By Terence Dooley

Bolton-based trainer Carl Ince experienced success, joy and tragedy during 2011 and now hopes to bring domestic titles to his gym in 2012.  Ince trained former Prizefighter finalist Brett Flournoy throughout the Liverpudlian’s career and was set to welcome the boxer back in the summer only to discover that his former charge had been murdered and then buried on a farm in Cornwall.

Flournoy went missing in June along with David Griffiths; the two were travelling to Cornwall only to disappear en route.  A massive search resulted in the discovery of Brett’s body in July.  Two men were charged with the murder of Flournoy and Griffiths and are due to stand trial in 2012.

Brett packed a lot of life into his 31 years.  Nicknamed ‘The Soul’, Flournoy spent time in the Royal Engineers, won an ABA medal in 2005, was a loving father to his two sons and came within a whisker of winning Prizefighter: The Light-Middleweights in February 2010 – losing out to Prince Arron in the final after a third round knockdown tipped the balance in Arron’s favour.

Flournoy decided to take a break from the sport yet had told Ince that he was primed for a return to the ring just weeks before his disappearance and death.  Fellow Liverpudlian Carl Dilks also left Karl’s Bolton base earlier in the year, the former rugby player turned coach told me that he regrets losing both boxers but had been especially hurt when news of Flournoy’s misfortune came through.

“Carl Dilks left us, which was disappointing and I really felt sorry after he left,” said Ince when speaking to BoxingScene.com.  “Then we had Brett’s tragedy in the middle of the year and that hit the whole gym hard.

“That news hurt me because I just looked at what Brett could do in the gym as a fighter.  If Brett had won the Prizefighter competition I believe he would have still been here now because he’d have concentrated on his boxing so I look back on him with a lot of heartache.  I thought he would have won Prizefighter if he hadn’t been dropped in the last round of the final.  Brett handled Arron well apart from that knockdown.”

Flournoy’s death sent the rumour mill into overdrive.  Ince hopes that the upcoming trial will settle all questions surrounding his former fighter’s death.  He told me that the skilful southpaw was a potential British champion who never really benefitted from the rub of the green during his 13-fight career, 11-1 (4) with one NC.

“We had great craic in the gym, he was a funny guy, a top guy,” recalled Ince.  “I always see the good in people.  I think about what they’re like in the gym, and Brett was brilliant in the gym.  If he had stayed at it he would have become British champion.  He was one of the best talents I’ve had in my gym, which is taking nothing away from the other lads.

“Brett had been out of boxing for a while.  Funnily enough he rang me a week before his death to say he wanted to get back into it.  I thought it was brilliant news and was really looking forward to him coming back only to hear the bad news about him.  It was such a shame.

“It was a similar story with ‘Dilksy’, there were issues and problems outside the ring [Writer’s note: Dilks received a suspended sentence in 2009 after being found guilty of actual bodily harm].  In the gym he was a great lad but became a changed man and I didn’t want to train him anymore so we moved on.  Carl’s with Tony Quigley Senior now and I wish him all the best – I hope it works out for them.”

Ince also has high hopes for Bolton’s Rick Godding; the 26-year-old impressed when sparring Amir Khan ahead of Khan’s WBA title winning performance against Andriy Kotelnyk but has been plagued by injury throughout his paid career.  Ince, however, insists that the 14-0 (1) prospect will shine if given an opportunity in 2012 and is still hopeful that Chris Johnson, one of Karl’s other fighters, will secure a local derby with Frank Warren’s prize prospect Ronnie Heffron.

“We call Rick ‘Tricky Ricky’ because he’s so smart as a boxer,” beamed Ince.  “There’s been injury problems – I really hope that 2012 will be his year.  We also recently had Chris Johnson ready to go, he was supposed to fighting Ronnie Heffron in October but I pulled him out because of injury.  I hope that one gets made again because I know what Johnno’s got and what Heffron’s got, if we get the tactics right we’ll win that one.”

Colne’s Shayne ‘The Pain’ Singleton is also working his way through the ranks.  Ince has guided the bubbly 22-year-old to an 11-0 (3) slate.  Singleton had five outings in 2011; Karl pointed out that VIP Promotions are likely to keep Shayne active throughout 2012 due to the youngster’s massive army of fans.

“Shayne is supposed to be a counter-puncher but he’s young, enthusiastic and is maturing so gets a bit carried away,” admitted Ince.  “He is still doing his apprenticeship, there’s more fights to come before he moves on.

“You know what these boys are like.  They get excited in there so you have to knock those rough edges off with regular fights.  Shayne sometimes comes square on along the ropes so I have to fix that.  We work on uppercuts and other things and he has shown some of them in his fights when he thinks about his work.

“Shayne brings a fantastic crowd to all of his fights.  I hate it in one way because he can hardly hear me in the corner and these young lads react to the roar of the crowd.  It is OK now but as the fights get bigger I’ll need his total concentration so he’ll have to blank out the fans.”

Ince worked with Enzo Maccarinelli until recently, the two remain firm friends and the experience of working with ‘Big Mac’ remains amongst Ince’s favourite memories.  Karl now hopes to bring through a new generation; he was quick to point out that lessons learned under Brian Hughes MBE will hold him in good stead over the coming years.

“I love it,” he said when asked if still derives enjoyment from one of boxing’s toughest roles.  “I believe that if I carry on working hard as a trainer then I will make it.  I work with a fighter’s style, work on figuring out their opponent and love bringing lads through.  I love what I’m doing and it will all be worthwhile.

“Brian Hughes is the top man.  He let me help train the lads at his gym; he is The Godfather of the right type of boxing – a technical trainer who produced great counter-punching boxers.  I learned so much with Brian and was honoured to work with him.”

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