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05/02/2008
Saunders storms Strandja
Finals
Welterweight (69kg) Billy Joe Saunders (Hoddesdon ABC/ Hatfield/ Herts) continued his exceptional run by beating home favourite Evgeni Borisov (BUL) 29:19 at the 59th Strandja Boxing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. This was his fourth bout in four days.
Billy Joe has not been beaten since he earned promotion to the senior ranks in July 2007. His run has seen him win the Commonwealth Federations Championship (July 2007 Liverpool), defeat an American in the annual test match Eng v USA (November 2007, York Hall, London), win the Tammer Tournament (December Tampere, Finland), and now triumph at one of the most prestigious and keenly contested tournaments on the European circuit.
His performance on this occasion gained him the Boxer of the Tournament award.
Billy Joe in training at EIS in Sheffield
Bronze medals were also won by Tom Stalker (57kg), James DeGale (75kg), Stephen Simmons (91kg) and Khalid Yafai (51kg).
GB Head Coach Terry Edwards said: "I am delighted with Billy Joe. First he beat a Cuban, next a precocious young Serb, then a tough Kazakh, and finally a Bulgarian on home soil, all in four days. It doesn't get much tougher than that. Overall this has been a good trip for the team. I was disappointed not to convert more semi-finalists on Saturday. However, 5 medals (1 Gold and 4 Bronze) is still a good return for a team of six in a tournament of this stature."
The GB Development Coach Jim Davison added: "I am not surprised that Billy Joe has done so well since we promoted him to the senior GB squad. He is tremendously versatile and has a boxing brain that defies his young age and relative inexperience. There is more to come from Billy."
3rd February 2008 (Finals)
69kg) Evgeni Borisov (Bulgeria) lost to Billy Joe Saunders (England) 19:29
2nd February 2008 (Semi-Finals)
51kg) Andry Laffita Hernandez (Cuba) beat Khalid Yafai (England) 18:10
57kg) Thomas Stalker (England) lost to Dmytro Bulenkov (Ukraine) 19:34
69kg) Kanat Orakbayev (Kazakhstan) lost to Billy Joe Saunders (England) 6:28
75kg) James Degale (England) lost to Emilio Correa Bayeaux (Cuba) 7:21
91kg) Stephen Simmons (Scotland) lost to Sergey Kalchugin (Russia) RET R2
1st February 2008 (Quarterfinals)
57kg) Thomas Stalker (England) Branmie Stankovic (Serbia) WO
69kg) Billy Joe Saunders (England) beat Rirko Alexander (Serbia) 34:10
75kg) James Degale (England) beat Alexey Sherbakov (Russia) 19:17
91kg) Duarte Osmay Acosta (Cuba) lost to Stephen Simmons (Scotland) 16:21