BLACK Diamond Thai Boxing Club in Tranent are looking to raise £1,000 to send two fighters to the World Championships in Italy.

Lewis Inglis, 15, and Faith Harvey, 12, are rising stars on the Scottish Muay Thai scene with both holding various belts.

Lewis, of Dalkeith, is the current WTKA Scottish Champion, Sandee Open Intercontinental British Champion, Yokkao Open British Champion and SUSU Fighting Championship Champion. As a result, he is also British No. 1 and No. 2 in two weight divisions.

Faith, of Tranent, is current Yokkao Scottish Champion, WTKA British Champion, Yokkao Open British K1 Champion, and Celtic Nations Champion and is ranked No. 2 in the UK.

In Italy, the duo will be competing to become both WTKA Muay Thai and K1 world champions.

Scott Hendry founded the club with friend Charles Cameron in 2014, and currently trains both Lewis and Faith.

"Definitely, we could have two world champions coming back in November," he told the Courier.

"They could come back with both titles which would be a tremendous achievement."

Faith's exploits are all the more impressive considering she has only been in the sport since May 2017.

"Faith has been pretty remarkable," Scott said. "She's had eleven fights in the space of a year.

"She's won four titles and she's ranked number two in the UK.

"She's fought the girl who is ranked number one four times and beat her three times.

"I've calculated it and she should move to number one by the end of the year."

The club, who train in the Bronx Boxing Gym in Tranent, will hold a fundraiser on Sunday, October 14.

He said: "We're actually going to be fundraising in the gym.

"We're inviting gyms from all over Scotland to come in and spar in the ring and it'll be £3/4 on the door to come in.

"All proceeds from that will go to the trip. Then we've got the JustGiving page as well."

Muay Thai is Thailand's national sport but the WTKA Unified World Championships will be held in Carrara, between Pisa and Genoa, over October and November.

It was recognised as a provisional Olympic sport in 2016 meaning it will receive funding just under £20,000 in annual funding from the International Olympic Committee.

The sport can then apply to become part of the Olympic games sports programme after three years.

Speaking about the championship and Olympic approval, Scott said: "I think its good for the whole of the sport to be honest.

"That's a huge thing for the sport, it should open up other avenues for the sport in terms of funding, as well as increase the profile of the sport."

There's definite potential for both Lewis and Faith to become Olympic athletes but Scott knows there is a long road ahead if both want to go pro.

"Lewis is in a predicament because he's really good at football as well. He goes across to train in Glasgow every two weeks with the Scotland Youth Development squad.

"So, there's a chance Lewis could go into pro football, teams have spoken to him. He's going to have a choice to make at some point.

"With Faith, I think if it's done right she could make a career out of it.

"There's avenues she could look at going down, but she's only 12 so there's a long way to go just yet."

The club has also recently been nominated three times in the Celebrating Sports Awards, held by East Lothian Council.

Put forward by Councillor and Provost John McMillan, they are shortlisted in three categories: Performance/Development Coach of the Year, Club or Community Coach of the Year, and Sports Club of the Year.

It follows on from their Junior Team of the Year award, which they received in April.

To donate to Lewis and Faith's cause, visit: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/blackdiamond-thaiboxingclub