Sailors and Royal Marines in the Senior Service boxing squad got the chance to meet the rising star of British boxing when the England national squad visited HMS Nelson in Portsmouth.

After visiting Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan in London, the Senior Service hosted the Bolton boxer and his colleagues for training sessions under the watchful eye of RN boxing coach POPT Q Shillingford, himself a rising star in his field.

The 11-strong national squad spent four days at Nelson on workouts and sparring, and it fell to Welsh Royal Marine Alex ‘The Hornet’ Urrutia, of 40 Commando RM, to spar with Amir Khan, who took his silver in the lightweight division at Athens.

“Alex is ranked number 2 in Wales and seventh in the country, so he gave Amir a good workout,” said Q.

“We were honoured to have the national side working with us.

“The England coach knows what a strong squad the Royal Navy has at the moment – we have four lads aiming for next year’s Commonwealth Games.”

Alex has moved up from 10th to 7th in the Great Britain rankings; also moving up was MEM Al ‘The Rock’ Boyle, who defeated last season’s Four Nations silver medallist Nathan Probate on points, taking himself to 7th in the England listing and number 9 in the UK.

And three more Dark Blue squad members are also competing for prized places in the Commonwealth boxing squad – OM Neil ‘Bazooka’ Suku, OM Shaun ‘Mac Attack’ McDonald and Mne Mick ‘The Irish Hammer’ O’Connell.

The trio were selected to compete in the England trials, where the top four fighters in each category spend three days bidding for the top spot and a place in the Commonwealth team.

Away from the South Coast, HMS Neptune hosted the Navy squad in a tight victory over a Scottish district squad, the final count being 5-4.

The squad’s success is down to the boxers’ dedication and commitment,” said Q.

“They are competing at national and international level whilst flying the flag for Navy sport all over the country.”

The next big adventure for the Navy lads comes next month in New York, when the team takes on the NY Police Department – a match set up as a result of a trip to the Big Apple by Q earlier this year with a Portsmouth school party.

That will serve as a warm-up for the Inter-Services clash at HMS Nelson on February 11