TALENTED boxers have landed knockout blows to be crowned champions at a prestigious event.
Members of Tranent’s Bronx Boxing Gym and Edinburgh’s Royal Amateur Boxing Club, founded by Wallyford’s Junior Burton, were in impressive form at the Boxing Scotland National Development Championships at Motherwell’s Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility.
Stephen Steadwood and Sonny Hendry overcame all-comers to be crowned champions at the Scottish Development Championships.
The duo, from the Bronx Boxing Gym, were joined on the podium by clubmates Josh Robbins and Cody Manning, who both took silver.
John McCallum, from the Tranent-based club, was delighted with the success as his fighters won eight out of 10 bouts.
He said: “It’s our first season and they have trained extremely well, done extremely well.
“For the gym to have come, in a matter of six months, from nothing to having four boxers box 10 fights and win eight, and to win two gold and two silver is incredible – some gyms don’t do that at all. They have done really, really well.”
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Both 16-year-old Hendry and 13-year-old Steadwood travel from Edinburgh to the gym on the town’s Church Street.
Hendry, who splits his time between the Bronx and Junior Burton’s Edinburgh club, won three fights en route to being crowned Scottish novice champion at 63.5 kilogrammes, while Steadwood won two bouts as he was named Scottish schoolboys champion at 46 kilogrammes.
Meanwhile, there were silver medals for Manning, of Musselburgh, in the junior 46 kilogrammes category, and Robbins, of Macmerry, who took silver in the junior 80 kilogrammes category.
McCallum, who has been involved in boxing his whole life, revealed they were close to making it three champions.
He said: “Josh was very unlucky.
“He won his semi-final and the full week of the final he was really ill with the flu. He had been in bed but did extremely well.”
Meanwhile, Musselburgh’s Joe Gregory, 18, picked up 60 kilogrammes silver youth medal.
Other boxers from Royal Amateur Boxing Club in Edinburgh also won medals – George Vickers, 48 kilogrammes silver schoolboy; Zak Dillon, 50 kilogrammes gold schoolboy; Lachlan Ross, 54 kilogrammes gold schoolboy; Josh Hoc, 71 kilogrammes gold youth; Fatima Sadiq, female gold senior; and Lucas Gibbons, silver senior.
The club rents out Duddingston-based Holyrood Boxing Club for training, attracting boxers from East Lothian and Edinburgh.
Burton, a former soldier, who also runs bootcamps in Wallyford and Musselburgh as well as fitness classes, started the boxing club in 2019 just before the Covid-19 pandemic.
A former pupil of Musselburgh Grammar School, he said: “The club has only been running for a couple years and missed a season due to Covid also, which was hard to get boxers back involved.
“Currently we rent space from other gyms and train outdoors, keeping the boxers together best we can with what we have.
“It has always been a dream of mine to have my own boxing gym helping children, young people and adults as well as people with learning difficulties to grow and learn new skills.”
He added: “I am over the moon the club has had one of the most successful in the championships this year and we don’t have a full time training programme like most other gyms. I am proud of every boxer who steps in the ring and privileged to have such a great team of boxers.”
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