A teenage boxer from Carlisle received the exciting news last week that he has been offered the chance to train with England Boxing at their headquarters in Sheffield. 

Johnpaul Miller started boxing with Carlisle Villa Amateur Boxing Club when he was just nine and endured a difficult start to life in the ring. 

However, he has come on leaps and bounds in the past year and recently won a silver medal at the Schools Championships, where he would defeat last year's champion in the semi-finals before narrowly losing out on a decision in the final. 

After a fantastic season, the 13-year-old will now have the opportunity to impress some of the country's best boxing scouts when he travels to Sheffield for the first training camp later this month. 

One of Johnpaul's coaches at Carlisle Villa ABC said:

"The improvement he’s had this year has been fantastic. He will go down to Sheffield for a couple of hours each month to be assessed. He will be put in with his peers doing sparring and tech work. The England coaches will have a look at him for potential competitions.

"If he impresses he will then be selected to represent England at something like the tri-nations, where a number of countries come together to have a mini-tournament."

Johnpaul is quickly emerging as one of the brightest young boxing talents in the county and he is a testament to what hard work and commitment can achieve, after struggling in his first few years at the club.

Carlisle Villa ABC said: "When he did start boxing, he didn’t have the best of times. He lost more than he won. But this year he’s just excelled. That’s all down to himself really.

"Just applying himself to the training, listening to what the coaches are saying, and then doing the business in the ring."