A YOUNG Thai boxer from Darlington fought his way to the final of an international tournament featuring more than 2,000 competitors.

Ellis Corrie, 16, travelled to Malaysia to compete in the 2014 International Federation of Muay Thai Amateur boxing competition.

The event attracted more than 2,000 fighters from across the world and Ellis did the North-East proud by making it all the way to the top, only to lose to a youngster from Belarus in the final.

Ellis fights from the Darlington Boxing and Martial Arts Academy at The Northern Echo Arena and his head coach Paul Hamilton was delighted with his achievement and the example he was setting to other youngsters.

He said: “I was really proud of him, he has come through the system with us since he started at six-years-old.

“He has always been good at it because he has fun with it; he is going to fight in Poland soon so for a young lad he is getting himself about a bit and that keeps him from doing what a lot of other kids his age want to do – sit around on street corners and drink.

“He is doing something with his life.”

Ellis is already the British Amateur Champion in Muay Thai fighting which is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques.