Duries lads compete at Novices
Duries Boxing Club had two fighters competing in the Scottish Novice Championships last weekend.
Twelve-year-old Brandon Grant, at 36kgs, and Nathan Basil, 15, at 63kgs, boxed in the semi-finals at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell on Sunday, October 23.
First up was Brandon who did exactly what he was told in the corner. He pressed and made good two-handed straight punches time and time again to win by unanimous decision against Mathew Gemmil from Barrhead ABC. He now faces Bradley Lowe from Irvine Vineburgh in what is expected to be an entertaining final bout on Sunday.
Nathan put his opponent on the canvas with a big right hand with four seconds left in the first round where he got the eight count.
Inside 20 seconds of the second round, Nathan walked onto a big right hand himself which wobbled him and he also took an eight count. But the youngster showed great courage to come right back into it and caught his opponent with a big left hook. He followed that up with his right as his opposite number fell onto ropes but Nathan kept punching.
The referee jumped in and gave the Duries boy a public warning. His corner told Nathan he had to start rolling and hooking his way forward in the last round, which he did, and the crowd loved it.
The judges had the fight down as a draw but when asked to pick a winner, they chose the Duries fighter who will now go on to box a member of Sparta ABC, Grangemouth, in the final.
Duries BC also entered 18-year-old Dan Murphy, 60kgs, and 16-year-old Kyle Sillars, 57kgs, who were both given byes to the semi-finals this weekend.