By James Bovington
Bad Company Thai Boxing Gym is hosting an open day at their new premises in Bramley next Sunday.
Owners Richard Smith and his wife Lisa Houghton-Smith are inviting local people to ‘come and see our state-of-the-art facilities.’
“Visitors can expect to see our fighters training and sparring and get the chance to chat with them over refreshments or while touring the facilities,” said Lisa.
“We relocated to Bramley three months ago and we’ve quickly got up and running. We offer a range of classes for different age groups and welcome everyone whether an individual wants to compete or just improve fitness.
“Muay Thai training is where we specialise, but we also offer BJJ, MMA and now also grappling and wrestling. We’ll have a few competitions with Gym King vouchers up for grabs.”
Bad Company’s reputation for producing fighters who consistently win was underlined just last Saturday when competitors from the Leeds club were victorious on a Manchester show themed as ‘The Last Dance’ promoted by Hitman Fight League (HFL).
Liam Harrison, trained by Richard Smith for 25 years and one of HFL’s owners, beat Spanish champion Isaac Araya for the prestigious WBC Muay Thai Diamond belt held by only ten fighters worldwide.
Harrison dominated the fight in front of a crowd three thousand strong to earn a third-round stoppage with his signature low kicks.
Horsforth’s 18-year-old fighter Fergus Smith stopped his England teammate and close friend Joe le Maire in the final of the ‘Road to ONE Championship’ 53.5 kg division.
Fergus controlled the bout throughout and ended it with a second-round barrage of landing punches thus earning the opportunity to compete on ONE Championship Friday Fights at Lumpini Stadium in the Thai capital Bangkok.
Success for the Smiths continued as brother Finlay beat tough Irish fighter Struan Mason over three rounds with Finlay working around Struan’s height to earn a decisive victory.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming as many as possible to our Open Day to get to know better what we have on offer,” said Richard Smith, 57. “Just as Liam Harrison turned up a quarter of a century ago and eventually became a world champion Thai boxer those calling in on Sunday have the chance to realise their own ambitions.”
Bad Company is located on Waterloo Way LS13 2EF. The open day is Sunday 16 March from noon to 3pm. For further information contact the club on Instagram at badcompanygym or call 07885 270267.