Gym 01's Jayakody: Traditional pedigree gives me Shock N Awe 27 advantage

Anthony Jayakody training with Elliot Hoye. Picture: Habibur Rahman

The Gym 01 bantamweight meets the experienced Ed Sheehan in an amateur contest at the Mountbatten Centre tomorrow.

Jayakody is returning after making an impressive debut more than a year ago. He defeated Max Renouf via TKO inside two minutes at Shock N Awe 24.

Martial arts is Jayakody’s passion and he trained in wing chun – a type of kung fu specialising in close-range combat – as a youngster.

He feels his ability to throw quick, short punches stems from that.

‘I’m really passionate about martial arts,’ said Jayakody.

‘The first thing I really got into was wing chun, a traditional Chinese martial art.

‘It gives me the snappiness and short-range punches.

‘People write those sort of martial arts off but if you take the useful aspects then you can strengthen your game.

‘I’m known for having short-range, powerful punches and that’s definitely from wing chun.

‘This is my second fight and my first one went pretty well. It was a first-round TKO finish with a jab which was well timed.

‘It gives me confidence but I try to keep a neutral mindset – cool, calm and collected is my approach.’

Meanwhile, Tarrou Lake is also looking to improve his amateur record to 2-0.

He meets Brandon Dominey in a contest at 63kg.

The Gym 01 fighter said: ‘I’m really looking forward to it – I’m buzzing.

‘I was supposed to be fighting on the Shock N Awe Contenders card in February but it got snowed off – so it was a blessing in disguise.

‘I’ve been training every day. In my debut fight, I didn’t expect it to finish so quickly.

‘I was prepared for three full rounds and that’s what I’m prepared for this time.

‘I’m prepared for the hardest fight possible. I need to be the best version of myself.’

Cecily Davis is making her amateur debut against Suzanne Wilson.

The strawweight registered a barnstorming success over Monique D’Ones in a B class fight in November.

Davis is relishing the bout and believes she has a ‘slight edge’.

She said: ‘I know my opponent has a lot of boxing experience already but she hasn’t done MMA.

‘That gives me the slight edge having done a bit more of the ground work and stuff and I’m really looking forward to it.

‘I like submission chokes so I’ve been working on that a lot and my wrestling. That’s an area I haven’t been hugely confident in before so I’ve been trying to get more confidence in my takedowns.’