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24/06/2008
VI European Union Elite Championship Finals - Full report
A week of terrific boxing came to a fantastic climax this weekend at the European Union Elite Championships, with the team grabbing four gold medals, three silvers and a bronze and Olympian Frankie Gavin being declared boxer of the tournament.
V1 European Union Elite Championships - The Finals
The final day of the championships saw a magnificent seven box for the European Union title.
Opening up for the team was "King" Khalid Yafai at 51kg, facing the Olympic qualifier Rafal Kaczor from Poland in front of his opponent's home crowd. Khalid started strongly, with pace and long range boxing, to take control and go into the second with a lead of 4 : 1. The second round continued as the first, finishing 7 : 3 at the half way stage. In the third the Pole, cheered on by his vocal supporters, started stronger and began to draw the lead back. The French referee then - surprisingly - gave Khalid a warning for holding, which changed the tactics of the bout and meant that Khalid went in to the final round trailing 9 : 11. Spurred on by taking the lead in the third, Khalid had to push forward but the Pole, using his feet to good effect and boxing on the retreat, won the bout 10 : 13, giving GB their first silver medal of the competition to go with the bronze medal already secured by Warren Baister at 91kg.
Tom Stalker started well against Hungarian Miklos Varga at 60kg. He led 5 : 2 after the first round, and his lead extended further with controlled pressure and accurate shots taking him to 13 : 4 at the end of the second. He continued his long range boxing in the third and dominated the Hungarian, extending his lead 19 : 6. In the final round Tom kept the Hungarian at bay with a long southpaw right hook and secured the team's first gold medal of the championships with a convincing 24 : 10 victory.
"Fabulous" Frankie Gavin lived up to his nickname and provided the crowd with another impressive display of boxing against Hungarian Gyula Kate, an Athens Olympian who has also qualified for Beijing in the 64kg contest. From the start, with his quick hands and feet, Fabulous Frankie was able to dominate the ring and go in to the second with a narrow 2 : 1 lead. In the second he started to show his class and with his fast reflexes keeping him out of trouble was able to further extend his lead 7 : 2. In the third he started to frustrate Kate and, like a Matador with his bull, had the Hungarian charging around the ring unable to score a point, giving Frankie a lead of 12 : 2 to take in to the final round. His superior display of boxing skills ensured that Frankie was able to extend his lead and win the team their second gold of the championships with a 16 : 4 points advantage. His skills over the five days of the competition also impressed the judges and Frankie was awarded the accolade of 'Boxer of the Championship'.
Billy "the Kid" Saunders was next in the ring, challenging German Dieter Doehl for the 69kg crown. Billy continued where he left off in the semis, starting fast using the jab to good effect to open up his opponent and take a 6 : 1 lead. The German tried to force it in the second round, having limited success with his short range hooks. But Billy Joe stayed in control of the round, winning 7 : 3. Billy got back in to his stride in the third, using his speed of foot and fast combinations to go in to the final round 11 : 4 ahead. Billy maintained a pace which the German struggled to go with and with a continuation of his sharp accurate punches switching from head to body took the third gold medal of the night.
James "Chunky" DeGale was next in the ring against arch rival fellow Beijing-bound Olympian Darren Sutherland from Ireland. James started slowly, waiting too long in front of the strong, big punching Sutherland. He paid the penalty of staying in range and toward the end of the round took a count. He went in to the second with a 4 : 6 deficit. Sutherland opened up in the second round with fast attacks putting James on his back foot and extended his lead to 7 : 13. In the third, James started to push Sutherland back, forcing a standing count from a powerful back hand to the head. Unfortunately James couldn't capitalise on this as it was near to the end of the round. Despite applying pressure in the last round and once again forcing Sutherland on to his back foot he made up some points but was unable to close the deficit and finished the round 16 : 22 to walk away with the silver.
Tony "Jaffa" Jeffries was next up against Irish boxer Kenny Egan, the reigning European Union Champion and an Olympic qualifier. Jaffa bravely entered the ring with a severely bruised nose from his previous bout. Despite this he put on a brave show taking the bout to Egan. He started with powerful jabs and combinations and went in to the second with a close score of 1 :2. In the second he started positively and kept the contest close trailing 5 : 7 at the half way stage. Increasing the pressure and pace in the third he started to move on the Irishman, however towards the end of the round suffered a cut above the right eye which forced head coach Terry Edwards to retire him from the bout. This provided the team with their third silver of the championships.
"Dynamite" David Price, Captain of the GB Olympic Team, was due to meet Hungarian Istvan Bernath in the final. However, due to an injury the Hungarian withdrew their Boxer leaving David with a walkover in the final to secure the fourth gold medal of the Championships.
With four gold, three silver and one bronze medal, this was the team's best ever performance at the European Union Championships. Terry Edwards said "We came to Poland as part of our final preparations for Beijing and the boxers' performances this week give me confidence that the systems we have put in place will deliver success in Beijing."
Gold
Frankie Gavin
Tom Stalker
David Price
Billy Joe Saunders
Silver
James DeGale
Tony Jeffries
Bronze
Warren Baister
