Burton books place in European final as Shittu and Making earn bronze on penultimate day of 2026 European Championships

ABDUL Burton booked his place in the bantamweight final on the penultimate day of action at the 2026 European Championships following another impressive display from the young boxer.

It means Burton will join GB Boxing teammates Chantelle Reid (W70kg) and Damar Thomas (M90+kg) in boxing for gold in tomorrow’s finals.

Elsewhere in today’s action, Dimeji Shittu (M80kg) and Callum Makin (M75kg) had to settle for bronze medals after suffering defeat in their semi-final clashes.

The duo were involved in fiercely contested bouts but found themselves on the wrong side of 4-1 split decisions against Russia’s Cheerav Ashalaev and Azerbaijan’s Saidjamshid Jafarov respectively.

Abdul Burton got semi-final day underway in style as he put in yet another high-quality performance against Turkey’s Semih Gumus.

Competing for the fourth time in Sofia, the 20-year-old earned a 4-1 victory to book his place in tomorrow’s bantamweight final.

In tomorrow’s gold medal bout, Burton will face Russia’s explosive Viacheslav Rogozin, who booked his place in the final with a stunning second-round knockout.

Burton said: “It was a good performance against a tricky opponent and it’s good to get more rounds in ahead of a good battle tomorrow against the Russian.

“I stayed disciplined. It was 4-1 after the first round, then 3-2 put it back a little bit, but nevertheless, going into the third I knew I could still win it, so I kept a high pace, worked hard and got the win.

“To win gold would be a big achievement, especially in my first senior major, but I’m young and hungry and all eyes are on tomorrow.”

Burton will be competing in tomorrow’s finals alongside two of his GB Boxing teammates.

At light-middleweight, Chantelle Reid will go one-on-one with Turkey’s Olympic, world and European champion Busenaz Surmeneli, while at super-heavyweight, Damar Thomas faces Russia’s David Surov.