After attending the home internationals I have fallen in love with amateur boxing again
The first series of BRING BACK BOXING Home Internationals from Amateur Boxing Scotland is now complete and judging by the attendance and media interest, particularly at the last two events, the series has been a massive success. One very impressed spectator at the last International versus Northern Ireland was former British, European Boxing Union (EBU), Commonwealth and WBO Super Featherweight Champion Alex Arthur.
Talking to ABS, Alex told us that coming through the ranks, he experienced times when amateur boxing was badly run in his opinion and the facilities and opportunities simply werent there for young Scottish boxers to develop. He feels that this is now changing and gives ABS Chairman and long term friend Richard Thomas and the Amateur Boxing Scotland staff and volunteers a lot of credit for the work they are doing and the changes they have made allowing young boxers to fulfil their potential and increase exposure of the sport.
When it comes to Scottish boxers, Alex is a bit of a phenomenon. Prior to sportscotland involvement, he was the first in the country to be funded, giving him the opportunity to travel to top boxing nations and learn from some of the
Worlds best. I have a lot of good friends from my travels, guys from Cuba, the Klitschko brothers from the Ukraine and a lot of other good boxing people. The funding he received allowed him to develop and compete at the top level, picking up a host of titles. This funding and development is something which he feels has been lacking, until now.
Alex Arthur with fellow champions Ken Buchanan and Kenny Anderson at the Scotland V N.Ireland International
He said I was hugely impressed by the organisation of the International and how much interest it generated. Scotland is now beginning to compete on a level playing field with other top boxing nations with the coaching and facilities now available. Young boxers are being given the opportunity to box in full size rings, attend training camps and have coaches for different levels such as youth, junior, seniors etc.
The work being done on the development side has already produced impressive results with Scotland bringing Gold, Silver and Bronze medals back from the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and two of our boxers (Josh Taylor and Iain Butcher) being added to the Development Squad for London 2012. This development is ongoing and is a primary objective for Amateur Boxing Scotland with the aim of producing even more International class boxers.
Alex underlined the improvement in the standard of boxing in Scotland by saying how impressed he was with some of the athletes on show in the International against Northern Ireland. After what I witnessed at the Home International, I see potential for a couple of Olympians and definitely hold up high hopes for a strong showing at Glasgow 2014
Lets hope hes proved right…
Alex Arthur was talking exclusively to Amateur Boxing Scotland
