Hi, my name is Clyde Mcintosh and this is my story of how I got into Boxing…

I was born in St. Thomas, Jamaica and came to England at the age of 6. My family were located in Coventry. At junior and senior school I was very sporty and played many sports. Football along with long distance running were my favourites, even though I loved boxing I never had any thoughts of taking up the sport.

While at senior school I was approached by a couple of my friends who were attending boxing training at the Bell Green Boxing club to join them so I did. My first training session at the age of 13 was an eye opener and could not believe how hard it was but with my fighting spirit I kept attending. It was a privilege to be working with some great boxers i.e. Achille Speedy Mitchell, Jim McDermott, Dev Barrett and Dave Heath who were an integral part of my early boxing career.

Most of my early bouts were wins but also a few defeats that made me train even harder and my determination to get to the top was relentless

Between the ages of 14/16 I was doing well reaching quarter & semi-finals of the National Junior Championships which was very disappointing for me just missing out.  For the next few years I competed really well but also suffered from hand injuries which held me back.

In 1981 I achieved a long unbeaten run and along the way had victories against England Internationals Fred Brazil, John Bibby, Steve Ellwood, Wayne Green and future British Champions Tony McKenzie & Peter Till.  

I also entered the ABA Championships for the first time and reached the semi-finals losing out to Peter Ammed, very disappointed but my sights were set on winning the tittle the following year. I did have a pleasant surprise when I was called up for my England Debut which was in Stockholm, Sweden and it was a victory against O. Bengtsson.  

1982 was a good year with another long run of victories and this time reaching the ABA Finals at Wembley but was narrowly beaten by the Londoner Tony Adams. I was though selected to represent England in the Commonwealth Games In Brisbane reaching the semi–finals and winning a Bronze medal.  

I was part of a great England boxing team and the first ever to win medals at every weight at the games. The team was now the elite squad training for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, says head coach Kevin Hickey.  Some of the lads stayed amateur, others went professional and I missed the games due to injury.

I had some very good offers to go professional but decided against turning pro but trained to be a leisure leader then developed into a Sports Development Officer for the local Authority whilst taking my ABA boxing coaching qualifications to improve my coaching.

I am a dynamic, performance driven health and fitness professional with extensive experience of over 20yrs working in the area of boxing and health promotion & development. I have practical experience in planning and implementing one to one and group training sessions for a variety of clienteles  working to strict scheduling, ensuring that safety, quality and the legalities of the task are met.

My passion is to ensure that all my clients are given the correct guidance & support to reach their own maximum potential.