Boxers dish up a treat!

Weeton Barracks has an impressive pedigree in the sport – and previous high-profile guests to the base include top boxers Ricky Hatton and David Price.

This year, the Smith brothers, who all hold national titles, came along to help serve out the troops’ Christmas meal.

The four brothers – Paul, Stephen, Liam and Callum – originally from Kirkdale, Liverpool, jumped at the chance to visit the 2nd Battalion Duck of Lancaster’s Regiment, which holds a fair few boxing belts of its own.

Paul, 31, the eldest brother and a British Super Middleweight Champion, said: “It was something that came completely out of the blue and we certainly never expected it.

“In fact it is very humbling. These lads are prepared to sacrifice themselves for us, so we are delighted to come along today and help serve up their Christmas dinner.”

Liam, 25, the British Commonwealth Light Middleweight Champion, said it was a great experience for him as he has a number of friends serving in the Battalion.

He added: “It’s good to see them all having a laugh and joke between themselves.

“To serve like they have in Afghanistan is not something I could do. It makes us all very proud to be able to chat with them. It’s good to help boost their morale.”

The Battalion has a proud boxing tradition and its team has held the Army title for the last four years.

Its soldiers also currently hold four of the nine individual belts available in the service. Following military tradition, officers served Christmas dinner to their troops and the meal was organised by Major Phil Sweeney.

He said: “I spoke with Smiths’ coach earlier this year and asked him if the guys would be interested in coming along to serve the soldiers dinner and they couldn’t wait to do it – they said they had never been asked to do anything like this before.

“It’s been great to have them here just before everyone goes home to their families for Christmas.”

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