DAY Three of the EUBC European Men’s Boxing Championships will once again see two Scottish boxers in action in Yerevan, Armenia.
Flyweight Lennon Mulligan will take part in a Battle of Britain, as he faces England and GB boxer Kiaran MacDonald in a 51kg preliminary contest on Wednesday 25th May.
The Rob Roy boxer will be out for revenge, having lost to the Englishman by unanimous decision at the Algirdas Socikas Tournament in Lithuania last year.
Meanwhile, Scottish Middleweight Sam Hickey’s opponent has declared he is also out for revenge against the Lochee boxer tomorrow.
Hungary’s Robert Cservenka defeated Austria’s Marcel Meinl by RSCI on Day One of the competition in the round of 32, to book his place in the second preliminary round against Hickey, who had been given a bye.
Hickey defeated the Hungarian at last year’s Belgrade Winners competition in Serbia by majority decision en route to a Silver medal, a run of results that GB Head Coach Rob McCracken said was as good as any Scottish boxer in recent times.
Robert Cservenka said following his victory: “I could not find the best fighting distance in the first round but I followed the new instructions in the second period.
“I landed more jabs in the second round and I was planning to fight until the last gong but the ringside doctor stopped the contest.
“I will meet a Scottish boxer and I am planning to take a revenge against him.”
However, Hickey does not seem fazed by the challenge that lies in front of him, as he looks to build on his recent Bronze medal at the EUBC European Under-22 Championships in Croatia in March.
“I was happy at the Under-22’s obviously coming back with a medal,” Hickey said.
“The guys who I boxed at the Under-22’s will probably be at the Europeans as well, so I know I can mix it with everybody at my weight and I am capable of coming back with a medal at this major, which will set me up nicely for the back end of the year.”
Hickey will be hoping to replicate Matthew McHale’s performance by beating Hungarian opposition to book his place in the Quarter-Finals, after the Bantamweight won Scotland’s opening contest on Day Two of the competition.
The Lochend boxer defeated Hungary’s Gabor Virban by unanimous decision in his 54kg preliminary bout, meaning that McHale will now have a chance to secure Scotland’s first senior European medal in 16 years against Italy’s Manuel Fabrizio Cappai on Friday.
However, Cleland’s Light-Middleweight Stephen Newns would unfortunately suffer a close split-decision defeat to Italy’s Salvatore Cavallaro in his 71kg preliminary contest.
EUBC European Championships; Day Three, Wednesday 25th May 2022 (Times to be confirmed);
Flyweight 51kg Preliminaries – Lennon Mulligan (SCO) v Kiaran MacDonald (ENG)
Middleweight 75kg Preliminaries – Sam Hickey (SCO) V Robert Cservenka (HUN)
