GB Boxing secure six medals including three Golds at u23 european championships in budapest
Two men and one woman from the GB Boxing squad have been crowned European U23 champion at the recent competition in Budapest.
The trio of super-heavyweight (M90kg+), Damar Thomas, light-heavyweight (M80kg), Bobby Wallace and welterweight (W65kg), Kayla Allen, were part of a cohort of six medallists from the GB Boxing squad which included silvers for flyweight (W51kg) Kelsey Oakley (Birmingham) and bantamweight (M55kg), Abdul Burton, along with a middleweight (W75kg) bronze for Mary-Kate Smith.
The performance saw Great Britain finish fourth in the overall medal table, however the return of two gold and a silver meant it was the best performing men’s team in the competition.
The gold medal for Londoner, Damar Thomas, marked a stark turnaround from last year’s European U23 tournament where he lost in the first round. It showed the benefit of his recent experience competing in the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool in September, where he won two bouts and was only denied a medal by a split decision loss to Cuba’s legendary four-time Olympian and two-time gold medallist, Julio César La Cruz.
GB Boxing’s 11-person team at the competition was made-up of five boxers from the senior Podium squad and six from the Academy group. That three of the six medals were won by Academy boxers, Bobby Wallace (Gold), Kayla Allan (Gold) and Abdul Burton (Silver) is a very positive sign of the strength in depth across the two squads and the long-term outlook of the World Class Programme (WCP) over the course of the next three years in the build—up to LA28.
GB Boxing’s Performance Director, Rob McCracken said: “The team boxed well and it has been a good year for GB Boxing. The boxers got some really good experience competing a number of times and to come away with so many medals is a well-deserved reward for the way they applied themselves. There were lots of good performances and, to be honest, I felt a couple more of them were unlucky not to come away with gold.
“It has shown us that we have some excellent talent at all levels in the Academy and Podium squad and augurs well for the future.”
On Thomas’s gold medal, McCracken added: “It shows how far Damar has come in the last year and the improvements he has made. He was close to a medal at the World Boxing Championships, where he boxed really well, and we can see how he has benefited from the experience of competing at that elite level.”