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20/06/2008
VI European Union Elite Championships day 4
Semi final day saw the team produce a master class in boxing for the rest of the European Union. Opening up the fourth day, as he did the third, Tom Stalker started well against Artur Schmidt - a tough experienced German. Tom led after the first 3 : 2 but saw his lead disappear in the second finishing at 5 : 5. In the third with his long range boxing he started to dominate the German through applied pressure. Tom was forced to take a standing count from a good punch by the German but his determination showed through as he got off the canvas to lead at the end of the third 9 : 6. Despite the German being dangerous with his rear hand Tom kept him at bay with his long south paw jab. He took control in the last round, beating the German 14 : 11 to secure himself a place in the final against Hungarian Miklos Varga.
Billy 'the Kid' Saunders was next in the ring, facing the very experienced tricky Frenchman Xavier Noel in an all southpaw battle. Billy quickly took control to secure an early lead in the first 4 : 2. He continued to dominate in the second and took a two point lead into the third, which he built upon to move into the final round 9 : 5. Billy started to slow the Frenchman down with some heavy and accurate body punches. The strength, skill, speed and youth of Billy was too much for the Frenchman and he secured his place in the final against the German Dieter Doehl by winning the bout 14 : 5.
Tony 'Jaffa' Jeffries was next up against fellow Olympian Imre Szello from Hungary. Jaffa started well but a heavy nose bleed which needed the attention of the doctor, meant that he ended the first down on points 2 : 3. However, with grit and determination the Eng;ishman came out strong in the second to end all square on 5 : 5. The third round saw him continue to be challenged by the Hungarian and he was again taken to the doctor to inspect his nose. But Jaffa persevered and with the support of his team mates in the crowd ended up with a one point lead. The final round, despite his bloody nose, saw him maintain his one point advantage to win the bout 12 : 11 to meet the Irish boxer Kenny Egan, the reigning European Union Champion in the final.
'Dynamite' David Price, who was recently announced captain of the Olympic team, lived up to his nickname in the next bout by once again stopping Polish boxer Krzysztof Glowacki. Having knocked out the Pole in the second round in Pescara, Italy at the Olympic qualifiers, this bout saw David knock his opponent out in the first round after a minute and 15 seconds with a perfectly timed right cross. David will now meet Hungarian Istvan Bernath in the final on Saturday.
The continuation of the master class continued into the evening session. First in the ring was 'King' Khalid Yafai who faced the very experienced Frenchman Redouane Asloum. Khalid started strongly with pace and some long range boxing to control the first round with a lead of 6 : 0. The second round continued as the first with quick hands and feet and some excellent long range punches consistently hitting the target. Khalid took a lead of 17 : 1 in to the third round where he finished the bout in clinical fashion 21 : 1.
'Fabulous' Frankie Gavin showed why he is the World Champion by giving his tall opponent, who was boxing on home soil, a lesson in the noble art of boxing. His quick feet and reflexes meant that the Pole punched air for most of the bout. Fabulous Frank led 6 : 0 at the half way point, but this superior display of boxing skills soon earned him a lead of 13 : 2 at the end of the third. In the final round Frankie gave an exhibition of boxing skills with a score of 16 : 2, earning himself a place in the final against the Athens Olympian who has also qualified for Beijing, Gyula Kate from Hungary.
James 'Chunky' DeGale was next in the ring against the rough and tough Turk Omer Aydogan. James was in devastating form from the start and quickly got in to his stride and range leading 6 : 1 at the end of the first. In the second round James forced two standing counts by the referee and further extended his lead to 12 : 1 at the half way stage. James continued to dominate and apply the pressure to the Turk and narrowly missed stopping the bout by one point in the third ending it on 22 : 3. The final round saw James determined to beat team mate Tom Stalker's 29 : 4, and scored 29 :3 to provide the biggest winning margin of the competition so far and a place in the final against fellow Beijing bound Olympian Darren Sutherland from Ireland.
Warren Baister, in his fourth major international, faced the awesome task of boxing the reigning European Union Champion and Athens and Beijing Olympian Illias Pavlidis from Greece in the final bout of the night. Warren struggled to contain the strong awkward Greek and went in to the second round losing 2 : 5. Despite Warren's grit and drive the Greek extended his lead at the half way stage to 3 : 8. Warren started to tire in the third with the Greek taking advantage of his limited international experience and extended his lead to 4 : 14. Warren managed to contain some of the pressure in the fourth but the Greek's maturity and experience shone though to take the bout 6 : 19. Despite losing the bout Warren gave 100% showing guts and determination but unfortunately the lack of experience of boxing at this level showed through.
Head Coach Terry Edwards said this was "An exceptional day of first class boxing with all boxers showing tremendous skill and ability. This provides us with great confidence that the team is on track in their final seven weeks of preparation for the Olympic Games in Beijing in August."