Succession of England boxers earn final spots

The England team showed its class as 11 of 14 boxers left in the EUBC European Schools Championships 2019 made it through to respective finals.

A particular feature of the success was ‘Girl Power’ with all six females winning their quarter-finals in Tblisi, Georgia to ensure they will now be going for gold.

It means that, from a squad of 19, more than half have guaranteed themselves at least a silver medal, with hopes high that many of those will be converted into a place on top of the podium.

The first England boxer to step into the ring was Sophie Harker in the 36kg category and the Middlesbrough boxer showed few signs of nerves, coming through with a 4-1 split decision win over Ireland’s Carlagh Mullarney.

Next up, Sharpstyle’s Alice Pumphrey took on the tall Irish boxer Jackman Nora and was always in control as she recorded a unanimous 5-0 victory at 48kg.

A third Anglo-Irish bout, this time at 60kg, also went the same way, as Abby Briggs’ beat Gabrielle Mongan by a unanimous 5-0 success in a bout she controlled.

The girls’ run of success continued at 70kg where the powerful Amber Moss-Birch of Golden Ring in Southampton overcame the challenge of Hungarian Nikolett Kovacs, again by a unanimous 5-0 margin.

Denaeo George was the first boy to take to the ring and the City of Leicester boxer did not disappoint, recording a 5-0 unanimous victory over Davit Safaryan of Armenia at 38.5kg with some slick counter punching.

England’s first setback came in their sixth bout when Pinewood’s Joe Cooper was beaten on a 4-1 spilt by Ukranian Anatoli Yem in what was a hard-fought bout throughout.

But the Three Lions were back on track in their final bout before the break between sessions as Downend’s Ethan Moore, boxing at 68kg, secured a unanimous 5-0 triumph over Ireland’s Thomas Ward.

The evening session began as the afternoon one had left off – with a unanimous 5-0 win – as Scunthorpe’s Jessica Keeton boxed on the front foot to beat Ireland’s Carleigh Irving in the 46kg division.

And that was followed up in style by Legions’ Paris Smith who came out all guns blazing against Olha Pylypchuk in their 64kg, forcing the referee to stop the contest in the first round.

It was nine out of 10 for England’s boxers when Sharpstyle’s Thomas Varey edged an action-packed 40kg contest against Poland’s Marchel Maceij by a 3-2 margin.

Ellis Panter kept the tremendous run of success for the Red Rose going when the Burton Park boxer earned a unanimous 5-0 50kg victory against Hungary’s Krisztofer Petrovics.

But it was not to be for Newark’s Sam Hardy at 54kg as he was defeated 5-0 by neighbouring boxer Alan Pierre of Scotland.

Anthony Connors, the 59kg West Ham boxer was the penultimate England boxer in action and he came through with flying colours, beating Turkey’s Muhammed Halil Dogru as he won a unanimous 5-0 verdict.

That left RJ Draper as the final England representative to box in a bid to make it a dynamic dozen finalists, but he missed out, losing 5-0 to Garik Antanosyan of Armenia.

Finals will be held on Saturday and Sunday, with a schedule to be announced when available.