Medal tally for British boxers reaches five following victories for Shittu and Makin whilst Reid and Thomas set to box for gold on Friday

GB Boxing will leave the 2026 European Championships in Bulgaria with five medals following victories for Dimeji Shittu (M80kg) and Callum Makin (M75kg) in today’s action in Sofia.

The duo both won their quarter-final contests and will join Abdul Burton (M55kg), Chantelle Reid (W70kg) and Damar Thomas (M90+kg) on the podium, with the colour of their medals still to be determined.

For Reid and Thomas, however, they already know they will leave the Bulgarian capital with at least a silver medal after both secured victories in their semi-final bouts today, meaning they will box for gold on the final day of competition on Friday.

There was disappointment, however, as Lauren Mackie (W54kg) and Amy Broadhurst (W60kg) were beaten in their respective quarter-final contests via unanimous and 4-1 split decisions respectively.

Paris Olympian Reid was the first to secure victory for the team on day seven in Sofia.

Competing in her third bout of the tournament and already guaranteed a medal, the 28-year-old took on Serbia’s Milena Matovic in a fiercely contested bout.

The Serbian took a 3-2 lead at the end of the first round, but Reid responded with a 5-0 second round before edging the third to seal a 3-2 victory and reach the light-middleweight final.

She will now face Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli in the gold medal match.

Reid said: “It was a great bout. She’s a really talented girl and I hope we get to share the ring again one day, I really enjoyed that.

“I was behind after the first round, but I just listened to my coaches, stuck to the game plan and got over the line.

“Each bout has got better and so has the opponent. I’ll be boxing one of the very best at my weight on Friday and I’m looking forward to it.

“It’d mean the world to me to win gold, especially with my dad and club coach out here to support me.”

Closing out the afternoon session, Dimeji Shittu became the fourth member of the squad to guarantee a medal at the European Championships in Sofia.

He dominated all three rounds of his quarter-final contest with Austria’s Lucky Aimufua to earn a unanimous decision victory.

Shittu is now straight back in action as he looks to book a place in Friday’s light-heavyweight final by beating Russia’s Cheerav Ashalaev at 13:30.

Shittu said: “My first performance wasn’t the best, but I went back to the drawing board and showed my class today and everything I’ve been working on in the gym.

“Credit to my opponent, he was game but ultimately, the skills pay the bills, and I’ve booked my place in the semi-finals and guaranteed myself a medal.

“I used my range, my footwork and just enjoyed it out there. Last time was a brawl and today I wanted to show that I can box, and I feel like I did that.

“I’ll recover now and we go again tomorrow to change that colour.”

In the evening session, Callum Makin became the fifth and final boxer to secure a medal in Sofia as he defeated Armenia’s Marat Mikaelyan 3-2.

It means the Scouse boxer has now, like teammate Chantelle Reid, won medals at both the World and European Championships.

He will now box tomorrow in the middleweight semi-finals against Azerbaijan’s Saidjamshid Jafarov.

Concluding the action once again in Sofia was super-heavyweight Damar Thomas, who was competing for the third time this week.

He faced Azerbaijan’s experienced Mahammed Abdullayev in a semi-final clash in which the Englishman dominated across all three rounds to seal a unanimous victory.

Thomas now has a day of rest before facing Russia’s David Surov for gold on Friday.

Joining Shittu and Makin in semi-final action tomorrow is Abdul Burton, who will face Turkey’s Semih Gumus in a bantamweight contest at 12:45 UK time.