
On June 10, at Solihull’s Planet Ice, Hurley – and aggressive, come forward fighter – has his third paid bout and is out to right what he perceives as a wrong.
He’s rematched with Lee Hallett who held him to a draw over four rounds in May.
Elliot is a young man with a story to tell.
He said: “My dad passed away when I was 10 and I went off the rails. I was being a naughty little shit, got arrested and they gave me an option – join Wayne’s programme for naughty children or go to a youth offenders centre, I think they call it.
“I’ve only ever boxed for Wayne. I was his first boxer and when I started he was still professional, so the professional style is all I know. As an amateur, I used to pick my shots.
“I always wanted to box. It’s the only thing I’m good at, to be fair. It’s the only time I feel alive. I’m very attacking, punch hard for my weight – I don’t mind getting in there and having a go. I want to get to lightweight.”
Elliot won his debut, against Paul Scaife, on points, then came the draw with Hallett. He has no complaints about the decision.
“My first fight was quite good,” he said. “It was a good performance. My second one, I didn’t have a very good camp, had to lose a bit of weight and I thought I was being clever by doing it by not eating rather than the right way.
“I lacked conditioning in the last two rounds. I should’ve beat him and I really want to make a statement next time we meet.”
He added: “I think I can go quite far, Wayne thinks I can go very far. I’m taking one step at a time.”
What Eliot can achieve is a matter of debate and it is much too early to make predictions.
Whether he has a belt strapped round his waist or not, the man is – thanks to Wayne Elcock – a walking, talking example of boxing’s ability to put youngsters on the right path in life.