By Daniel Schofield,

JUST under 90 minutes and 400 yards separated teenager Tom Daley winning Commonwealth diving gold and boxer Simon Vallily taking the heavyweight title in Delhi.

THE BEAST: Simon Vallily certainly made an impression en route to gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi (Reuters)

But while they both shared top spot on the podium in India, in every other respect their lives have been worlds apart.

One looks like they have stepped out of Tommy Hilfiger casting catalogue; tanned, good looking, and at just 16 had the world’s media eating of his hand in the mixed zone.

The other flashed the sort of menace towards inquisitors that had disposed of Northern Ireland’s Stephen Ward in just over a minute of the Commonwealth final.

It was no surprise that it was the Plymouth teenager rather than the Middlesbrough pugilist that graced the back and front pages of the following day’s newspapers.

Vallily, it is safe to say, will never be the Daily Mail’s poster boy having been sentenced to four years in a young offenders institution for an unprovoked knife attack in a high street.

Perhaps that was the product of a youth that had little guidance since a failed trial at Middlesbrough and while using boxing to harness violence might seem like a contradiction in terms, the sport has given Vallily discipline, structure and most of all purpose.

“Boxing has kept me on the straight and narrow,” he said. “I have kept my head down.

“Where I come from I can show the younger lads the right way.

“If you are good at something, stick at it and in the end it will pay off.

“I have proved a lot of people wrong. I have got a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and a lot of people back home wouldn’t think I am where am now, so I’m over the moon.

“I have kept my head down and I am at training in Sheffield Monday to Thursday. It is brilliant set-up there and I want to stay there.”

The 25-year-old’s break came when he was able to win the ABA Championship in 2008 and a place on the GB amateur set-up under Rob McCracken in Sheffield.

Under McCracken, also Carl Froch’s ring man, Vallily has developed a devastatingly powerful jab and a body shot that sent three opponents to the canvass in the Talkatora Stadium – a fourth, Awusone Yekeni, withdrew from their semi-final match. 

There’s no doubt he was the most impressive boxer in the Commonwealths, which unlike certain other events does attract a world-class field, and now McCracken has two years to add the tools and know how to make him an Olympic champion.

On the same November night that Vallily defeated Danny Price to become Great Britain champion, Audley Harrison was demonstrating while Olympic gold is not the guarantee of professional success it once was in his humiliating loss to David Haye.

But Vallily’s reliance on raw power rather than Harrison’s hit-and-run tactics suggests a far brighter future in the professional ranks.

2012, yet alone the five years he would probably have to wait for a title shot, are a long time away and Vallily is only ever a sparring accident away from seeing his dreams disappear.

But one of the joys of being a sports reporter is that, much like a much like a music geek who goes to tiny gigs in the hope of seeing the next Beatles, you have the opportunity to say I was there when a star was born.

And the unfortunate Ward may well be remembered as the first victim of Britain’s next heavyweight champion of the world.

By Alex Christian and Lewis Garfield

David Haye opened his Vauxhall gym doors to his devoted fans for the first time on Saturday and stayed until the last boxing glove was signed.

MEET AND GREET: Haye posed for pictures and signed autographs for fans

Fanatics waited for up to four hours outside the former WBA heavyweight champion’s Randall Road gym after the British boxing great tweeted the event on Friday.

The Hayemaker said: “It’s great meeting all the fans, the people who have paid to see me all over the world – so I’m trying to give a little something back.

“I will definitely do something like this again, no doubt. I got a lot of Twitter messages from fans who couldn’t get down to South London so I’m definitely doing another one, maybe up North as well.”

And the former unified Cruiserweight World Champion, 31, added: “It’s a bit harsh expecting people from all over to come down to London. But it’s crazy – I’ve had fans from Germany, fans from France, fans from all over.”

There was a buzz along the winding queue as excited fans met Haye for the very first time in a storied decade-long career.

First in line was boxing fanatic Peter Simpson, 26, who travelled all the way from Edinburgh to meet his hero.

He said: “I’ve been to David’s last three fights, including the Wladimir Klitschko one in Germany.

“I travelled from Scotland to be here but it was too big an opportunity to turn down. I thought David was really friendly and happy to talk about boxing.”

The Hayemaker is looking for a fight against reining WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in 2013, but only if the Ukrainian fails in his political campaign.

Peter added: “I’d like David to fight Vitali and he seems quite confident that it’ll happen.”

Zoe Ludford, 27, who grew up in Bermondsey just streets away from the boxing icon, said: “Haye-Chisora at West Ham was the first professional fight I’ve ever seen – I thought it was brilliant.”

With Haye’s biography in hand, she added: “I got soaked standing ringside but it was a really good fight, he put on a really good show.”

Haye’s trainer and manager Adam Booth was also busy at the open day, arriving in the Mercedes Haye reportedly bought him after the Dereck Chisora press-conference brawl in Munich.

Signed fight memorabilia from Haye’s most famous clashes decorated the star’s training gym walls and plenty of past fight posters were handed out to fans.

An old gym-mate of Haye’s and professional boxer Mark ‘The Flash’ Alexander, said: “It’s great to see your old gym buddy. David’s had a great career and is in a great position now – the world is his oyster.

“I believe he will get the fight with Vitali Klitschko. And if he beats Vitali surely the younger brother will want to avenge that. David would get his ‘Lucky Six’ twice by getting two shots at the title, fighting both Klitschkos.”

He added: “But it is Klitschko or retirement for David.”

Regardless, Haye will always be a champion in his fans’ eyes, as they proved on Saturday in their masses.

Posted: Friday 15th October 2010 | 6:27

From Daniel Schofield, , in Delhi

TAKE one dose of controversy, two doses of last-second drama and throw a little more controversy into the mix and you get an idea of what the boxing has been like at the Commonwealth Games.

MONSTER: England Simon Vallily – described by British coach Rob McCracken as ‘frighteningly good’ – was one of the two English boxing gold medallists at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi (Reuters)

The Talkatora Stadium witnessed many strange incidents, none more so than when a Welsh boxer, being supported by the entire England team, was fighting an English-born Pakistani boxer who in turn was being cheered for by a largely Indian crowd.

Haroon Khan – or WBA champion Amir Khan’s younger brother – claimed he had been deliberately overlooked by the British set-up, which forced to him to fight for the country of his parents’ birth.

So when he fought British Amateur Boxing Association podium squad member Andrew Selby, Khan had the perfect case to state his case.

After a close-fought 3-3 draw against the Welsh flyweight, Khan was given the judges’ decision on countback.

The victory guaranteed Khan a bronze medal but that was almost an afterthought for the 19-year-old .

He said: “Proving them (the selectors) wrong feels better than winning a medal.

“My job was to come here and prove them wrong.

 “I’d love to see him right now and say: ‘Look, it’s in your face. I’ve got a medal and I should have got that for England. I’ve proved you guys wrong’.”

The ‘him’ in question was British boxing chief Rob McCracken and for all Khan’s claims there is a very simple reason he wasn’t selected: Khalid Yafai.

While Khan was perhaps lucky to get the decision against Selby, there’s no doubt Yafai, who competed at the 2008 Olympics, would have wiped the floor with him had a shoulder injury not ruled him out of the Games.

McCracken’s troubles didn’t end there, with Scotland light heavyweight Callum Johnson also demanding a place on the podium squad.

Yet his gold medal was a far more convincing argument than Khan’s, particularly having beaten three British fighters on the way to the top of the podium.

In between the boxing politics, some fighting broke out.

English boxers Obed Mbwakongo and Anthony Ogogo were involved in two of the most dramatic conclusions – both against Indian fighters.

Light heavyweight Mbwakongo was taking on Dinesh Kumar just moments after he saw teammate Iain Weaver ‘stitched up’ by some outrageous ringside scoring when fighting against another Indian.

Trailing for the majority of his match, Mbwakongo levelled things up with under a minute remaining before delivering a right that landed on Kumar’s headguard with just a second remaining to win 9-8.

That though was nothing compared to the upset Ogogo would cause when he defeated Vijender Singh – India’s answer to David Beckham according to the Lowestoft middleweight.

At 3-0 down heading into the second half of the third round, Ogogo was handed a lifeline when referee Michael Summers deducted Singh two points for holding.

Incredibly Summers showed stones of steel to do the same thing with 30 seconds remaining to the outrage of most inside the Talkatora Stadium – an anger not soothed by Ogogo blowing kisses to the crowd after his 4-3 win.

Yet such exertions took their toll with Mbwakongo losing to Johnson in the quarter-final while Ogogo had to settle for silver after being comprehensively outboxed by Northern Ireland’s Eamonn O’Kane in the final.

O’Kane was one of three Northern Irish boxing golds – their first since 1994 – while England could only come away with two from their five finalists.

Team captain Thomas Stalker looked a class act throughout and compared standing on top of the podium to fellow Scouser Steven Gerrard winning the World Cup for England before adding: “but they could never do that in the football, they always get beat!”

Yet it is England’s other boxing gold medallist who has really caused a stir.

Heavyweight Simon Vallily won all three of his fights by stoppage; in his other proposed fight it was not clear whether his opponent withdrew through injury or just plain fear.

In amateur boxing it can sometimes to be difficult to tell which punches score.

Not with Vallily. Each shot doesn’t just score, it damages and the accompanying thud can be heard above the din of the lively Indian crowd.

Vallily’s gold and background, which includes a four-year prison sentence for an unprovoked street assault, were drowned out by the success of Tom Daley, a stone’s throw away in the diving.

The Middlesbrough mauler, described by McCracken as ‘frighteningly good’, is never likely to take Daley’s spot as London 2012’s poster boy but remember the date October 13, 2010: a monster was born.

By Ben Burrows, , London 2012

GREAT Britain’s Anthony Joshua produced a devastating display of aggressive boxing to fight back and claim the Olympic super heavyweight title at London 2012.

CHAMPION: Anthony Joshua took gold against Italy’s Robert Cammarelle with a storming third round performance

The London-born boxer, who won silver at the 2011 World Championships, used the home crowd to his advantage as he fought back to beat defending champion Roberto Cammarelle of Italy on countback.

And Joshua, who only took up the sport after the Beijing Games, was delighted to drag the fight back from the brink to claim gold – which was only confirmed after an appeal from the Cammarelle camp was rejected.

“Once again there are no easy fights in the Olympics,” he said.

“I pulled it out the bag. My heart is still pumping with adrenaline. I’m just hyper right now.

“The third round is always a good round. I have the heart of a warrior and I never give up.”

The capacity crowd inside the ExCel has been one of the most vociferous at the Games and Joshua was full of praise for the part the atmosphere played in his victory.

“Again and again and again they have come out,” he added. “Today is a holy day and I am blessed.

“I feel the hearts of all the people here and around the nation. That medal represents my journey and my support from the team. It’s much more than just a gold medal – it’s a life experience and I’m just proud to have it around my neck.

“It’s not just me, it’s for my fallen soldiers that made it and we all drag each other along to the top. Congratulations to the ten of us in Team GB, boys and girls.

“I want to gain more experience and keep on pushing. I have had 43 bouts and 40 wins – that is nothing, I want to keep on pushing as an amateur.”

After being second-best for the first two rounds the 22-year-old rallied to trade punch and counter-punch with the two-time world champion southpaw to tie the scores up at 18-18 before claiming the victory on countback.

Joshua became Team GB’s third male finalist – the first time since 1956 – after he produced a brave display to out-box Kazakhstan’s Ivan Dychko 13-11 in the semi-final.

The 22-year-old, who beat Cuba’s Erislandy Savon and China’s Zhilei Zhang on his way to the final, followed Team GB teammate Luke Campbell, who claimed bantamweight gold against John Joe Nevin of Ireland yesterday.

Earlier fellow Brit Freddie Evans failed in his bid to claim London gold after being outclassed by Kazakhstan’s Serik Sapiyev 17-9 in the Olympic welterweight final.