Elgin Amateur Boxing Club celebrate a clean sweep of four gold medals at Boxing Scotland Developmental Championships at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Centre
Four Elgin Amateur Boxing Club prospects were crowned Scottish champions at the developmental championships.
It was a clean sweep for the Moray club as they only had four boxers taking part in the event at the Ravenscraig sports centre in Motherwell.
Fighting at junior, youth and elite level, the quartet did their club proud with one of the boxers having to win two bouts including one against a strong favourite.
Nathan Greene was the only one not to get a straight final as he competed in the 60kg youth category where the semi-finals and final were held on consecutive days.
On the Saturday Greene faced Doonhamers Boxing Club (Dumfries) rival Mohammed Ahmed, who was tipped by many to win the gold medal.
Not fearing his opponent’s reputation, Greene soon got on the offensive and landed some big backhands that would possibly have stopped a lesser boxer.
In the second round, Ahmed began to find his range as the bout became more competitive.
Greene dug deep in the final round with a determination matches by his rival, and it was no surprise when it came down to a 3/2 split decision which went in favour of the Elgin boxer.
That gave Greene a shot at the final the next day and he did not disappoint against Dunfermline’s James Travers with a comfortable victory on a unanimous decision to claim gold.
Tyler Sked was the only entry in the 54kg category, but elected to compete at the lower 51kg youth section which meant a major weight loss campaign.
Displaying the mental strength of an Olympic athlete, he cut his food intake right down in an effort to lose almost half a stone and actually managed to come in under weight for his new category.
A tall boxer at his natural 54kg weight, Sked towered above his opponent in the 51kg final, Dundonian Jack Thompson.
Such was the technical ability in the final, the referee insisted that the crowd applauded both boxers at the end and Sked had his arm raised after a unanimous decision in his favour.
There was glory for Billy ‘Biceps’ Chalmers in the 60kg junior division after an action-packed bout against Rob Roy opponent William Milligan.
Chalmers ended each exchange with a looping backhand, before managing to roll out of Milligan’s counter-attack every time and this tactic helped him to earn a unanimous verdict to show he can mix it with higher level boxers.
One of the best finals of the day involved Elgin’s Jacob Ballingall in the 63.5kg elite category against Tristan Philbey from The Edge Gym in Glasgow, another where the referee insisted that the crowd show their appreciation for the quality on show.
The two boxers had met in the previous year’s final with Ballingall just edging that one, and their latest bout proved to be even more competitive.
Both fighters had success in different parts of the bout but just like in last year’s final, Ballingall’s phase work persuaded three of the judges to give him the decision on a 3/2 split for Elgin ABC’s fourth gold medal.
As well as four triumphs at national level. the Elgin club sent two boxers at very different stages of their career to the Hans of Stone Boxing Show in Montrose.
Buckie schoolboy Freddy Gill was taking part in his very first competitive fight, and made it a debut to remember by winning by virtue of a unanimous decision against home favourite Ethan Dunbar.
At the top of the bill, Lukas Vaitekunas was involved in his first senior bout at cruiserweight against the home club’s Hayden Sutton.
The Elgin boxer emerged victorious when he caught his opponent with an uppercut, splitting his eyebrow open and leading to the bout being stopped in the first round.
