In early February, two young boxers from Sturminster Newton Boxing Club headed to Rotherham for the England Boxing National Youth Championships 2025. Ruby White, who turned 18 in the week of the competition, and 17-year-old Lexi Phillips both fight out of the North Dorset club – though Lexi is from Poole, travelling three days a week to train there. Despite battling illness in the run-up to the competition, Lexi was determined to step into the ring, says head coach and club owner Shaun Weeks: ‘She’s had shingles, and she’s had a really nasty, flu-virus – she’s really had to dig deep.
‘Ruby had the semi final against a girl from Liverpool, and got a first round stoppage. In the final she boxed Ruby Cuthbertson from District Youth Boxing Club, near Sunderland. Ruby Cuthbertson is also a European champion, so that was a good bout. Our Ruby come out on top on points, but it was a really good contest. It was nice to see her actually get three rounds in – she’s stopped her last nine opponents.
‘In Lexi’s semi final she boxed Sky Smith from Berinsfield, near Oxford, a four-time national champion herself. It was a very good contest, very close. But Lexi came out on top, with a four/one split decision. She then faced Grace Massey in the final, who is a five-time national champion. They’ve boxed twice before, winning one each, so it could have gone either way. Because of her illness, Lexi was exhausted before she even started, but she managed to dig really deep and got a unanimous win from the five judges. Two female England champions in the club – what a weekend! It’s Ruby’s sixth national title, and it was Lexi’s third.’
‘I got in the ring for the semi-final and I didn’t box my best,’ says Ruby. ‘I got the first round stoppage, but it wasn’t a good performance, in my opinion. Then on the Sunday, I boxed the European champion – she was on the England team with me a few years ago, we went to the Europeans together. I won all three rounds and got the decision, but my performance will be better next time: I didn’t box as best as I could. I can only improve on that. But it was a good weekend!
‘Now it’s back in the gym to train for the Four Nations. I’ve had a couple days off, but I’ll be back working very soon – I just need a little bit of rest and recovery at the moment.’
Lexi was open about how she had felt in the run up to the National Youth Championships: ‘Yeah, that wasn’t the best! I’ve been unwell for a good three, four weeks now, and then we found out I had shingles the week before. So my preparation was just about recovering, trying to stay on weight … you can’t train because you’re trying to get better, but then you can’t eat to try and get better! So it was really tough.
‘The semi final was so hard. I found that one the toughest, to be honest, mostly because I knew that I still had to lose weight after it, and not eat a lot, and then go again the next day. But I made it with a four-one split decision, and I still think I won quite well, even though I didn’t box anywhere near my best the whole weekend. For me, it was more about the mental game, getting through it, doing what I had to do to get the win. Sunday, the final, was still tough, but I felt like that was a more comfortable win for me. I felt a lot more positive in the morning because I knew that was the last push, and then I got a nice week off! The dream is to win the Four Nations in May, and then get selected for England performance and hopefully go to Europeans. Simple as that!’
Shaun agrees that the next step for the pair of champions is with the England team, that they will be competing in the Four Nations, held in Cardiff on the weekend of the 31st of May: ‘We’re hoping, off the back of that, maybe Lexi will get picked up and put on the England pathway, that’s the first step for her.’
Boxers are selected for the England Performance Youth Squad by a selection panel, based on their technical and tactical skills, fitness and commitment to the England Boxing values.
From the England Performance squad, Lexi would potentially be selected for the Europeans and join her clubmate, Ruby.
