Air assault logisticians punch their way to victory, May 2017.

The boxers of 13 Air Assault Regiment Royal Logistic Corps won the Army Boxing Championship in a final that was a family affair for 16 Air Assault Brigade.

13 AASR boxed 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment for the title in front of a vocal crowd at Colchester’s Budd VC Gymnasium last night (Wed 3 May). With all of the seven bouts going the distance 13 AASR won 4-3, with light heavyweight Private Ryan Abel securing the victory in the night’s penultimate contest.

On their way to the final 13 AASR had defeated last year’s champions 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, while 3 PARA had beaten 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment and 4th Battalion The Rifles.

13 AASR’s coach Cpl Jesse Pickerill said: “I’m hugely proud of how the lads boxed tonight to earn the victory against very strong opponents in 3 PARA. We knew we had a strong team of boxers from back in October when we had the inter-squadron competition to start the process of picking our team. It’s been a long season since, everyone has worked hard in training and in our fights and we have performed to our potential to win.”

The win for 13 AASR ends a long unbeaten streak for 3 PARA, who had won the title each of the eight times it entered the championships since 2003 and only not competed when on operations or training to deploy.