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Iktsham Lone: Burmantofts boxer is on the rise
Introduced to the boxing ring as a 10-year-old by his father Mohammed, Iktsham Lone quickly acquired the nickname 'Tyson' with his fast and ferocious fighting style.
No pressure then, but, so far, the new Tri Nations champion from Burmantofts is justifying the hype.
Seventeen-year-old Lone has already enjoyed a 2009 to remember, beginning with his first major championship victory in the Junior ABAs representing England.
It confirmed the promise of more to come and the 51kg flyweight went on to defeat Paul Cawley of Birmingham in a Tri Nations Boxing Championship at Everton Park Sports Centre.
Lone clearly has a way to go before emulating the likes of 'Iron Mike' but comparisons with Tyson do not faze the Leeds boxer as he continues his ascension up the boxing ranks.
Lone, who is based at the thriving Burmantofts Amateur Boxing Club, insists he thrives on such tall talk and vows he will vindicate the fuss come showtime.
"I'm proud to have a nickname like that, but you have got to live with it and go and show it," said Lone.
"You have to show why people call you that and go out and prove it.
"I first started getting into boxing when I was about 10 or 11. It
started as a hobby but then it got serious and I developed proper tunnel vision for it.
"I started getting more and more confident with it, thinking 'I can do well in this, I can be a champion'.
"From there, it was all about boxing and then they started calling me Tyson – because they say I box like him and that I have got his fighting style – but to get called something like that you have to go and prove that you can box like that.
"People hear that and they look at me and think 'he can't do anything, can he?'
"At first that was like a lot of pressure but now I just go out and I'm like 'yeah'.
"They say I fight like him, I have got power and they say I have got speed – Tyson had superb speed. He was a great fighter and he had this stockiness, which people say I have got. People say I am a lot like him, only an Asian version of him."
As if having a young Tyson in one gym was not more than ample, Lone's clubmate is 16-year-old Qais Ashfaq – also a Tri-Nations champion – and dubbed in some quarters the next Amir Khan.
Also bubbling beneath the surface at Burmantofts is 15-year-old Jack Bateson, another national champion following his victory earlier this year in the Golden Gloves.
Lone, a sports studies student at Park Lane College, is proud to represent a club with such blatant boxing talent.
"We are boxing for Burmantofts and I am proud to be a Burmantofts boxer," said Lone, a past pupil of Chapel Allerton Primary and also of Allerton Grange High. "It feels good we're getting so much success and we've got a lot of talent in the gym.
"There are a lot of young people coming through and it's great that we can pass on our knowledge of boxing to them. Every day is fun in the gym, we are always learning new stuff and it's good."
Lone clearly feels at home at Burmantofts ABC and it's just as well with the ambitious young boxer continually putting himself through a gruelling training routine. Six days a week the flyweight hones his skills and, even on his days off, boxing forms a large part of his schedule.
"I'm training six days a week with one day of rest," he said. "Sometimes you can get a bit tired but then you have like a day off to recuperate but I want to do this training for when I turn professional.
"I want to focus wholehearted on my boxing career and I'm not just doing it for a hobby.
"On my day off I keep stretching off and keep myself loose and relaxed, and I just watch like old boxing videos. That's all I do really."
So far, the routine is working an absolute treat, Lone enjoying blinding success in the first half of 2009 and he is relishing his next scheduled fight in New York when his Burmantofts club visit the United States.
Next year, the Leeds ace is again targeting success in the Junior ABAs before stepping up to senior level. Lone admits he feels highly satisfied with his efforts this year, especially after being cruelly denied a first national title in an earlier boys club event.
"My success has been all right really," he said. "I had a championship before the junior ABAs where I got through to the final and I thought I'd won it but, well, I didn't.
"This sport means so much to me. It's my goal. I want to fulfil my dreams, and to win a championship is something I have been working at for a while – training six days a week, training and working hard."
Lone also admits he owes much to his father Mohammed.
"He's supported me all the way," he said. "It's good to have a father who's able to support you all the way through. He's been great."
Blessed with his dad's unstinting backing, a boxing club on the crest of a wave and the natural ability to draw comparisons with 'Kid Dynamite' – Lone has every reason to feel optimistic about the future.
Bursting with ambition, the teenager is striving for domination on a world stage and is prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve it.
"My long term ambition is to become a world champion," he said.
"I'm looking towards the Olympics too and I need to work my way to get there first.
"Hopefully, I can but, if not, I will just keep working, get as much time boxing as I can under my belt, and work my way to the top.
"I know to do that I'm going to have to eat, sleep, live and breathe boxing all of the time – but I'm prepared to do that to reach my goal."
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