A teenage boy has turned his life around and is dreaming of competing at the Olympics thanks to boxing.

Louie Ward has been boxing for five years.

The 15-year-old from Theydon Bois has turned his life around from being a troubled student to being a national champion on course for eight GCSEs.

And his mother says that is all thanks to his discovery of boxing.

Louie, who attends Epping St John’s School, always had “this extra energy”, his mother Mia explained.

“He was getting into a bit of trouble at school and we needed a way to channel his energy. Boxing has done this for Louie as it is very disciplined and a great outlet.

“It has been an absolute life changer for him and it is fantastic for any teenager. It takes them off the street and gets them focused.

“One of his coaches always says, ‘knives down, gloves up’ and I think that is a great advert for the sport.”

Louie, who trains at Repton Boxing Club in Bethnal Green, has been taking the sport seriously for three years.

This month, he won the junior 57kg national title at England Boxing Nationals tournament.

Held over a period of a month, Louie won all four of his fights, culminating in the final last Sunday in Bambury, Oxford.

Now he is joining the England camp to train at a national level with an aspiration to make it to the Paris Olympics in 2024

“We want to congratulate Louis and praise him. He could easily have gone down the wrong path with the wrong people, and we are all so proud of him”, Mia continued.

“There is a bad stigma around teenagers, especially with all the negativity around young people and knife crime, but these kids can turn it around through sport or other positive outlets, and Louis is an example of that.”

It is currently half-term for Louie, but he is going into school for extra lessons in maths and PE in preparation for his GCSEs.

Louis is on track to pass all eight of his GCSEs having previously struggled with grades as he was “constantly out of school because he was always getting in trouble”, Mia said.

“Boxing has changed his way of thinking, it has been a complete turnaround for him.”

“I’m so impressed and proud of him, as is his school.”