Quarter-Final Results – Belgrade Winners
52kg Ryan McCutcheon SCO v Milos Baltic SRB (4 – 9)
Ryan boxed well in his first international contest, and kept his composure well against the local boxer. With the Serbian looking physically stronger, Ryan had to keep mobile throughout the contest so as not to get drawn in to close quarters. With the local support pushing Baltic on, the Serbian managed to keep a foot hold on the bout as it progressed. However, Ryan finished positively; throwing fast clusters of punches against the backed up Serb, but unfortunately the Serbian’s tight defence did not allow Ryan back into the contest. A good display from the Scotsman never the less.
56kg Razvan Andreiana ROU v Joe Ham SCO (10 – 7)
Nothing could really separate both boxers going into the last round, with Joe setting a fast pace for the final 3 minutes. Somehow Andreiana had managed to secure a 2 point lead after the second round, even though Joe had controlled the pace effectively and adopted the more positive defence in order to maintain the momentum. The majority of the Romanians work was at close quarters, with Joe finding effective success with a close range lead hook counter. However, Andreiana managed to hold onto his lead and soak up the pressure applied by Joe. A good performance by Joe in a bout that could have went either way towards the final stages.
60kg Eilan Dimitrov BUL v Charles Flynn SCO (14 – 15)
With plenty of close to mid-range action from the offset during this contest, Charlie made clever use of the angles to disrupt the rhythm of the Bulgarian. However, the cleaner leading punches from Dimitrov saw him edge the lead going into the final round. With Charlie 2 points down with 3 minutes to go, the Scotsman dug deep and showed his renowned tenacity to regain the contest. A pulsating last 3 minutes saw Charlie throw everything at his opponent, never taking his foot of the gas. The courageous last round swung the contest back in favour of the Scotsman, and was enough to give him the decision – well done Charlie.
64kg Lewis Benson SCO v Zdenek Chladek CZE (13 – 9)
Lewis dominated his highly rated Czech opponent for the first 2 rounds, changing the speed of the long lead hand to keep Chladek off balance and to launch his whipping rear hand. Lewis looked in control throughout the bout, with the Czech struggling to close down the range on the Scotsman. With sound ring craft and razor sharp timing to unleash the scoring rear hand, Lewis’s opponent could not get into any rhythm during the majority of the contest. An excellent performance by Lewis to see him through to the Semi-Final – Well done.
69kg Connor Law SCO v Evgeni Borisov BUL (7 – 7 Won on Countback)
With a slight clash of styles in this contest, both boxers were applying feints & dummies from long range in order to create an opening in their opponents guard. Connor’s drawing tactic had some success, but the Bulgarians experience didn’t allow him to fall for any traps set by the Scotsman. With the bout hanging in the balance going into the final round, Connor had to up the ante in order to seal a victory. Unfortunately, Connor received a warning in the final moments of the round, but pressed on until the final bell in order to negate the points lost from the warning. The higher work rate paid off for Connor in the end, sealing the victory after the scores going to a countback decision.
75kg Aston Brown SCO v Zoltan Harcza HUN (8 – 15)
A high tempo bout with blistering shots being launched from both boxers, the Hungarian managed to muster a lead going into the last round. However, Aston’s fitness and relentless spirit saw him dictate the majority of the last round, stalking down the tiring Harcza and unleashing lethal combinations to head and body. Circling his opponent with sound pattern of movement, Aston utilised the slow to fast gear change very effectively which caught the world ranked Hungarian off guard. It looked like Aston could have pulled back the contest in the final round, but unfortunately the judges at ringside did not agree. However, a very gritty and determined performance from the Scotsman.
81kg Scott Forrest SCO v Radoslav Pantaleev BUL (10 – 14)
Scott started the bout strong looking to let the Bulgarian know he would be in for a busy 3 rounds of boxing. From the offset Pantaleev looked at soaking up Scott’s attacks then trying to engage with reactive counters. With the points frustratingly going in the favour of Pantaleev going into the last round, Scott left no stone unturned as the contest matured, consistently throwing 2 to 3 phase attacks throughout the whole of the final round. Unlucky with the points after the first and second rounds, Scott was always up against it during the contest. However, the scoring did not affect his determination and will to win, as he never gave up the chase for a moment from start to finish.
91kg Samir El Mais CAN v Stephen Lavelle SCO (7 – 10)
In another contest which was hard to separate both boxers after 2 rounds, Stephen applied the more positive approach and ring craft as the bout matured, relentlessly pursuing his Canadian opponent who had managed to edge a lead of 2 points going into the last round. As Stephen pressed on, El Mais decided to adopt the ‘punch and smother’ tactic, restricting the Scotsman’s ability to engage with his opponent at close range. Unfortunately, after numerous cautions the warning never came, which could have swayed the contest in Team Scotland’s favour. Stephen undoubtedly had the measure of his opponent, but unfortunately being forced to chase the points effected the flow of his boxing, and coupled with the relentless holding from his opponent took the decision away from Stephen on that occasion.
91+kg Ross Henderson SCO v Marko Radonjic Mne (KO 1)
Ross started the contest looking to utilise his reach advantage on his southpaw opponent, with Radonjic countering with unorthodox looping punches from the blind-side. As the first round matured, Ross pushed his opponent back against the ropes and unleashed a whipping ‘bolo’ body punch to the ribcage of Radonjic. In retaliation, and utilising an attack to act as a defence, Radonjic threw another looping punch round the Scotsman’s guard which caught Ross flush on the chin. Forcing a standing 8 count, Ross looked to have recovered and pressed onto his opponent immediately, but unfortunately received another unorthodox looping punch which forced the referee to stop the contest. Without having the opportunity to stamp his authority on the bout, it was unfortunate for Ross to have been caught with the effective punches early in the contest.
