Bag, boxing shoes, gloves, mouthguard, hand wraps, and training gear loaded into the car as usual. But this time, the destination isn’t the gym just a few minutes from home—it’s Ciampino Airport (Rome), because the rings where punches will be exchanged are a little farther than usual: we’re heading to the UK for sparring!
Emanuele “Lele” Orlando, coach at Pugilistica Alto Reno Michele Adduci—a small yet highly decorated gym located on the border between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna—is no stranger to long trips, which allow his fighters to test themselves against high-caliber opponents. Less than a month ago, he drove nearly 400 kilometers to give his Cuban heavyweight, Angelo Morejon, the chance to trade punches with the renowned Guido Vianello in Pomezia.
Joining him on this long journey for their own challenging sparring sessions were his inseparable children: Sofia and Tommaso Orlando, aged 18 and 16 respectively, both boasting remarkable potential and already impressive records despite their young age. The protagonist of our story, “Tommy,” has won three national titles in youth categories, a gold medal at the prestigious Mura Tournament, and has twice competed in the European Championships.
Less than two weeks after the Pomezia trip, it was time for him to travel again—this time to London. The schedule was ambitious and packed with key appointments: the first day at Leo’s Gym in Ware, Hertfordshire; the second day at the Finchley & District Amateur Boxing Club in London—famous for hosting Anthony Joshua’s training in the early years of his career; and finally, a return to Leo’s Gym, with the added presence of top talents from surrounding gyms, including fighters from the Repton Boxing Club.
We reached out to coach Lele Orlando to hear firsthand about the origins and key moments of young Tommaso’s UK adventure.
Taking a fighter over a thousand kilometers away just for sparring sessions in another country is quite an unusual choice for an Italian boxing coach. How did this idea come about?
The idea came up during a conversation with a friend with whom I always discuss international training opportunities. We were in Croatia at the time, and we realized how much the boys loved these trips—they were excited and motivated by them. They want to grow, learn, and gain experience to understand what they still lack and what they need to work on to become even more competitive.
Tommaso is a very intelligent fighter. He knows that winning isn’t just about strength—it’s about technique too, and he adapts quickly to his opponents. I asked myself: where’s the best place we can go to help him improve even more? We chose London because even less experienced boxers there can give you trouble—you can see their hunger to win in their eyes! It’s not about money. We met fighters there who truly have the deep desire to become world champions.
Despite being very young, when Tommaso steps into the ring, he always gives the impression of being an extremely calm and confident athlete. Was he as composed as usual on this occasion, or did the idea of facing some of the best fighters in London make him a bit tense?
Yes, he was very calm—he always is. Of course, there was some tension, but nothing beyond what’s necessary. As you said, he’s naturally a composed and self-assured boxer, but at the same time, he’s very humble because he always wants to test himself against the best. And he got exactly what he was looking for: we started right away with a sparring session against a top-level fighter like Humza Malik from Repton Boxing Club in London—a former European champion and multiple-time UK champion. Tommaso was thrilled to have the chance to go up against him, and he put in a very solid round.
However, that first sparring session at Leo’s Gym was marked by a small setback. What happened, and how did Tommy react to the incident?
Unfortunately, the sparring session with Humza Malik lasted only one round because, at the end of the round, Tommaso took an elbow to the nose—the only blow of the session that actually hurt him. When we reviewed the footage, we confirmed our suspicion: it was indeed an elbow, which made sense because it seemed impossible for a punch at that weight to have such an impact.
Tommaso took it really badly—not because of the pain, but because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to continue the training camp. He told me, “We traveled all these kilometers, and it’s going to end like this? No! I want to keep going! I didn’t come here on vacation—I came to grow, work, and learn!”
The next day, you took action by buying a headguard with a nose bar, allowing you to stick to your schedule. How did the overall experience go, and how valuable do you think this high-intensity sparring was for Tommaso’s development?
Yes, the next day we immediately went to a store to buy a protective headguard, so he was able to continue training. Overall, the experience was very positive. To give you an idea of how motivated Tommaso was after this trip, I’ll just say that we arrived home from London at 2 AM, and by 9:30 AM the next morning, my son was already in the gym doing his first workout of the day.
It was an eye-opening adventure—not just for him as an athlete, but also for me as a coach. It made me realize that there’s still something missing, something I’d love to instill in my fighters’ mindset: the burning desire to become champions!
Knowing you, we’re sure this trip won’t be an isolated case. Is there another major boxing hub where you’d like to take Tommaso in the future to gain experience and face top competition?
Definitely! There are many countries I’d love to take him to for experience. It would be great to test ourselves against the boxing schools of Russia, Belgium, Kazakhstan, and France, given the proven expertise of their coaches.
However, if I had to pick just one, I’d say that right now, I’d love to go to Uzbekistan. At the last Olympics, they won an incredible number of medals, and that’s no coincidence—it’s clear they’ve done an outstanding job in terms of training and preparation. It would be fascinating to go there for a training camp, and I’ll be looking into making it happen in the near future.
A big thank you to coach Orlando for his time. We’ll continue to follow the careers of his fighters, convinced that some of them truly have what it takes to go far!