HEADING FOR EUROPE

GB and Ireland announce their teams for the men’s European championships

BOXING at the men’s European championships starts on Monday (May 23) in Yerevan, Armenia.

Britain can enter the competition as England, Wales and Scotland so GB is able to put a strong squad into the tournament. For England Kiaran Macdonald (51kgs), Niall Farrell (57kgs), Joe Tyers (63.5kgs), Harris Akbar (71kgs), Lewis Richardson (75kgs), George Crotty (80kgs), Lewis Williams (92kgs) and Delicious Orie (92&kgs) are going. GB’S Jake Dodd (51kgs), twin brothers Ioan Croft (67kgs) and Garan Croft (71kgs) as well as Taylor Bevan (80kgs) go for Wales and for Scotland GB’S entrants are Reece Lynch (63.5kgs) and Sam Hickey (75kgs).

Hickey did medal at the European under 22 championships earlier this year, as did the Croft twins. “Three of the four guys I boxed [there] will probably be at these Europeans and they were all at the Worlds. So it’s all good preparation for the main one this year,” Hickey told Boxing News.

“People think of the under 22s as being an easy tournament but a lot of these guys coming through, they’re all younger guys because it’s a new cycle.”

“I’m really looking forward to [these] Europeans,” he continued. “Only people on the circuit understand how hard it is to get a medal at these tournaments.

“The Europeans for GB that’s the one that matters.”

Hickey also went to last year’s World championships with a good Scotland squad. “The team was buzzing. We all put in good performances,” he said. “It shows how the Scotland programme’s working, getting guys coming through, getting us ready to get on GB.

“We all bounce off each other.” Ireland has announced a 10 strong men’s team for the Europeans: Ricky Nesbitt (48kgs), Sean Mari (51kgs), Dylan Eagleson (54kgs), Adam Hession (57kgs), JP Hale (60kgs), Brandon Mccarthy (63.5kgs), Eugene Mckeever (67kgs), Luke Maguire (71kgs), Gabriel Dossen (75kgs) and Jack Marley (92kgs).

For more on the Europeans visit www.boxingnewsonline.net.