Euro Juniors 2022: Four from five advance for England on day two

Four of Team England’s five boxers advanced to the next round of their respective draws on day two of the EUBC Junior European Championships in Montesilvano, Italy.

It means, so far, that five Three Lions are through to the quarter-finals, with seven more boxers hoping to join them when they compete tomorrow.

England’s first boxer into the ring wasted little time in getting the job done, with Ruby White securing a third round stoppage victory in her opening Under 48kg contest.

The Sturminster Newton contender, nicknamed ‘The Pocket Rocket’ grew in confidence as the bout progressed and had far too much for her Czechia opponent Julie Polednikova.

After two counts in the second round, another followed in the third to convince the referee to halt proceedings – the Three Lions boxer sending out a clear warning of her medal intentions at these championships.

It was also a very confident start for England at the next weight up as Alice Pumphrey won every round unanimously in her overall unanimous win over Maria Petrache of Romania.

The Purge Boxing Academy prospect employed relentless pressure tactics in rounds one and two, with effective shots to head and body, to set up a convincing 5-0 points win.

Redcar’s Keira Bowden made it a hat-trick of wins from the girls as she picked her punches well in her Under 52kg contest against Julie Polednikova of Czechia.

The southpaw forced a standing eight count in the closing seconds of the bout to further underline her superiority as she ran out a an impressive 5-0 points winner.

Hopes of a clean sweep of success from the female bouts were dashed when Monae Smith was disappointed to lose at Under 57kg against Greece’s Panagiota Kouzilou.

The Jennings Gym boxer started superbly and took the opening round unanimously by keeping her distance and using her reach to good effect.

However, she was drawn into a close quarter battle with a determined Greek puncher thereafter and a standing count in the final round sealed her fate as she was on the wrong end of a unanimous decision.

After dropping the opening round on four of the judges’ scorecards, England’s only male boxer in action, John Tom Varey, came roaring back to secure a 4-1 split decision win over Romania’s Stefan Boncu at Under 46kg.

Boxing off the back foot, the Box Smart Elite boxer showed plenty of composure to win both the second and third rounds by landing well- timed counter punches.

Tomorrow’s bouts

Afternoon session (2pm, 1pm UK time)

Ring A, Bout 1: Under 48kg – Manny Safari v Bilalhabasi Nazarov (Azerbaijan).

Ring A, Bout 13: Under 57kg – Tiziano Alciati (Italy) v Luke Rodda.

Ring B, Bout 8: Under 50kg – Rasul Guliyev (IBA) v Jake Jarvis.

Evening session (5.30pm, 4.30pm UK time)

Ring A, Bout 2: Under 52kg – Leighton Birchall v Nermin Mujdragic (Serbia).

Ring A, Bout 9: Under 63kg – Mark Lomakin (IBA) v Nathan Barrett.

Ring B, Bout 2: Under 54kg – Adrian Grigorie (Romania) v Adam Maca.

Ring B, Bout 16: Under 66kg – Tadhg O’Donnell (Ireland) v Callum Kilmore-Walsh.