Chesterfield boxer to fight Olympian

Jade Ashmore, 19, has been invited on an all-expenses-paid trip to the country to fight Mandy Bujold, 30, who finished fifth in the Rio games last summer.

The Canadian’s coach sees rising star Ashmore as having the potential to challenge his athlete so contacted her on social media to issue the invitation. The teenage England international was thrilled to accept and flies out to Canada to fight her host before spending a week at a training camp with the Canadian team.

“It is a great opportunity for me to test myself against a senior international,” said Ashmore, who is studying to become a gym instructor at Bradford College, which has a dedicated boxing gym and counts double Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams among its former students.

“She is far more experienced than I am. She has had hundreds of senior bouts whereas I have had less than 10 so it will be really good to see where I am compared to her.

“I am really looking forward to the camp too. It will be good to hear from other coaches and be a good test of how I adapt to being in a different country, in a different environment out of my comfort zone. It will also be excellent preparation for the Elite National Championships which take place at London’s York Hall at the end of April.”

Ashmore, who has already landed titles and medals at English, British and European levels, was contacted via Facebook while on a Great Britain assessment camp at the English Institute Of Sport in Sheffield. She is set to learn soon whether she impressed enough on that camp to be called into the national development squad which would essentially make her a full-time athlete.

“If I make the squad I would attend the Institute of Sport eight days a month for intense training and development.”