Our Junior 1995 and 1996 boxers travelled to Baku, Azerbaijan for the Presidents Cup, which took place from the 9th 15th May. The ABS Squad who travelled consisted of boxers Jack Brunton, Sam Ball, Andrew Tham and Reece McFadden, along with Team Manager Tom Brown and Coaches Danny Lee and Bert McShane.
The trip was viewed as a great opportunity for our Junior boxers to gain experience on the World Stage and that they did, with all but one being paired against boxers from Azerbaijan, one of the Worlds strongest boxing nations. Our other competitor Jack Brunton was handed a similarly tough draw against Irish opposition in Keith Flavin, Ireland also one of the top boxing nations.
Jack was up against the experienced Irish boxer Flavin and this experience showed with the young Irishman coming out on top. Jack is technically a good boxer and work on power and aggression will see him progress this match up can only help him improve.
Sam Ball faced Azeri boxer Babek Ahmadov and got off to great start, standing him in good stead to see out the contest and win by a comprehensive 14-4 margin. An impressive performance against one of the home nation boxers.
In the final two pairings, both Andrew Tham and Reece McFadden faced home nation opposition. Despite both young boxers competing well, they were unable to overcome the Azeri boxers, experience again being the deciding factor.
Sam Ball, who had progressed to the next round also went on to face Azeri opposition in Iman Ahadli, and despite a hard working performance, he was unable to get the decision.
So, in terms of medals, this tournament didnt provide ABS with any success, however what it lacked in medals it more than made up in experience for the young Scots. The main positives are that all our boxers showed good attitude and technical ability, lacking only in experience something which can and will be gained through the Development Commission, which will hopefully see these boxers become International medal winners.
